About the lecture

In this module, we provide a general background to the novel and the socio-political context of the mid-nineteenth century. In particular, we think about the extent to which Hard Times engages with the same kinds of issues as Marx raises in his Communist Manifesto, published just six years before in 1848.

About the lecturer

Alfie Bown is Lecturer in Digital Media Culture and Technology at Royal Holloway, University of London. His principle research interests are in psychoanalysis, digital media, critical theory and videogames, though he has also published in nineteenth-century studies, film studies and medieval studies. He is author of The Playstation Dreamworld (2017) and In the Event of Laughter (2018) among other things. His most recent book is an edited collection of essays entitled Post-Memes: Seizing the Memes of Production (2019).