The sensation novel, also sensation fiction, was a

literary genre A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by List of narrative techniques, literary technique, Tone (literature), tone, Media (communication), content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from mor ...

of fiction that achieved peak popularity in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in between the early 1860s and mid to late 1890s,I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 844 centering taboo material shocking to its readers as a means of musing on contemporary social anxieties. Its literary forebears included the

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

tic novels and the Newgate novels, which focused on tales woven around criminal biographies; it also drew on the Gothic, romance, as well as

mass market The term "mass market" refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. The mass market differs from the niche market in that the former focuses on consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds with ...

genres. The genre's popularity was conjoined to an expanding book market and growth of a reading public, by-products of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. Whereas romance and realism had traditionally been contradictory modes of literature, they were brought together in sensation fiction. The sensation novelists commonly wrote stories that were allegorical and abstract; the abstract nature of the stories gave the authors room to explore scenarios that wrestled with the social anxietiesHughes, Winifred. ''The Maniac in the Cellar''. Princeton: Princeton University, 1980. Print. of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. The loss of identity is seen in many sensation fiction stories because this was a common social anxiety; in Britain, there was an increased use in record keepingPykett, Lyn. "The Newgate novel and sensation fiction, 1830-1868." Crime Fiction. Ed. Martin Priestman. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2003. 19-39. Print and therefore people questioned the meaning and permanence of identity. The social anxiety regarding identity is reflected in novels such as ''The Woman in White'' and ''Lady Audley's Secret''. Sensation fiction is commonly seen to have emerged as a definable genre in the wake of three novels: Wilkie Collins' '' The Woman in White'' (1860); Mrs. Henry Wood's '' East Lynne'' (1861); and Mary Elizabeth Braddon's '' Lady Audley's Secret'' (1862). Perhaps the earliest use of the term "sensation fiction" as a name for such novels appears in the 1861 edition of the ''Saunders, Otley, & co.'s Literary Budget.'' Sensation novels were the precursor of pulp fiction, which were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955.

Definition

The Victorian sensation novel has been variously defined as a "novel-with-a-secret" and as the sort of novel that combines "romance and realism" in a way that "strains both modes to the limit". More recently, Anna Peak has suggested that the Victorians themselves identified a wide range of works as "sensation novels" and that the connecting characteristic is the way such works represent lower-class characters: "one way of thinking of the sensation novel is as a genre that disrupts a middle-class perspective, whereas realist novels (that famously middle-class genre), even when including lower-class characters, deal with them in a way that usually does not similarly disrupt a middle-class perspective."

Influences

Wilkie Collins Vanity Fair 3 February 1872

Sensation novelists drew on the influences of

Gothicism Gothicism or Gothism ( ; ) was an ethno-cultural ideology and cultural movement in Sweden, which took honor in being a Swede, for being purportedly related to the Goths. This was a result of a resolute decades long effort from Swedish writers, ...

, and the Newgate novel to explore themes considered provocative by societal norms and to question the artificiality of identity. In the 1860s, the sensation novels and theatre became closely intertwined; many of the famous sensation novelists wrote as well for the stage. Dickens, Reade, and Collins all wrote and acted for the theatre, and the stage helped many novelists gain recognition as authors. Peter Brooks defines melodrama as an attempt "to find, to articulate, to demonstrate, to 'prove' the existence of a moral universe which, though put into question, masked by villainy and perversions of judgement, does exist and can be made to assert its presence. The Gothic influence on the sensation novel is described by Laurence Talairach-Vielmas thus:

secrecy and the body go hand in hand, and the more sensation novels highlight the elusiveness or artificiality of human identity, the more hair-raising Gothic loci appear as the ultimate place where fragment of truth can be recollected and reunited and story rewritten.Talairach-Vielmas, Laurence. "Sensation Fiction: A Peep Behind the Veil." The Victorian Gothic. Ed. Smith, Andrew, and William Hughes. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University, 2012. 29-42. Print

A common Gothic influence seen in the sensation novels is the search for a secret. Moreover, crime scenes at wells or near water are symbolic of the "depth" which is a key element of

Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...

. The sensation novel puts a modern spin on the classic Gothic ghost stories by placing the stories in contemporary settings and this produces the effect of creating a terror that is real and believable. Le Fanu's story, "

Green Tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...

