Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons English Theses & Dissertations English Summer 2014 Narrative Space and Serialized Forms: Story-Spaces for the Mass Market in Victorian Print and Contemporary Television Laura Daniel Buchholz Old Dominion University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english_etds Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, and the Television Commons Recommended Citation Buchholz, Laura D.. "Narrative Space and Serialized Forms: Story-Spaces for the Mass Market in Victorian Print and Contemporary Television" (2014). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), dissertation, English, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/eh36-ys88 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english_etds/51 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NARRATIVE SPACE AND SERIALIZED FORMS: STORY-SPACES FOR THE MASS MARKET IN VICTORIAN PRINT AND CONTEMPORARY TELEVISION by Laura Daniel Buchholz B.A. May 1991, University of Virginia M.A. May 2009, Old Dominion University A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ENGLISH OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY August 2014 Approved by: Edward Jac£jf>^(Director) Minuela Mourao (Member) David Roh (Member) Avi Santo (Member) UMI Number: 3581675 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Dissertation PiiblishMiQ UMI 3581675 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT NARRATIVE SPACE AND SERIALIZED FORMS: STORY-SPACES FOR THE MASS MARKET IN VICTORIAN PRINT AND CONTEMPORARY TELEVISION Laura Daniel Buchholz Old Dominion University, 2014 Director: Dr. Edward Jacobs Despite Bakhtin’s notion of the chronotope and recent advancements in spatial theory by David Herman, Marie-Laure Ryan and Susan Friedman, narrative space is arguably still one of the most under-researched elements in narrative theory, taking a back seat to its corollary of narrative time and plot. This oversight can be largely attributed to the structuralist separation of text types exemplified by Genette’s assertions that description and narrative were distinctly different forms. Recent approaches such as David Herman’s rejection of such a separation inStory Logic, however, argue that “spatial reference plays a crucial, not optional or derivative role in stories” (264), and that spatial reference is, rather, “a core property that helps ‘constitute’ narrative domains” (296). In response to this gap, this dissertation examines the relationship between textual constructions of narrative space and the material forms of serialized narratives across specific medias. By looking at the intersection of the textual construction of storyworld space, the serialized form, and the materiality of media, this project argues that in both literary and televised contexts, the serialized form plays a key role in shaping the configurations of narrative space in these storyworlds and in constructing their rhetorical and ideological effects. Specifically, the project explores how the textual aspects of serial narratives affect the structure of storyworld spaces and how this affect is crucially tied to rhetorical and interpretive implications in final configurations of the narrative audience. As a result, this project makes connections between the serialized literature produced between 1830-1860 in Victorian England and that of televised narratives produced during the last decade in both Britain and the United States. Each case study is carefully historicized and examines the intersection between the materiality of the texts, their status as mediated objects, and the spatial structure of the narrative they construct. Copyright 2014, Laura Daniel Buchholz, All Rights Reserved. For Dwight, who never doubted what I could accomplish. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have been written without the guidance and support of my director, Edward H. Jacobs. I am indebted to his many suggestions that have shaped this project, not the least of which is introducing me to the work of George W. M. Reynolds and William Harrison Ainsworth. His willingness to read and comment on multiple drafts of each chapter in a timely manner allowed me to consistently progress and I am grateful for his never-ending encouragement throughout this process. I am also grateful to my committee members, Manuela Mourao, David Roh, and Avi Santo, for their input and support. Each added their specific expertise in Victorian, Digital and Television studies respectively, enhancing my ability to address multiple disciplines in this project. They all were always available when I had questions and challenged me to think in ways I would not have on my own. My one regret is that Jeffrey H. Richards, who passed away in May of 2011, was not able to be here for the completion of my doctorate work. I am blessed by his mentorship and guidance and his influence has significantly shaped me into the scholar I am today. I am also indebted to my colleagues and friends in the ODU Ph.D. program who kept me accountable to write regularly and shared this experience with me. Many thanks especially to Megan Mize for not only running our writing boot-camp group, but for always being there to listen to me fret in private on a regular basis. This experience was made all the richer by knowing I was never alone. I’m particularly indebted to Rachel Bragg, Jennifer Buckner, Carmen Christopher, Dianne Cooke, Angela Harrison Eng, Jamie Henthome, Sarah Mosely, and Vincent Rhodes for sharing their struggles and vii stories in our group. I am also thankful for the friendship of Danielle Roach, who early in this process encouraged me and kept me going when I doubted 1 could do this. I am looking forward to the day that is coming very soon when I will address each of you as “Doctor”. Finally, I am so thankful for my husband Dwight and my wonderful children, Nathan, Kathleen, Caroline and Christine. They have continually encouraged me in this venture when they could have easily complained and resented the time I spent away from them. Their faith in me and their willingness to make sacrifices that were not always easy have enabled me to see this dissertation to completion. Their support has been and will always be invaluable to me and I love them dearly. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................x Chapter I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 1 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: NARRATIVE SPACE AND SERIALIZED FORMS................................................................................................................................... 9 PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS TOWARDS DEFINING NARRATIVE SPACE 9 STORYWORLDS, NARRATIVE SPACE AND THE COGNITIVE IMPLICATIONS OF NARRATOLOGY................................................................. 18 THE SERIALIZED FORM ......................................................................................26 TELEVISION, “NARRATIVE COMPLEXITY” AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTERNET IN TELEVISED SERIALS..................................................36 III. CONFIGURING LONDON AS TEXT IN G. W. M. REYNOLDS’S MYSTERIES OF LONDON........................................................................................................................47 THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON: A SHORT CONTEXT......................................49 DISSECTING TEXTUAL ASPECTS OF SPATIAL CONTRUCTION..............57 FRAGMENTS OF LONDON IN WEEKLY INSTALLMENTS..........................75 EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE: THE STABILITY OF MARKHAM PL ACE... 87 IV. ILLUSTRATIONS AND TEXT: STORYWORLD SPACE AND THE MUTI- MODALITY OF SERIALIZED NARRATIVES...............................................................95 TEXT AND ILLUSTRATION: PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP AND QUESTIONS..............................................................................................................98 BEGINNINGS, DEICTIC SHIFTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.............................105 ILLUSTRATING NARRATIVE SPACES: CONTENT AND POSITION...... 126 MOVING THROUGH SPACES: NARRATIVE SPACE AND TIME IN MULTI-FRAME ILLUSTRATIONS..................................................................... 149 V. RE-SERIALIZING SERIALS: ADAPTING DICKENS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF SPATIAL TRAJECTORIES ..........................................................168 PROGRESSIONS THROUGH NARRATIVE SPACE IN THE CLASSIC SERIAL..................................................................................................................... 169 CONSIDERING ADAPTATIONS: THE COMPLICAHONS OF MOVING FROM PRINT TO SCREEN.................................................................................