Abstract
Through a parallel analysis of two seminal texts in turn-of-the-century cycling literature from each side of the Channel, this article explores how cycling offered a new means of structuring texts. Both written during the bicycle craze of the mid 1890s, these contemporary novellas offer a compelling opportunity for an examination of the bicycle’s literary role, since the vehicle is central to the plot and structure of each book. Wells and Leblanc explore new means of structuring and punctuating their texts according to the rhythms of cycling, remaining attuned to the contours of the land and the steady movement of the body and the machine. The intense physical and sensory experience of movement on two wheels invites an altered experience of space and time, which these authors seek to convey in writing.
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Brogan, U. (2019). Cycling and Narrative Structure: H. G. Wells’s The Wheels of Chance and Maurice Leblanc’s Voici des ailes. In: Aguiar, M., Mathieson, C., Pearce, L. (eds) Mobilities, Literature, Culture. Studies in Mobilities, Literature, and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27072-8_10
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