Define "Victorian"

[thisispoki]

 I was listening to Radio-4 this morning, on my way to work. They were talking about the Brothers Grimm tales, and one of the academics said that there was no mention of middle classes in the stories because there was little chance of that class of person in Victorian times being able to affect their station, until one of the brothers was able to

Comments

[fnordius]

Actually, I've heard a lot of terms for that period of time, but Germans tend to use "Victorian" to refer to a style, not a period of time. Also due to "Steampunk" fashions originating in English-speaking countries.

The more common terms that I have seen used here are "Biedermeier" (suggesting a sort of bourgeois mindset) and Jugendstil (more like art deco).

England actually did play a large role in the industrial revolution, due to its insular separation from the rest of Europe. France was still reeling from the aftershocks of the Revolution, then Napoleon, then the rest of Europe forcing the French to accept a king again, and so on. And Germany didn't exist until Bismarck manoeuvred the other states into accepting Prussia and the Hohenzollerns as the empire's rulers. So yeah, England had a head start on the industrial revolution, and it wasn't until the last quarter of the 19th century that the other nations had caught up.

The British Empire also had two other dominating factors, in that it was the largest global empire, covering huge swaths of Africa, North America (they still had Canada) and Asia. The other European powers were far behind in the game of empire. The other factor was that Britain managed to maintain a dominant culture at home. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was as large in some ways, but too diverse in culture and taste. The French were as homogeneous, but not as interested as spreading their particular culture to the "heathens".

I think you'll have to face it: "Victorian" has become equal to terms like "Baroque" and "Rococo", or "Bauhaus" for that matter. The further we get from the time when the fashion was at its height, the less important it becomes as a time frame and instead becomes a term for a fashion style.