UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Nineteenth-Century Sound Reading: Auditory Epistemologies in the Margins of Literature and Science A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English by Miranda J. Butler December 2020 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Susan Zieger, Chairperson Dr. Sherryl Vint Dr. Adriana Craciun Copyright by Miranda J. Butler 2020 The Dissertation of Miranda J. Butler is approved: Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside Acknowledgements During my time in graduate school, I have often described myself as an extrovert in an introvert’s world. I have relied on a large number of friends, family, and colleagues to navigate each new challenge, and celebrate each new victory. As a result, I have a large number of people to thank for their care and support, and my words can barely begin to express my gratitude and appreciation for everything these individuals have done for me over the past seven years. Thank you to my advisor, Susan Zieger, who always cultivated my work and creativity. She took my ideas seriously, even when I first arrived in Riverside as a wide- eyed 21-year-old with a freshly minted bachelor’s degree. Dr. Zieger’s careful attention as an editor, advisor, and mentor, has made me the scholar that I am today, and I am equally grateful for the opportunities she has given me to teach under her supervision. These include assisting in her British Literary Traditions class, and accompanying her on her 2019 study abroad program, “Modern Literary London.” The latter opportunity enabled me to conduct research at the Wellcome Library for Chapter 2 of this dissertation, and also allowed me to work with some of the most energetic and inspiring undergraduate students I have ever met. To all those students, too, whom I studied with abroad, I am immensely grateful that you welcomed me as your teacher, Resident Advisor, and friend. The rest of my dissertation committee has also provided exceptional support, and I feel lucky to have worked with each one of them. Sherryl Vint has kept my interests in mind throughout my graduate experience, recommending me for numerous opportunities iv that included publications, speaking engagements, conferences, and teaching jobs. Her Summer 2020 writing group (and all those who attended it) empowered me to complete my dissertation on time, even amidst a literal global apocalypse. Dana Simmons, Joseph Childers, and Adriana Craciun also contributed greatly to my success as a writer and thinker; all three of these advisors continued to work with me, even though they were engaged in a different department, different university, and different continent, respectively. My Director of Graduate Studies, Andrea Denny-Brown, as well as my first-year “Introduction to Graduate Study” professor, Heidi Brayman, have both remained present throughout my career to guide me; I owe the entire idea of considering Braille to Dr. Brayman’s advice, and I have both Dr. Denny-Brown and Dr. Brayman to thank for their training in manuscript and archive studies at the Huntington Library. Classes with Dr. Denny-Brown, Dr. Brayman, and Dr. John Ganim, inspired me to adopt the methodology that I did when considering Victorian media, and gave me the experience I needed to walk confidently into the Cambridge University Library reading room in England, where I managed to hold Charles Darwin’s original notes in my hands without shaking. (Though I certainly did cry.) Likewise, I am grateful to my undergraduate mentor, Allison Dushane, who introduced me to literary studies of the Victorians and Romantics, and guided me towards to the University of California, Riverside. I am also deeply indebted to Patrick Sharp, Cannon Schmitt, and Devin Griffiths, for their support of my work on Charles Darwin. Thanks to a chance meeting at the North American Victorian Studies Association (NAVSA) in 2017, I was able to work with v Devin and Cannon in several capacities over the past four years, including the NAVSA Supernumerary in Florence, Italy. These scholars helped me sharpen and focus my ideas on Darwin, which reached fruition in Chapter 4 of this dissertation. To Devin, in particular, I am grateful for his patience and generosity, as he went above and beyond to help me revise and publish my work in the forthcoming collection, After Darwin, co- edited with Deanna Kreisel. Chapter 4 of my dissertation is an expanded version of the shorter essay that I am thrilled to share with the world when After Darwin is released in the next year or two. I am also indebted to many of my peers; all of these individuals gave me their time and support back when they themselves were still precariously employed graduate students. Thank you to Jessica Roberson, Anne Sullivan, and Lorenzo Servitje, for acting as my peer mentors when I first joined the UCR English Department; to Amy Cote and Colleen McDonnell, who served alongside