Sensational Bodies: Semiotics and Embodiment in the Works of Wilkie Collins

Abstract

This project uses the semiotic theories of nineteenth-century philosopher Charles S. Peirce to read embodiment in the sensation fiction works of Wilkie Collins. I argue that a Peircean semiotic reading offers critics a unique advantage to read and discuss how embodiment and environment affect both characters within the novel and the readers outside the novel. Using The Woman in White, my thesis explores how embodiment shapes the plot of the novel, and imbues characters with detective skills. I also discuss the fraught serialization of Armadale in Britain and America, and I examine how alterations in the illustrations reshape the readers’ sense of embodiment in terms of race and gender. My project then turns toward a discussion of how a semiotic analysis of sensation fiction can create new ways of reading and valuing other popular fiction and affective genres.