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DESCRIPTION:Explore a Victorian-era newspaper phenomenon called “The Agony 
 Columns.” Characterized by anonymity\, lack of censorship\, and encryption
 \, the “agonies” rapidly became some of the most widely-read texts in Vict
 orian England. Encoded messages were often featured in the columns\, writt
 en and enjoyed by forlorn lovers\, cunning criminals\, savvy detectives\, 
 and newspaper readers who reveled in the dramas unfolding on the newspaper
 s’ front pages. This exhibition seeks to recount some of the encrypted sto
 ries of the Times\, understand their influence on Victorian society\, and 
 explore their lasting fascination.\n\nBy 1855\, newspapers had become expo
 nentially more available and affordable to Victorian Britons with the repe
 al of the stamp tax and newspaper duty. In an increasingly saturated marke
 tplace\, newspapers began to vie with another popular form of print media 
 for readers’ attention: the novel. From then forward\, newspapers and nove
 ls entered a sustained a dialogue that would have wide-ranging effects on 
 their mutual development. While authors began to incorporate aspects of ne
 wspaper culture into their novels\, newspapers capitalized on the themes a
 nd narratives of sensation fiction to bolster readerly interest.\n\nIn the
  exhibition cases\, you will encounter different stories shared by Victori
 an newspapers and sensation novels over the course of their mutual develop
 ment. On the touch table\, you can try your own hand at becoming a Victori
 an consulting detective to decipher a mystery hidden in plain sight in tha
 t most popular column of the newspaper: the Agony Column.\n\nThe ‘narrativ
 e turn’ of nineteenth-century newspapers toward the sensational is nowhere
  more apparent than in the widely popular ‘Agony Column’ of The Times\, wh
 ich published anonymous submissions from correspondents across the British
  Empire. Cryptic in nature and occasionally veiled in code\, by the mid-18
 50s the Agony Column had grown into a bona fide sensation. Serial readers 
 of agonies were captivated by the often mysterious and sometimes sordid st
 ories unfolding in extended exchanges\, returning day after day as narrati
 ves slowly emerged.\n\nThe exhibition is accessible during the opening hou
 rs of the McLennan Library Building. See details here: https://www.mcgill.
 ca/library/services/hours \n\nAbout the curators\n\nCiphers of The Times i
 s a SSHRC-funded research project that investigates the Agony Columns of V
 ictorian newspapers and their influence on Victorian society and literatur
 e. Using an interdisciplinary methodology of computational analysis and cl
 ose reading we seek to interrogate and expand existing understandings of h
 ow the newspaper featured in Victorian novels.\n\nThe team is led by Natha
 lie Cooke and supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Cou
 ncil of Canada and the McGill Library. Explore the Project website: https:
 //libraryponders.github.io/about.html\n\n \n\n \n
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230110
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230404
LOCATION:main floor lobby\, McLennan Library Building\, CA\, QC\, Montreal\
 , H3A 0C9\, 3459 rue McTavish
SUMMARY:Exhibit | News and Novel Sensations
URL:https://www.mcgill.ca/channels/channels/event/exhibit-news-and-novel-se
 nsations-344248
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