1. Introduction: Neo-Victorianism on Screen and Postfeminist Media Culture

By engaging with current debates about the uses of cultural memory and cultural nostalgia in contemporary depictions of the past, this chapter locates the monograph in terms of both contemporary debates about postfeminist media culture and the relationship between neo-Victorian studies and adaptation studies. In the process, it introduces key topics that are the focus of this book: the ways in which neo-Victorianism on screen depicts women’s agency, family structures, gender relationships, imperialism and colonial space. In order to account for the vital role that neo-Victorianism on screen plays in the creation of cultural memories of the Victorian era in contemporary media, the phrase ‘neo-Victorian imaginarium’ is proposed as an umbrella term to draw out neo-Victorianism’s dual character: as a dynamic and generative (creative) process that builds upon preceding adaptations, and as an evolving compendium of these generated images.