The Work of Words - by Marcus Waithe (Paperback)

About the Book

Explores the connection between writers' desire to prove that they 'work' and parallel histories of craft and artisanal revival

Book Synopsis

Rather than focus on the well-known 'dignity of literature' debate, whereby authors such as Dickens sought to establish authorship as a middle-class profession, The Work of Words considers the alternative path of middle-class writers who re-presented literature as a manual craft. Unlike many works in the field, it extends beyond the mid-Victorian novel as a generic and historical focus, to address its aesthetic and political afterlife right up to the periods of Guild Socialism, modernism and European fascism. Given the tilt of world trade towards China, and more recent supply chain shocks, it is not just writers who are haunted by a lost world of material production, but much of the de-industrialised West. By studying the Victorian attempt to make composition (and related mental processes) palpable, this book takes the long view on questions that still trouble us, and responds to recent concerns, whether as manifested through the revival of craft and workshop culture, or debates about the visibility, weight and worth of the humanities.

Review Quotes

The Work of Words is an excellent book, notable for its original argument, wealth of examples, depth of knowledge and elegant and quotable style. It is also admirable for the real depth of understanding it brings to the complex political affiliations of the period it describes.--Elizabeth Carolyn Miller, University of California, Davis