Title: The Metaphor of Imperial Crisis: The Seascape in Late Victorian British Sea Novels

Abstract: Seascape is not only a visual representation related to the sea or sea life, but also an objective existence with a social function. In late Victorian British sea novels, the decadent ship which owns the metaphorical effect of “the ship of state” stands for the national governance crisis; the image of the decaying seaport implies the marine commercial crisis with its decaying commercial atmosphere; the exotic scenery which focuses on “the civilized other” and “the barbaric self” highlights the colonial culture crisis. Studying on the seascape in late Victorian British sea novels helps explore its metaphorical function in national image, social order and colonial culture, and reveals the reasons why the British empire fell into crisis in the late 19th century.

Keywords: the late Victorian period, British sea novels, seascape, metaphor, imperial crisis

Author: Yingling Deng, Professor, School of Foreign Languages, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Jiaxuan Shi, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Foreign Languages, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

DOI: 10.19967/j.cnki.flc.2022.04.002