Character of memorization: quotation and identity in nineteenth-century British literature【翻译】

ABSTRACT
In nineteenth-century Britain, the average person’s mind was an anthology
containing snatches of poetry, Latin verb conjugations, Bible verses, folk songs,
miscellaneous facts, and the catechism. Because secular and religious education
emphasized learning by rote, students’ minds were stocked with information and
quotations that originated in other texts, which is reflected in characters who repeat those
bits and pieces in the period’s literature. My dissertation investigates concepts of
personal and national identity in Victorian literature and culture, particularly through the
understudied phenomenon of rote memory. George Eliot’s Maggie Tulliver, for example,
quotes Thomas à Kempis’s Imitation of Christ to console herself in the face of tragedy,
and Lewis Carroll’s Alice attempts to recite didactic schoolroom poems in her efforts to
distinguish herself from her less intelligent friends. These moments of memorization—
although at first appearing merely to reflect what texts were consumed and recited in
nineteenth-century England—in reality suggest much more. I argue that memorization
remained centrally connected to nineteenth-century conceptions of identity: people are
what they remember, even if those memories do not relate to their own lives, but instead
to the information stocked in their minds. My readings of Mary Shelley’s Matilda and
George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss demonstrate rote learning’s potential to erode a
young woman’s personal and religious identity. Instead of committing an act of powerful
“poaching,” as Michel de Certeau proposes, a memorizer often submits to the text’s
“strange invasion,” as George Poulet suggests. My chapters centered on Lewis Carroll’s
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and R.M. Ballantyne’s Jarwin and Cuffy, however,
locate possibilities for gaining critical thinking skills and forming cross-cultural
relationships through a person’s response to quoted texts. By examining the significance
of memorization in nineteenth-century novels, we gain new understandings of the
Victorian period, ranging from the minutiae of everyday routines to the complexity of
2
entire belief systems. A seemingly straightforward moment, such as a character reciting
a line or two of poetry, can lead to interdisciplinary insights about forms of reading,
functions of memory, ideas about gender, beliefs about religion, and methods of
imperialism. As my dissertation demonstrates, nineteenth-century mental anthologies
give twenty-first-century readers a veritable index to the cultural past.
Abstract Approved: ____________________________________
Thesis Supervisor
____________________________________
Title and Department
____________________________________
Date
CHARACTER OF MEMORIZATION: QUOTATION AND IDENTITY IN
NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH FICTION
by
Joanne Nystrom Janssen
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in English
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
July 2010
Thesis Supervisor: Associate Professor Teresa Mangum
Copyright by
JOANNE NYSTROM JANSSEN
2010
All Rights Reserved
Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
_______________________
PH.D. THESIS
_______________
This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of
Joanne Nystrom Janssen
has been approved by the Examining Committee
for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy
degree in English at the July 2010 graduation.
Thesis Committee: ___________________________________
Teresa Mangum, Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Garrett Stewart
___________________________________
Florence Boos
___________________________________
Lori Branch
___________________________________
Marian Wilson Kimber
ii
To Arlyn and Kelyn, the two most memorable characters in my life’s story
iii
Ah, then you have good memory for facts, for details?
It is not always so with young ladies.
Bram Stoker
Dracula
iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I feel honored to remember the many people who have played pivotal roles in
shaping this dissertation. The topic was first sparked by a provocative class period in
Judith Pascoe’s Romantic Literature course. As a result, I wrote about Matilda and
memorization in an independent study with Judith, and that article grew into chapter 1. I
am grateful to Judith for believing in me and in my ideas when they were still forming.
Early conversations about religion and literature with Lori Branch inspired me to
consider religious quotation as part of this project. When I wrote an early version of
chapter 3 for his class, Garrett Stewart provided encouraging and incisive feedback.
Finally, Jeffrey Cox brainstormed with me about nineteenth-century missionaries,
pushing along my ideas for chapter 4.
If the aforementioned people gave life to the dissertation, then others sustained
the project as it grew. No graduate student could ask for a more supportive, insightful,
pragmatic, or generous dissertation director than Teresa Mangum. She read multiple
drafts of each part of the dissertation, and her feedback always challenged my thinking
and sharpened my writing. At the same time as she nurtured my project, she also
expressed care about me as a person. Likewise, Lindsey Row-Heyveld, my heroic
dissertation writing partner, has simultaneously been one of my most perceptive readers
and my most vociferous cheerleaders. Without a doubt, her consistent and openhanded
partnership has made the process of writing a gratifying experience. Florence Boos was
also an encouraging presence all along, sharing her books and her knowledge with equal
generosity.
A rare opportunity that I received in spring 2009 allowed me to see my project
from new angles. With my co-organizer Laura Capp, I was able to bring my research to
life in a public event called “Celebrating Victorian Women’s Lives: An Evening of
Recitations and Music.” The performance, which was the culminating event of the 2009
v
British Women Writers Conference, echoed nineteenth-century parlor recitations as
actors and musicians presented poetry and music written by Victorian women writers and
composers. Each member of our planning committee made notable contributions to the
event, but Marian Wilson Kimber particularly clarified my own understanding of the
historical practice of recitation by sharing her expertise on the subject.
