Original scientific paper
Mother, Wife, Queen: Neo-Victorianism, Postfeminism and the Representation of the Irish Famine in ITV's TV Series Victoria (2017)
Antonija Primorac
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka
Abstract
Biopics and TV series dedicated to the life of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) in British (co)-productions belong mostly to the nostalgically inclined genre of the historical costume drama, and as such avoid a critical rendering of the negative sides of the global British colonial administration, as was the case with the period of the Great Famine in Ireland (1845-1849). Victoria (2016-) TV series of the commercial British ITV is the first to expound on the topic in the course of the sixth episode in the second season by the title „Faith, Hope and Charity“ (2017). The episode caused quite a public uproar in England precisely because the issue of the Great Famine is not studied in English schools. This essay delves into the ways in which the series represents the beginning of the Great Famine in Ireland and shows that the adaptation of historical facts within the biographic series about Queen Victoria loses critical edge not only due to the generic context (historical costume drama about the Monarchy produced in Great Britain) or the theme of the series (biography of Queen Victoria focused on her character and private life) but predominantly due to the context in which the series has arisen—post-feminist media culture in which Victoria as a queen-mother becomes an embodiment of the ideal post-feminist subject.
Keywords
adaptation; biopic/biographical film; costume drama; historical film and TV series; the Great Famine; Ireland; neo-Victorianism; Queen Victoria; postfeminist; trauma
Hrčak ID:
213392
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2018.
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