{"product_id":"portable-property-john-plotz-9780691146621","title":"Portable Property: Victorian Culture on the Move","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat fueled the Victorian passion for hair-jewelry and memorial rings? When would an everyday object metamorphose from commodity to precious relic? In \u003ci\u003ePortable Property\u003c\/i\u003e, John Plotz examines the new role played by portable objects in persuading Victorian Britons that they could travel abroad with religious sentiments, family ties, and national identity intact. In an empire defined as much by the circulation of capital as by force of arms, the challenge of preserving Englishness while living overseas became a central Victorian preoccupation, creating a pressing need for objects that could readily travel abroad as personifications of Britishness. At the same time a radically new relationship between cash value and sentimental associations arose in certain resonant mementoes--in teacups, rings, sprigs of heather, and handkerchiefs, but most of all in books. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003ePortable Property\u003c\/i\u003e examines how culture-bearing objects came to stand for distant people and places, creating or preserving a sense of self and community despite geographic dislocation. Victorian novels--because they themselves came to be understood as the quintessential portable property--tell the story of this change most clearly. Plotz analyzes a wide range of works, paying particular attention to George Eliot's \u003ci\u003eDaniel Deronda\u003c\/i\u003e, Anthony Trollope's \u003ci\u003eEustace Diamonds\u003c\/i\u003e, and R. D. Blackmore's \u003ci\u003eLorna Doone\u003c\/i\u003e. He also discusses Thomas Hardy and William Morris's vehement attack on the very notion of cultural portability. The result is a richer understanding of the role of objects in British culture at home and abroad during the Age of Empire.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John Plotz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0691146624\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691146621\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/13\/2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.93lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.50d","brand":"John Plotz","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48086767436031,"sku":"9780691146621","price":41.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_46627c96-bbdc-4e97-b94c-bd53b04991c8.jpg?v=1769096457","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/portable-property-john-plotz-9780691146621","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}