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

  • Authors
  • Kelly Boyd
Book

Part of the Studies in Gender History book series (SGH)

Table of contents

  1. Front Matter
    Pages i-x
    PDF

  2. Introduction: Fiction for the Working Lad

    1. Introduction: Fiction for the Working Lad
      Kelly Boyd
      Pages 1-10

  3. Readers and Writers

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 11-11
      PDF
    2. Boys’ Lives: Boys’ Education, Work And Leisure, 1855–1940
      Kelly Boyd
      Pages 13-24
    3. Publishers and Strategies: From Family Firms to Mass Marketing
      Kelly Boyd
      Pages 25-41

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

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 43-43
      PDF
    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
      PDF
    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
    PDF

About this book

Introduction

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.

Keywords

comic cultural history fiction gender Great Britain social change William Blake women

Bibliographic information

  • DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230597181
  • Copyright Information Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2003
  • Publisher Name Palgrave Macmillan, London
  • eBook Packages Palgrave History Collection
  • Print ISBN 978-1-349-39536-1
  • Online ISBN 978-0-230-59718-1
  • Buy this book on publisher's site