Nineteenth-Century Literary Magazines as Short Story Anthologies

Authors

• Kelsey J. Brazil, Murray State UniversityFollow

Abstract

This project undertakes an inter-generic study of nineteenth-century literary magazines and classroom anthologies. Based on the workings of genre theory by Julia Kristeva, this inter-generic study argues that the form, ideologemic function, and intertextuality of the literary magazine and anthology are generically similar. This notion has the potential to greatly change the reading of periodical literature from a simple reflection of Victorian times or as a mere container of collected (but isolated) literary pieces into one of cohesive, multi-genre significance. The resulting argument is that a nineteenth-century literary magazine can be a reasonable substitute for a textbook anthology in the literature classroom.

To make the case for this inter-generic substitution, this study examines four select nineteenth-century magazines’ form, function, and intertextuality to demonstrate the similarity to that of common classroom anthologies. As a point of focus, a select close reading of short stories from each magazine is offered as a practical demonstration of this specific inter-generic study’s usefulness, which is then developed into a pedagogical application of the suggested substitution. An outline of a graduate course on nineteenth-century literature is then proposed as an example of how literary magazines invite students to consider the hidden merit of non-canonical, unknown periodical literature. This pedagogical application further argues for the explicit use of literary magazines in the classroom as a practical exercise in contextualization as well as the more abstract concept of decontextualization necessary at higher levels of literary scholarship.

As both the literary magazine and the anthology are inherently literary collections, concerted genrefication is necessary and consequently invites many possibilities for the scholarship and pedagogy of each field, with the potential to reach into even wider academia concerns such as canonization.

Recommended Citation

Brazil, Kelsey J. (2025) "Nineteenth-Century Literary Magazines as Short Story Anthologies," Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 9.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/steeplechase/vol9/iss1/9

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