ABSTRACT
Rather than treat short stories and serial novels separately, this chapter considers both as short forms prevalent in Victorian publishing and argues for a new theory of short or part formats. The first section reviews recent scholarship on the related concepts of serials, seriality, and series, and surveys databases that make available Victorian serial fiction as well as online projects on reading novels serially. Using Elizabeth Gaskell’s publishing career of over 40 short stories and 3 serial novels, including Cranford, as a case study, I explore patterns across her serial novels and short stories shaped by pauses and narrative suspense. Turning to late-Victorian writers, I trace prominent topics across short forms, including colonialism and empire, motherhood and women’s work, class relations and labor.
