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The sensation novel was a literary genre of fiction popular in Great Britain in the 1860s and 1870s,〔I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 844〕 following on from earlier melodramatic novels and the Newgate novels, which focused on tales woven around criminal biographies. It also drew on the gothic and romantic genres of fiction. The sensation novel's appearance notably follows the Industrial Revolution, which made books available on a mass scale for people of all social standings 〔Muller, C. “Victorian Sensationalism: The Short Stories of Wilkie Collins.” Unisa English Studies. 11.1 (1973): 12-13. Web. 8 Jun. 2014.〕 and increased the sensation novel's popularity. Sensation novels used both modes of romance and realism to the extreme where in the past they had traditionally been contradictory modes of literature. The sensation novelists commonly wrote stories that were allegorical and abstract; the abstract nature of the stories gave the authors room to explore scenarios that wrestled with the social anxieties〔Hughes, Winifred. The Maniac in the Cellar. Princeton: Princeton University, 1980. Print.〕 of the Victorian Era. The loss of identity is seen in many sensation fiction stories because this was a common social anxiety; in Britain, there was an increased use in record keeping〔Pykett Lyn. “The Newgate novel and sensation fiction, 1830-1868.” Crime Fiction. Ed. Martin Priestman. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2003. 19-39. Print〕 and therefore people questioned the meaning and permanence of identity. The social anxiety regarding identity is reflected in stories, such as, ''The Woman in White'' and ''Lady Audley's Secret''.〔Talairach-Vielmas, Laurence. “Sensation Fiction: A Peep Behind the Veil.” The Victorian Gothic. Ed. Smith, Andrew, and William Hughes. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University, 2012. 29-42. Print〕 The genre of sensation fiction was established by the publications of the following novels ''The Woman in White'' by Wilkie Collins in 1859; ''East Lynne'' by Ellen Wood in 1861; ''Lady Audley's Secret'' by Mary Elizabeth Braddon in 1862.〔Loesberg, Jonathan. Ideology of Narrative Form in Sensation. University of California, 1986. JSTOR. Web. 10 Jun. 2014.〕 Perhaps the earliest use of the term, ''sensation fiction'', as a name for such novels appears in the 1861 edition of the ''Saunders, Otley, & co.'s Literary Budget.''〔Saunders, Otley, & Co.’s. “Literature.” Literary Budget 1 Nov. 1861: 38. Web. 10 Jun. 2014.〕 The neo-Victorian novel of New Zealand author Eleanor Catton, ''The Luminaries'', which won the 2013 Man Booker Prize, has been described as being heavily based on sensation literature, with its plot devices of "suspect wills and forged documents, secret marriages, illegitimacy and opium" 〔 http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/04/john-mullan-book-club-luminaries-eleanor-catton〕 ==Influences== Sensation novelists drew on the influences of melodrama, gothicism, and the Newgate novel to explore themes considered provocative by societal norms and to question the artificiality of identity. In the 1860s, the sensation novels and theatre became closely intertwined; many of the famous sensation novelists wrote as well for the stage.〔Hughes, Winifred. The Maniac in the Cellar. Princeton: Princeton University, 1980. Print.〕 Dickens, Reade, and Collins all wrote and acted for the theatre and for many novelists, the stage helped them to gain recognition as an author. Peter Brooks defines melodrama as an attempt, "to find, to articulate, to demonstrate, to 'prove' the existence of a moral universe which, though put into question, masked by villainy and perversions of judgement, does exist and can be made to assert its presence.〔Hughes, Winifred. The Maniac in the Cellar. Princeton: Princeton University, 1980. Print.〕 The gothic influence on the sensation novel is described by Laurence Talairach-Vielmas secrecy and the body go hand in hand, and the more sensation novels highlight the elusiveness or artificiality of human identity, the more hair-raising Gothic loci appear as the ultimate place where fragment of truth can be recollected and reunited and story rewritten.〔Talairach-Vielmas, Laurence. “Sensation Fiction: A Peep Behind the Veil.” The Victorian Gothic. Ed. Smith, Andrew, and William Hughes. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University, 2012. 29-42. Print〕A common gothic influence seen in the sensation novels is the search for a secret. Moreover, crime scenes at wells or near water are symbolic of the "depth" which is a key element of gothic fiction. The sensation novel puts a modern spin on the classic gothic ghost stories by placing the stories in contemporary settings and this produces the effect of creating a terror that is real and believable. Le Fanu's story, "Green Tea", is exemplary of the sensation novelists desire to explore the path less trodden. The main character, Jennings, inadvertently opens up an inner eye that can see the spiritual world after consuming too much green tea.〔Talairach-Vielmas, Laurence. “Sensation Fiction: A Peep Behind the Veil.” The Victorian Gothic. Ed. Smith, Andrew, and William Hughes. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University, 2012. 29-42. Print〕 Sensation novels drew influence as well from the Newgate novels that were popular during the 1830s and 40s; similarly to the sensation novel, Newgate novels created much controversy and debate.〔Pykett Lyn. “The Newgate novel and sensation fiction, 1830-1868.” Crime Fiction. Ed. Martin Priestman. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2003. 19-39. Print〕 Authors of both genres found inspiration in newspaper police reports; the crime mysteries of the sensation novels, however, were less interested in actually catching the criminal and instead focused more on the criminal's identity and how they became a criminal.〔Adams, James Eli. A History of Victorian Literature. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Web. 4 Jun. 2014.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「sensation novel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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