The Reception and Transformation of Walter Scott's Waverley Novels: the Historical Novel's Cultural Role and Significance in the Victorian Period

• Project/Area Number: 26370288
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Aoyama Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: MATSUI Yuko 青山学院大学, 文学部, 教授 (70265445)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,340,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥540,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
• Keywords: 英文学 / 歴史小説 / 文化史 / ウォルター・スコット

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examined the Victorian reception of Walter Scott’s Waverley novels and explored the cultural role of the historical novel in the 19th-century Britain. It first demonstrated the ubiquity of Scott’s works in Victorian society by listing the collected editions of the Waverley novels. Their paratexts such as lists of events and characters were also considered in terms of the educational value of the historical novel.
The pedagogical usefulness of the genre is further explored through the analysis of the prevailing use of Scott materials in Victorian school texts. The limited number of the works chosen for class study as well as ‘unliterary’ assignments attached to the text explains negative perceptions of Scott’s works during later periods. The formal closeness of history textbooks to the historical novel could similarly undermine the genre’s literary value. Meanwhile, Scott literary tourism well illustrates the generic feature and cultural force of the historical novel.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Scott Countryと19世紀文学観光の展開 (2016)
  • Author(s): 松井優子
  • Journal Title: 第88回大会Proceedings Volume: - Pages: 77-78
• [Presentation] Scott Countryと19世紀文学観光の展開 (2016)
  • Author(s): 松井優子
  • Organizer: 日本英文学会
  • Place of Presentation: 京都大学
  • Year and Date: 2016-05-28
• [Presentation] Scott’s Novels in Victorian School Textbooks (2014)
  • Author(s): MATSUI Yuko
  • Organizer: The Tenth International Scott Conference
  • Place of Presentation: University of Aberdeen (Aberdeen, United Kingdom)
  • Year and Date: 2014-07-10
• [Presentation] Scottish Writing in Recent Japanese Translation: Translation of Culture and Context (2014)
  • Author(s): MATSUI Yuko
  • Organizer: World Congress of Scottish Literatures
  • Place of Presentation: University of Glasgow (Glasgow, United Kingdom)
  • Year and Date: 2014-07-02
• [Book] 旅にとり憑かれたイギリス人――トラヴェルライティングを読む (2016)
  • Author(s): 松井優子、窪田憲子、木下卓、久守和子、大田信良、青木剛、大平栄子、武井博美、岡倉登志、伊達恵理、志渡岡理恵、中川僚子
  • Total Pages: 326
  • Publisher: ミネルヴァ書房
• [Book] スコットランドを知るための６５章 (2015)
  • Author(s): 松井優子、稲永丈夫、井上治子、岡田昌子、岡本純也、加藤昭士、川成洋、北政己、木村正俊、久保山尚、クレメント篤子、小林照夫、小林麻衣子、近藤存志、佐久間康夫、桜井武、櫻井雅人、佐藤猛郎、下山静香、鈴木真紀他
  • Total Pages: 385
  • Publisher: 明石書店
• [Book] 『戦争・文学・表象――試される英語圏作家たち』 (2015)
  • Author(s): 松井優子、福田敬子、三枝和彦、伊達直之、大道千穂、越智博美、加藤匠、小堀洋、麻生えりか、高橋暁子、加々美成美、小室龍之介、田中裕介、富山太佳夫
  • Total Pages: 335
  • Publisher: 音羽書房鶴見書店