Dr. Clare Pettitt

Biography

Clare Pettitt is a professor at the University of Cambridge specializing in the study of the nineteenth century, particularly the concept of 'seriality' and its importance in the context of Western modernity. Her research explores how serializing culture corresponded with shifts in historical and social time during the Regency and early Victorian periods in Britain. She has authored several influential books, including 'Serial Forms: Unfinished Project Modernity, 1815-1848' (Oxford University Press, 2020) and '1848 Serial Revolutions: Writing, Politics, Form' (Oxford University Press, 2022), both examining the political implications of literary forms and serial events. In her work, she investigates the emergence of racial science and technologies of white supremacy during the mid-nineteenth century alongside the development of electronic and digital communication. Her notable publications include 'Patent Inventions: Intellectual Property in the Victorian Novel' (2004) and 'Dr Livingstone, Presume?': Missionaries, Journalists, Explorers and Empire (2007), which critically examine the role of media and print in constructing narratives of empire and history. Currently, she is collaborating with Professor Caroline Arscott on 'Germinal Matter: Idylls, Ecospheres, Art and Literature in the 1860s,' focusing on transformative ideas of biological growth and aesthetic practices during this pivotal decade.

Research Interests