The Alternative Modernity of the Bicycle in British and French Literature, 18801920

By: Una Brogan

Write A Review

Paperback | 12 February 2024

At a Glance

Paperback
292 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.4 x 15.6 x 1.91

Paperback

$67.25

or 4 interest-free payments of $16.81 with

or

Aims to ship in 10 to 15 business days

This book engages with the long-overlooked bicycle as a crucial literary and cultural object. In a selection of turn-of-the-century fiction, travel writing and non-fiction, cycling is revealed to be a favoured literary device, allowing writers to structure their narratives in new ways or depict a fresh sensory and aesthetic experience. Moreover, this study reveals that from its earliest days, the bicycle played a compelling counter-cultural role, proposing an alternative modernity that directly challenged bourgeois, patriarchal, capitalist society. From blurring gender and class divisions, to offering a more empowering interaction with the machine and allowing an embodied and social experience of space, the bicycle pointed a human-powered route to progress amidst increasingly mechanised visions of the future.

Industry Reviews

The marvel of this book is the way in which Brogan deftly moves between discussions of the essential canonical writers on the bicycle and more unexpected, obscure writers, as well as the way in which she nimbly draws upon theories of spatiality, technology, and objects to energize her analyses.

--Jeremy Withers, Iowa State University

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.