me as graduate student representatives for NAVSA; to Alex Ullman and Gabe Mindel, who organized the Sound Studies Working Group which deeply informed by methodology in this dissertation; and to all the friends I made at the Dickens Universe,—including Christian Lehmann, without whom this dissertation would have a lot less Dickens. Thank you to my friends at UCR, who have guided me in my academic career and joined me for everything from writing sessions, to Dungeons and Dragons, to pub quizzes and karaoke: Taylor and Maria Evans, Aaron and Kristen Roberts, Kameron Sanzo and Nick Zwiryk, Stina Attebery and Josh Pearson. Likewise, to my former housemates Hannah Manshel, Chelsea Silva, and their one-eyed dog Juno, who held me together vi during the numerous occasions throughout my Ph.D. where I physically and emotionally fell apart. Hannah edited my work for the better numerous times, generously providing exceptional feedback on grant applications which I later received—in part due to her insightful suggestions. It is likely that I would have dropped out of my program long before finishing if not for Hannah and Chelsea’s freely given hugs, endless kindness, and many homemade dinners. My family, too, has also been here for me every step of the way. Thank you to my dad, my Aunt Tricia, and my cousins Kevin and Logan, who drove down to help me move houses every few years without question or complaint. I think Kevin even moved my stuff on his own birthday once. My dad, my Aunt Karen, my Grandma and Grandpa, my big brother Jacob, and my sister Rachel have also been sources of support and encouragement, and my little brothers Sebastian and Braeden have kept me laughing even in my darkest times. Thank you, too, Mom and Patrick, for dropping everything to take care of me on several occasions over the past few years. I never knew if I would have someone to thank last. It is a tall order, and its magnitude is not lost on me. So, thank you from the depths of my heart to my partner, Jeshua Enriquez, for his unconditional love and care. We are a team, and together with my little cat Bella, the three of us have become a family. Te quiero. vii Dedication To my best friend Jillian Nusbaum. You are the Leslie to my Ann—and the reason I have persevered through it all. viii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Nineteenth-Century Sound Reading: Auditory Epistemologies in the Margins of Literature and Science by Miranda J. Butler Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in English University of California, Riverside, December 2020 Dr. Susan Zieger, Chairperson This dissertation, which was inspired by information theory, analyzes three nineteenth-century reading and writing systems that relied on dots and dashes to send and receive messages: Braille, Morse code, and phonetic shorthand. Although each was originally developed for a limited group of people, the frequent representation of these systems in literature made them more culturally widespread. In my first chapter, I analyze how schoolchildren at the Massachusetts Institute of the Blind—whose stories were publicly shared by many nineteenth-century authors, including Charles Dickens—learned reading and writing in the early nineteenth century. Particularly, the education of 13-year- old deafblind student Laura Bridgman emphasizes how the labor of lower-middle-class women and female teachers reframed what it meant to learn “reading” and “writing” in the mid-nineteenth century. In my second chapter, I explain how British and American telegraph operators, who were increasingly female in the late nineteenth century, ix developed the ability to automatically interpret auditory Morse code through the skill of “sound-reading,” as if it was a spoken language unto itself. I use the author and activist Ella Cheever Thayer to draw a historical connection between the female technological workforce and suffragette movement. In chapter 3, I discuss two influential shorthand writing methods—Gurney’s Brachygraphy and Pitman’s Phonography—both of which used dot-and-dash symbols in an attempt to transcribe language phonetically. I then argue that depiction of shorthand in Wilkie Collins’s novel The Moonstone serves as an example of the high hopes nineteenth-century thinkers had for phonographic writing systems, as well as the inevitable failures that they encountered when expecting that any mediated form of communication could be purely objective. Finally, in chapter 4, I draw direct parallels between phonographic shorthand and the groundbreaking theories of Charles Darwin via his grandfather Erasmus Darwin. Ultimately, my dissertation demonstrates that a literary and cultural studies methodology derived from information theory can productively highlight the reading and writing skills of communities who are historically marginalized due to gender, disability, socioeconomic status, and/or nationality, among other identity categories.