Dr. Matthew Skiwat, Assistant Professor in the English Department, has recently contributed two significant articles to leading journals in nineteenth-century studies. His work continues to expand scholarly conversations around genre, performance, and historical representation in British literature and culture.
In March 2025, Dr. Skwiat published “Trans-Generic Transformation: Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, and the Pantomime Theatre” in Nineteenth-Century Contexts: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Appearing in a special issue entitled Trans Turns, the article examines how Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe intersected with pantomime theatre, exploring the ways literary and theatrical genres shaped one another in the early nineteenth century.
The following month, in April 2025, his article “Feeling History: Thomas Carlyle, the French Revolution, and the Melodramatic Mode” appeared in Victorian Review. This study analyzes how Carlyle’s writing about the French Revolution employed melodramatic techniques to communicate both the emotional weight and political urgency of historical events.
Together, these publications reflect Dr. Skwiat’s commitment to investigating how nineteenth-century writers engaged with performance and genre to make sense of history, culture, and collective identity. His scholarship enriches the field while offering Morehouse students valuable insights into the power of literature to interpret and reimagine the past.