Call for Papers: Victorian Popular Fictions Journal on Human–Animal Relations in Victorian Popular Literature and Culture, Submit Now
Guest-edited by Bethany Dahlstrom and Helena Esser
Victorian popular fiction is replete with animals – racing horses, loyal dogs, caged birds, exotic creatures, and anthropomorphic companions. These beings carried immense symbolic significance: they could function as status symbols, metaphors for the body or soul, expressions of sentiment, or instruments of moral instruction. Animals also frequently offered a lens through which Victorians addressed issues surrounding empire, industrialisation, science, social mobility, and domesticity. In popular fiction, animals were not merely background – they were moral barometers, class indicators, narrative devices, and symbols of broader anxieties regarding industrialisation, gender roles, and empire. This issue invites new critical perspectives on the cultural significance, narrative functions, and symbolic roles of animals in popular texts.
This special issue of the Victorian Popular Fictions Journal invites contributions on the varied roles and representations of animals in popular fiction and culture during the Victorian period. We particularly welcome submissions that focus on companion animals, in various interpretations of the phrase, although all animal studies are encouraged.
Submissions may adopt literary-critical, historical, or interdisciplinary approaches, provided they remain relevant to Victorian popular fiction. We encourage contributions that engage with popular texts of all kinds – from well-known authors (e.g. Sewell, Kingsley, Dickens) to lesser-known serials, periodicals, penny dreadfuls, or children’s stories.
Abstracts of c.400 words and a brief, 50-word biographical note should be sent to Dr Bethany Dahlstrom and Dr Helena Esser at VPFAnimals@gmail.com by 10th May 2026.
For more details, refer here
