Annoying the Victorians

Taking as examples a series of Victorian poetry and novels, Kincaid directly addresses the ideology of current critical discourse. He deploys a technique of "bad criticism" - a parody of the rules of good critics - in the quest to challenge the assumptions which guide "good" scholarly criticism.

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"Annoying the Victorians" directly addresses the ideology of current critical discourse. The author deploys a technique of "bad criticsm", a parody of the rules of good critics, in the quest to challenge the assumptions which guide what is considered good scholarly criticism. Looking at a series of Victorian texts, both poetry and novels, "Annoying the Victorians" develops an absurdist criticism, which mocks respect for "the text", the employment of evidence, the appeal to reason, the value of coherence, the solemn tone and importance of everything we do or say. Kincaid presents us with a comic exposure of the price paid for ritual obedience to what is demanded of critics and criticism.