Aura and Authenticity in the Presentation of UK Literary Figures through the Medium of the Home

Abstract

By exploring case studies from the UK, this paper investigates how the notions of aura and authenticity at literary homes are utilised to create an impact on the understanding of the lives and works of associated writers. The boundaries of this paper have been dictated by its place within twenty-first century manifestations of the survival, conservation and reproduction of literary homes associated with four writers active in the early nineteenth century: Lord Byron, John Keats, Sir Walter Scott and Percy Shelley. Many of the works within the literary house genre highlight the significance of the link between writers and their audiences. However, whereas commentators concentrate on the links being direct, this paper shows that the association is based on narratives validated through those who were subsequently responsible for the houses in conjunction with the expectations of visitors. Consequently, the interpretation prevalent in the houses in the twenty-first century are the result of a long history based on the writers, but influenced by what was, and is, considered their significance by others over approximately two hundred years.