", is exemplary of the sensation novelists desire to explore the path less trodden. The main character, Jennings, inadvertently opens up an inner eye that can see the spiritual world after consuming too much green tea. Sensation novels drew influence as well from the Newgate novels that were popular during the 1830s and 40s; similarly to the sensation novel, Newgate novels created much controversy and debate. Authors of both genres found inspiration in newspaper police reports; the crime mysteries of the sensation novels, however, were less interested in actually catching the criminal and instead focused more on the criminal's identity and how they became a criminal.

Themes and reception

Typically the sensation novel focused on shocking subject matter including adultery, robbery, disguise, revenge, kidnapping, insanity,

bigamy In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their mar ...

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific mens rea, intent to wikt:defraud#English, defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be fo ...

, seduction and murder. It distinguished itself from other contemporary genres, including the

Gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean ...

, by setting these themes in ordinary, familiar and often domestic settings, thereby undermining the common Victorian-era assumption that sensational events were something foreign and divorced from comfortable middle-class life. W. S. Gilbert satirised these works in his 1871

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

'' A Sensation Novel''. For Anthony Trollope, however, the best novels should be "at the same time realistic and sensational...and both in the highest degree". When sensation novels burst upon a quiescent England these novels became immediate best sellers, surpassing all previous book sales records. However, highbrow critics writing in academic journals of the day decried the phenomenon and criticized its practitioners (and readers) in the harshest terms;

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

perhaps providing the most thoughtful criticism in his 'Fiction – Fair and Foul'.I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 844 Some scholars speculate that the notoriety of the genre may have contributed to its popularity. Henry Longueville Mansel from the '' Quarterly'' described the sensation novel as "extremely provocative of that sensation in the palate and throat which is a premonitory symptom of nausea".Hughes, Winifred. ''The Maniac in the Cellar''. Princeton: Princeton University, 1980. Print.

Notable examples

* '' The Woman in White'' (1860), Wilkie Collins * '' East Lynne'' (1861), Mrs Henry Wood * '' The Trail of the Serpent'' (1861), Mary Elizabeth Braddon * ''The Old Roman Well'' (1861), Anonymous * '' Lady Audley's Secret'' (1862), Mary Elizabeth Braddon * ''Ashcombe Churchyard'' (1862), Evelyn Benson * ''Passages in the Life of a Fast Young Lady'' (1862), Elizabeth Caroline Grey * '' No Name'' (1862), Wilkie Collins * '' Aurora Floyd'' (1863), Mary Elizabeth Braddon * ''Nobly False'' (1863), James M'Grigor Allan * ''The Shadow of Ashlydyat'' (1864), Mrs Henry Wood * '' Uncle Silas'' (1864), Sheridan Le Fanu * '' Griffith Gaunt'' (1865–66), Charles Reade * '' Armadale'' (1866), Wilkie Collins * '' Cometh Up as a Flower'' (1867), Rhoda Broughton * '' Foul Play'' (1869), Charles Reade * ''Cora, or, The Romance of Three Years'' (1869), Gertrude Fenton * '' Man and Wife'' (1870), Wilkie Collins * '' A Terrible Temptation'' (1871), Charles Reade * '' Desperate Remedies'' (1871), Thomas Hardy * '' The Law and the Lady'' (1875), Wilkie Collins * '' The Cloven Foot'' (1879), Mary Elizabeth Braddon * '' The Black Robe'' (1881) Wilkie Collins * '' Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' (1886),

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

* '' The Venetians'' (1893) Mary Elizabeth Braddon * '' Trilby (novel)'' (1894),

George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch (magazine), Punch'' and a Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Trilby (novel), Trilby'', featuring the char ...

Legacy

Neo-Victorian novels, such as Celia Fremlin's ''The Hours Before Dawn'' (1958) and Eleanor Catton's '' The Luminaries'' (2013), have been seen to draw on the conventions of sensation fiction. ''The Luminaries'' includes uses of "suspect wills and forged documents, secret marriages, illegitimacy and

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

". Sarah Waters stated that her third novel '' Fingersmith'' ( Virago Press, 2002) is meant as a tribute to the sensational novel genre.Sensational stories - Sarah Waters on the echoes of 'sensation novels' in ''Fingersmith''
The Guardian - 17 June 2006.

References

External links

Sensation
BBC Radio 4 discussion with John Mullan, Lyn Pykett & Dinah Birch (''In Our Time'', Nov. 6, 2003) 1860s neologisms Literary genres