A place in society: the private public of the Persistent Scribblers' Society

This thesis examines the Persistent Scribblers’ Society (P.S.S), a Canterbury based manuscript magazine society of the 1870s, and makes an original contribution to manuscript magazine research. It situates the works of the P.S.S. within wider literary practices to challenge John Stuart Mill’s assertion that until women had a place in society, they could not have a literature of their own, and argues that the liminal space of manuscript magazines constitutes a place in society. This liminal space, although at odds with historical narratives of social agency, constructed and articulated by men, is nevertheless important feminine space that is both socially expansive and enriching, producing a literature which despite its invisibility to wider society is no less agentic. The first chapter considers opportunities for leisure for men and women within Canterbury in the 1870s, looking at the tensions that politics and faith created within the city and how this is reflected in the utilization of public space. In the second chapter, the social model underpinning the P.S.S. is explored to challenge the critical discourse of the public/private spheres, arguing that the liminal space of the “private public” acts as an alternate social space to the public sphere. The third chapter considers Anglican women’s agency and their contribution to faith discourse through manuscript magazines. The
fourth chapter examines the stories and poems of the P.S.S. to understand how members articulate their place in society, arguing that women were able to express their anxieties among their private publics. The final chapter considers the period 1879-1891 and argues that the society had a positive impact on its members allowing space for personal growth.