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    Domestic Trauma and Colonial Guilt: A Study of Slow Violence in Dombey and Son and Bleak House

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    Issue Date
    2012-05-31
    Author
    Wetzel, Katherine Eileen
    Publisher
    University of Kansas
    Format
    63 pages
    Type
    Thesis
    Degree Level
    M.A.
    Discipline
    English
    Rights
    This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.
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    Abstract
    In this study of Charles Dickens's Dombey and Son and Bleak House, I examine the two forms of violence that occur within the homes: slow violence through the naturalized practices of the everyday and immediate forms of violence. I argue that these novels prioritize the immediate forms of violence and trauma within the home and the intimate spaces of the family in order to avoid the colonial anxiety and guilt that is embedded in the naturalized practices of the everyday. For this I utilize Rob Nixon's theory on slow violence, which posits that some practices and objects that occur as part of the everyday possess the potential to be just as violent as immediate forms of violence. Additionally, the British empire's presence within the home makes the home a dark and violent place. Dombey and Son does this by displacing colonial anxiety, such as Mr. Dombey's imperialistic business practices, onto the home through his abuse of his daughter. In Bleak House, the home is full of colonial objects that both decorate the home and unsettle it. While the interactions between colonial and domestic objects seem to disquiet the home, the trauma of abuse and neglect, particularly Esther's childhood abuse, overshadow the slow forms of degradation from the empire that haunt the home.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/10665
    Collections
    • Theses [3743]
    • English Dissertations and Theses [294]

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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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