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Writing the City and Loss in the Work of Thomas De Quincey

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Abstract

This essay focuses on the ways in which De Quincey engages with the city, in fiction, essays and autobiographical writings, particularly in terms of the idea of loss. This is explored through a sense of passing in both time and space, in the lost moments and encounters within a certain space, as well as through the concept of fractured communities. Reading De Quincey’s essays, autobiography and gothic novels together builds a picture of how this preoccupation with loss influences his writing, and how his engagement with modernity and the developing metropolis is related to this.

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Correspondence to Nicola Bowring .

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Bowring, N. (2021). Writing the City and Loss in the Work of Thomas De Quincey. In: Bloom, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Gothic Origins. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84562-9_14

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