The support and assistance of a final group of people helped me bring the project
to completion. I want to express thanks to the University of Iowa Graduate College; the
Seashore Dissertation Year Fellowship granted me a year of funding within which to
write and revise the bulk of this dissertation. I also am grateful to the participants of the
Mellon Dissertation Seminar, “Story in Theory,” for their helpful feedback on a revised
version of chapter 1. Garrett, the seminar leader, and Li Guo, my personal respondent,
deserve special thanks. Finally, several dear friends—Laura Capp, Stacy Erickson,
Victoria Peterson-Hilleque, Tricia Leaf-Prince, and John Prince—proofread chapters at
the final hour.
There are many others whose support contributed to this project in less tangible or
visible—but no less crucial—ways. My husband Arlyn gifted me with his faith in me
and space to write. My family and friends offered love, as well as food, babysitting, and
running partners. And Kelyn gave me laughter. I am grateful for you all.
vi
ABSTRACT
In nineteenth-century Britain, the average person’s mind was an anthology
containing snatches of poetry, Latin verb conjugations, Bible verses, folk songs,
miscellaneous facts, and the catechism. Because secular and religious education
emphasized learning by rote, students’ minds were stocked with information and
quotations that originated in other texts, which is reflected in characters who repeat those
bits and pieces in the period’s literature. My dissertation investigates concepts of
personal and national identity in Victorian literature and culture, particularly through the
understudied phenomenon of rote memory. George Eliot’s Maggie Tulliver, for example,
quotes Thomas à Kempis’s Imitation of Christ to console herself in the face of tragedy,
and Lewis Carroll’s Alice attempts to recite didactic schoolroom poems in her efforts to
distinguish herself from her less intelligent friends. These moments of memorization—
although at first appearing merely to reflect what texts were consumed and recited in
nineteenth-century England—in reality suggest much more. I argue that memorization
remained centrally connected to nineteenth-century conceptions of identity: people are
what they remember, even if those memories do not relate to their own lives, but instead
to the information stocked in their minds. My readings of Mary Shelley’s Matilda and
George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss demonstrate rote learning’s potential to erode a
young woman’s personal and religious identity. Instead of committing an act of powerful
“poaching,” as Michel de Certeau proposes, a memorizer often submits to the text’s
“strange invasion,” as George Poulet suggests. My chapters centered on Lewis Carroll’s
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and R.M. Ballantyne’s Jarwin and Cuffy, however,
locate possibilities for gaining critical thinking skills and forming cross-cultural
relationships through a person’s response to quoted texts. By examining the significance
of memorization in nineteenth-century novels, we gain new understandings of the
Victorian period, ranging from the minutiae of everyday routines to the complexity of
vii
entire belief systems. A seemingly straightforward moment, such as a character reciting
a line or two of poetry, can lead to interdisciplinary insights about forms of reading,
functions of memory, ideas about gender, beliefs about religion, and methods of
imperialism. As my dissertation demonstrates, nineteenth-century mental anthologies
give twenty-first-century readers a veritable index to the cultural past.
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1
CHAPTER ONE: “THE LANGUAGE OF DESPAIR”: QUOTATION AND
THE LOSS OF SELF IN MARY SHELLEY’S MATILDA ...........................17
The Repository of Morals: The Properly Educated Female Mind ................21
The Storehouse of Identity: Memory in the Philosophical Tradition ............27
“Led […] to Deeper Studies”: Matilda’s Improper Lessons .........................33
“The Language of Despair”: Quotation as Engulfing the Self ......................43
CHAPTER TWO: ONE WITH CHRIST, BUT DIVIDED IN TWO:
MEMORIZATION, IMITATION SPIRITUALITY, AND THE MILL
ON THE FLOSS ..............................................................................................56
In the Beginning Was the Word .....................................................................59
The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God .....................................................63
Be Imitators of Me, as I Am of Christ ............................................................75
The Voice of the Lord Is Powerful .................................................................83
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever .........................................................95
CHAPTER THREE: “WHO IN THE WORLD AM I?”: ROTE LEARNING
AND IDENTITY IN ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND ...........106
“Reeling and Writhing”: The Misery of Education and the Storehouse
of Memory ....................................................................................................109
“Those Are Not the Right Words”: Failed Repetition and Lost Identity ....117
“I’m Not Myself, You See”: Turning Language (and Meaning) Upside
Down .............................................................................................................127
“A Timid and Tremulous Sound”: Recitation as Talking To and For Its
Speaker .........................................................................................................134
“The Words Don’t Fit”: Growing Up (and Out) in the Trial and
Closing Frame ...............................................................................................141
CHAPTER FOUR: CIRCULATING THE GOSPEL: TRAVELING TEXTS
AND ROVING CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE NINETEENTHCENTURY
MISSIONARY CONTEXT ......................................................151
Capsizing the Biblical Boat: Native People Inverting the Meanings and
Uses of Scripture ...........................................................................................153
Trekking (and Talking) in Unison: Communal Identity through
Religious Memorization ...............................................................................166
Message in a Corporal Bottle: Identity and Inscription in South Sea
Adventure Fiction .........................................................................................179
CONCLUSION: REMEMBERING BACKWARD AND FORWARD ........................201
WORKS CITED ..............................................................................................................208

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