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Manliness and the Boys’ Story Paper in Britain: A Cultural History, 1855–1940

  • Book
  • © 2003

Overview

Authors:
  1. Kelly Boyd
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Part of the book series: Studies in Gender History (SGH)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
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  2. Introduction: Fiction for the Working Lad

    1. Introduction: Fiction for the Working Lad

      • Kelly Boyd
      Pages 1-10

  4. ‘Revel in Your Boyhood’: Varieties of Masculinity

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 43-43
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    2. Victorian Manliness, Upper-Class Heroes and the Ideal of Character,1855–1900

      • Kelly Boyd
      Pages 45-69

    3. The Democratization of Manliness at the Turn of the Century, 1890–1920

      • Kelly Boyd
      Pages 70-99

    4. Balance, Self-Control and Obedience in the Inter-War Years

      • Kelly Boyd
      Pages 100-119

  5. Manliness and the Other

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121
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    2. ‘Manhood Achieved’: Imperialism, Racism and Manliness

      • Kelly Boyd
      Pages 123-152

    3. Comrades, Chums and Competitors: Images of Women in the Boys’ Story Paper

      • Kelly Boyd
      Pages 153-174

    4. Conclusion: On Heroes and Hero Worship

      • Kelly Boyd
      Pages 175-180

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 181-274
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Keywords

About this book

In this pioneering work about the precursor to the comic book, Kelly Boyd traces the evolution of the boys' story paper and its impact on the imaginative world of working-class readers. From the penny dreadful and the Boy's Own Paper to the tales of Billy Bunter and Sexton Blake, this cultural form shaped ideas about gender, race, class and empire in response to social change. This study is an important analysis of a neglected part of popular culture.

Reviews

'It is a painstaking, purposeful and detailed commentary on the concept of masculinity as purveyed in the boys' periodical...' - Patricia Craig, Times Literary Supplement

'This is a well-written book and could easily be finished in one sitting. But it is also a monograph that is packed with new interpretations and intelligent re-assessments. Cultural and gender historians of this period will be rewarded by giving this book their closest scrutiny.' - Professor Stephen Heathorn, Indiana University, Indianapolis

About the author

KELLY BOYD is a Senior Lecturer in History and American Studies at Middlesex University, London. She edited the Encyclopaedia of Historians and Historical Writing and has published articles on masculinity and boys' reading.

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