'For She Was an Independent Woman, or Nearly, Anyway': The Sexualisation of Neo-Victorian Girls in Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart Series

Lois Burke

doi:10.3366/ircl.2022.0447

'For She Was an Independent Woman, or Nearly, Anyway': The Sexualisation of Neo-Victorian Girls in Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart Series

Lois Burke^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

Neo-Victorian YA literature has a complex relationship with representing sexualities, due to the limited evidence of youth sexuality that remains from the nineteenth century and the tension between adhering to and revising ideas about this historical period. This relationship is played out in the Sally Lockhart book series (1985-94), in which the attachment to Victorian literary tropes and settings offers a narrow reference of girlhood sexuality and which often presents girl characters as vulnerable to sexual assault. This article questions the books' goals of reimagining the nineteenth century and the messages they send to modern young readers.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	152-165
Number of pages	14
Journal	International Research in Children's Literature
Volume	15
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3366/ircl.2022.0447
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2022

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 5 Gender Equality
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

Neo-Victorian literature
YA
girlhood
gender and sexuality
archival research
representation

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10.3366/ircl.2022.0447

Cite this

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title = "'For She Was an Independent Woman, or Nearly, Anyway': The Sexualisation of Neo-Victorian Girls in Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart Series",

abstract = "Neo-Victorian YA literature has a complex relationship with representing sexualities, due to the limited evidence of youth sexuality that remains from the nineteenth century and the tension between adhering to and revising ideas about this historical period. This relationship is played out in the Sally Lockhart book series (1985-94), in which the attachment to Victorian literary tropes and settings offers a narrow reference of girlhood sexuality and which often presents girl characters as vulnerable to sexual assault. This article questions the books' goals of reimagining the nineteenth century and the messages they send to modern young readers.",

keywords = "Neo-Victorian literature, YA, girlhood, gender and sexuality, archival research, representation",

author = "Lois Burke",

note = "Funding Information: This research was conducted with the support of a David Almond Fellowship from Newcastle University. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} International Research Society for Children{\textquoteright}s Literature.",

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AB - Neo-Victorian YA literature has a complex relationship with representing sexualities, due to the limited evidence of youth sexuality that remains from the nineteenth century and the tension between adhering to and revising ideas about this historical period. This relationship is played out in the Sally Lockhart book series (1985-94), in which the attachment to Victorian literary tropes and settings offers a narrow reference of girlhood sexuality and which often presents girl characters as vulnerable to sexual assault. This article questions the books' goals of reimagining the nineteenth century and the messages they send to modern young readers.

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'For She Was an Independent Woman, or Nearly, Anyway': The Sexualisation of Neo-Victorian Girls in Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart Series

Abstract

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Keywords

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