About the Book
Exploring how 18th-century forms and narrative are taken-up, recycled and re-visioned in contemporary media, this book asks which histories are told and by whom. Through essays from international and multidisciplinary scholars and interviews with industry professionals, The 18th Century Today asks what function modern media performs when depicting the 18th century in our current world. Can such works speak to perceived 18th-century ideas and values and, simultaneously, the shifting paradigms of our own time? How, and why, should we engage?
Highlighting how contemporary depictions of the past give marginalised lives greater visibility, the role genre plays in re-enacting or re-interpreting 18th-century culture, and the potential for modern adaptation to transmute and transcend historical suffering, the essays in this volume dig into adaptation across theatre, film, prose fiction, television and games. Covering works such as The Great, Belle, Bridgerton and Black Sails among many others, this book is both reflection and celebration, an acknowledgement of the 18th century's traumatic legacies alongside a sense of contemporary culture's capacity for transformation, renewal and justice.
Table of Contents:
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction, Emrys D. Jones (King's College London, UK) and Madeleine Pelling (University of York, UK)
Section One: Anachronism and Absurdity
1. "Huzzah!": Anachronism and the Weird Eighteenth Century in The Great, Stephanie Russo (Macquarie University, Australia)
2. Queer Currents: Period Absurdism and Lesbian Possibilities in 21st Century Period Drama, Madeleine Saidenberg (University of Oxford, UK)
Industry Interviews: Polly Putnam (Collections Curator, Historic Royal Palaces and Historical Consultant, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story); Anthony Delaney (Actor and author, Queer Georgians)
Section Two: Recuperating Experience
3. Black Lives Remade: Enlightenment History and the Pop Aesthetic, James Ward (Ulster University, UK)
4. Revolution and Sovereignty on the American Stage, Laurie Arnold (Gonzaga University, USA)
Industry Interviews: Joanna Brown (author, as J. T. Williams of Lizzie and Belle Mysteries); Anni Domingo (novelist, actor and director, Chair of Theatre Peckham)
Section Three: Reworking Genre
5. "I'll have Belle for my wife, make no mistake about that": Courtship and Coercion in Beauty and the Beast, Meghan K. Roberts (Bowdoin College, USA)
6. Gaming the Letter: Affective Mediation from the 18th Century Familiar Letter to Kind Words (Lo Fi Chill Beats to Write to) (2019), Jack Orchard (University of Oxford, UK)
7. "You are to be fitted for a new wardrobe": Sartorial Politics on Screen and Beyond in Netflix's Bridgerton, Elizabeth Spencer (University of York)
Industry Interviews: Serena Dyer (Fashion Historian, YouTuber and Presenter); Charlotte Long (Podcast producer, History Hit Network)
Section Four: Happy Endings?
8. "I come as his right hand": Imagining Pirate Disability, Prosthesis, and Interdependence in Black Sails, Alex Tankard (University of Chester, UK)
9. Playable Partners: Spectrums of Queer Possibility in Indie Video Games, Emily C. Friedman (Auburn University, USA) and Emily M.N. Kugler (Howard University, USA)
Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
Madeleine Pelling is a cultural historian, author and award-winning broadcaster. She holds a PhD from the University of York, UK, and has held research fellowships at the universities of Yale, Edinburgh and Manchester. Her books include Writing on the Wall: Graffiti, Rebellion and the Making of Eighteenth-Century Britain (2024), Hoax: A History of Truth, Lies and Enlightenment (2026) and her words appear in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent and BBC History Magazine. She is co-host of History Hit's ARIA-nominated After Dark podcast, and is a regular presenter and expert contributor across television and radio, working with BBC, Channel 4, Sky Arts, Warner Bros, History Hit and Times Radio.
Emrys D. Jones is Senior Lecturer in 18th-Century Literature and Culture at King's College, London, UK. He is the author of Friendship and Allegiance in Eighteenth-Century Literature (2013) and co-editor of essay collections about 18th-century celebrity and sociability. He has written articles and book chapters on a broad range of topics relating to intersections of public and private life in the long 18th century. He also hosted the podcast Pop Enlightenments (2017-2020) and is currently the General Editor of the Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies.
Review :
The Eighteenth Century Today is an innovative approach to the prevalence of the long eighteenth century in contemporary culture. Contributions range from film, television, and gaming to art, theatre, and museums. Essays tackling enduring questions of class, race, gender, and sexuality and interviews with culture-industry professionals make this a timely contribution.
