MS/150/40/004 [Video file]
Citation: Phillips, Julia A. "The Golden Bough and the Press." Paper presented at the Shaking the Tree, Breaking the Bough: Frazer's Golden Bough at 100, Melbourne, Australia, February 10, 2023. In New Age Movements, Occultism, and Spiritualism Research Library. Archives and Special Collections. Valdosta State University. Valdosta, GA.
- Author: Phillips, Julia A.
- Summary: Part of the appeal for Frazer's work – both academic and populist – was that the Victorian age introduced ideas about evolution, and especially the concept of ‘New Imperialism' and authoritative rationalism, which placed Britain at the apex of human development. Frazer and his contemporaries such as Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer captured the public imagination in Victorian Britain by promoting these ideas of New Imperialism, capitalizing on the opportunities provided by a flourishing newspaper industry to reach a wide and diverse audience. The dramatic growth of the press in Victorian Britain was partly a consequence of societal changes affecting and guiding the content that newspapers published, but it was also influenced by the introduction of ‘new journalism,' a populist style that was designed to entertain as well as educate. As a result, The Golden Bough frequently appeared in newspapers in the form of reviews, lectures, and correspondence, which gave Frazer a high public profile in the press in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Critics have pointed to flaws in his methodology, his inaccuracy, and his overly universalizing tendencies, but as I will show in this paper, the widespread exposure provided to both Frazer and his work by newspapers in the nineteenth and twentieth century achieved a populist appeal that continues to the present day.
- Subjects: Press--Great Britain--Influence; Frazer, James George, 1854-1941.; Frazer, James George, 1854-1941. Golden bough;
- Genre: Conference papers and proceedings; Literary criticism;
- Additional Authors: Shaking the Tree, Breaking the Bough: Frazer's Golden Bough at 100 (Conference); Tully, Caroline Jane; Budin, Stephanie Lynn; University of Melbourne;
- YouTubeURL: https://youtu.be/WPH3gEMZiKw
- UUID: 31FE0B33-863E-B386-4E02-11E9A85D55E0
- File: `ms150-40-004_phillips-julia_victorian-gentleman_2023-02-10.mp4` Bytes: 782334348 MD5: 2BECAC4CA886A9FFA255F14BBB87305A