Call that Reading? Creative Approaches to Literary Studies and Literary Heritage
Carolyn W. de la L. Oulton
Abstract
This essay seeks to reconfigure the disciplinary boundaries between English, Creative Writing and Heritage, through their shared commitment to place-making as a form of story-telling. Specifically, it argues for the inclusion of English in the group of disciplines collectively known as the “Creative Industries.” It aims to provide a toolkit for researchers and teachers working in or across these disciplines, helping to interrogate and collapse boundaries between them. To this end, the essay is structured in three parts: Museums, Literary Pilgrimage for Victorianists and Creative Writing. Each section includes case studies and creative responses, to open up new ways of researching and interpreting the literary text. The essay ends with a call to action, proposing the university campus itself as a site where students can create their own “Museum of ‘What if…’”
Keywords
Creative Writing; Dickens; Heritage; literary tourism; museums; Creative Industries, place
Date of Acceptance: 7 July 2025
Date of Publication: 10 July 2025
Double Blind Peer Reviewed
Recommended Citation:
Oulton, Carolyn W. de la L. 2025. “Call That Reading? Creative Approaches to Literary Studies and Literary Heritage.” Victorian Popular Fictions, 7.1: 1-22. ISSN: 2632-4253 (online) DOI: https://doi.org/10.46911/TBOC4645
Return to Contents page of VPFJ 7.1
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
