2016 Annual Conference of the British Association for Victorian Studies
An interdisciplinary conference bringing together scholars, researchers, and enthusiasts from across the globe to examine the complexity of Victorian consumption, from the emergence of modern markets to the ways in which the nineteenth century continues to shape contemporary culture.
Three days of panels, workshops, and plenary sessions dedicated to Victorian studies.
Distinguished scholars presented lectures on topics ranging from George Eliot and the neo-Victorian imagination, the late-Victorian violin craze, to the global dimensions of Victorian consumer culture.
Over 330 academics, postgraduate researchers, and early career scholars gathered for a series of open and themed panel discussions exploring Victorian consumption from multiple disciplinary perspectives.
Specialist workshops on illustration and editing were complemented by a reception at the National Museum Cardiff and a guided tour of Cardiff Castle, featuring interiors designed by the Victorian architect William Burges.
The conference featured plenary addresses by three leading Victorianists.
University of Manchester
Exploring George Eliot and the neo-Victorian imagination in contemporary literature.
University of Illinois
Examining the late-Victorian "violin craze" and its cultural significance in consumer society.
Birkbeck College, London
Investigating the global aspects of Victorian consumer culture and its lasting worldwide impact.
The Victorian age saw the emergence of what many scholars recognise as "modern" consumer culture. Across urban life, commerce, literature, art, science and medicine, entertainment, and the growing leisure and tourist industries, the nineteenth century witnessed a dramatic transformation of everyday experience.
The expansion of new mass markets and the proliferation of novel goods opened up pleasurable and democratising forms of consumption. At the same time, these developments raised anxieties about urban space, the blurring of social and gendered boundaries, the perceived pollution of domestic and public life, and the moral and social health of the nation.
"Consuming (the) Victorians" addressed these themes from an interdisciplinary standpoint. The conference brought together research on literature, history, art, material culture, science, and performance to explore how Victorian consumer cultures operated, and to consider how contemporary society continues to consume, reimagine, and reinterpret the Victorians.
Updates, reflections, and research on Victorian consumer culture.
8th January 2026 · Retrospective
Nearly a decade has passed since over 330 scholars gathered at Cardiff University for the BAVS 2016 conference, "Consuming (the) Victorians." The event brought together a remarkable diversity of perspectives on Victorian consumer culture, and the themes explored during those three days in late August and early September 2016 have continued to resonate and develop in the years since.
Read more →14th June 2024 · Digital Humanities
The digital revolution has transformed nearly every area of academic research, and Victorian studies is no exception. Resources such as The Victorian Web, which has been providing freely accessible scholarly material on the Victorian period for over two decades, exemplify the possibilities that digital platforms offer for the study and dissemination of nineteenth-century culture.
Read more →22nd November 2021 · Research
One of the defining characteristics of Victorian studies as a field has been its commitment to interdisciplinary inquiry. From its earliest days, the study of the nineteenth century has drawn together scholars of literature, history, art, science, religion, and philosophy, recognising that the richness and complexity of the Victorian period cannot be adequately captured from any single disciplinary perspective.
Read more →15th March 2019 · Architecture
Among the many architectural treasures of Wales, Cardiff Castle stands as one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic Revival design anywhere in Britain. The castle's extraordinary interiors, created by the architect William Burges between 1868 and 1881, remain a powerful testament to the ambition and artistry of the Victorian period.
Read more →12th October 2016 · Conference Review
More than a month has passed since the closing session of the 2016 annual conference of the British Association for Victorian Studies, held at Cardiff University from 31st August to 2nd September. With over 330 delegates in attendance, the event brought together a remarkable breadth of scholarship on the theme of "Consuming (the) Victorians."
Read more →18th July 2016 · Victorian History
As the British Association for Victorian Studies prepares for its 2016 annual conference at Cardiff University, the theme of "Consuming (the) Victorians" invites scholars to reconsider the profound changes that took place in British commercial life during the nineteenth century. The Victorian era witnessed a transformation in how goods were produced, marketed, and purchased.
Read more →