text by Dorota Babilas Cats have experienced a considerable growth in status as companion animals and domestic pets since the nineteenth century. Regarded originally as largely untameable creatures, tolerated because of their function as pest control, they have been welcomed into the parlours and praised for their cleanliness, grace, and vivaciousness while retaining some of […]
text by Lucyna Krawczyk-Żywko Ten years ago, I ran my Victorian Villains Revisited class for the first time. It focuses on contemporary revisions of three figures: ‘Jack the Ripper’, Mr Hyde, and Professor Moriarty. It has been popular with students (who doesn’t like a good villain?), and yet, this year, while prepping the ‘Jack the […]
text by Agnieszka Sienkiewicz-Charlish 2024 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of James Hogg’s seminal work, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. James Hogg (1770–1835), often referred to as the “Ettrick Shepherd”, was a Scottish poet, novelist, and essayist who came from a humble rural background. Born into a family of […]
