Goodman, Gemma (2010) Cornwall : an alternative construction of place. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis examines representations of Cornwall in literature from 1880 to
1940. It identifies alternative literary ‘Cornwalls’ and seeks to understand their
relationship to the predominant ways in which Cornwall has been culturally
produced. The Cornwalls identified are all influenced by a nineteenth century
seismic shift from mining to tourism. Until its catastrophic collapse mining
dominates how Cornwall is represented within and without of the county. Its
replacement by tourism gives impetus to different ways of representing
Cornwall in literature and other cultural mediums. Touristic friendly Cornwalls
– Celtic, exotic, Arthurian – dominate. Economic necessity requires that these
Cornwalls persist to radiate an enticing version of Cornwall to potential
visitors. Some authors seize upon these dominant images and develop them, but
there exists other literary Cornwalls – voices lost, hidden, subsumed –which
counter hegemonic representation.
Chapter One provides a cultural geography of Cornwall and discusses
the dominant constructions of Cornwall in their historical and literary context.
Chapter Two examines literature of Cornish mining. Salome Hocking’s novel
focuses on the balmaiden, the female mine surface worker, while other mining
texts adhere to a narrative of masculine achievement and toil. Chapter Three
examines how visiting writers Dinah Craik and Edith Ellis negotiate established
constructions of Cornwall. While Craik is unable to imagine a Cornwall
uncoupled from Arthurianism, Ellis disengages from dominant representations
of place in order to produce a form of literary anthropology. Chapter Four
begins by positioning Jack Clemo and Daphne du Maurier as contrasting
inheritors of the period of study. Du Maurier’s literature forms part of Tourist
Cornwall while Clemo’s novels of the china clay region embrace an antitouristic,
bleak, harsh, industrial world. Their literary worlds, however, though
disparate, are in dialectic with each other. There can be identified, therefore,
connections between the dominant and alternative versions of place under
exploration.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Cornwall (England : County) -- In literature, Mines and mineral resources in literature, Tourism in literature, English literature -- 19th century, English literature -- 20th century
Official Date:	March 2010
Dates:	Date Event March 2010 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Frith, Gillian, 1946- ; Macdonald, Graeme
Extent:	314 leaves : ill.
Language:	eng

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