‘Victoriana’s Secret’:

Emilie Autumn’s Burlesque Performance of Subcultural Neo-Victorianism

Abstract

This article discusses the neo-Victorian transmedia performance of Emilie Autumn, in the light of the “disproportionate attention” given to sensationalist tropes in feminist and queer criticism (Kohlke and Gutleben 2010: 23). Her burlesque performance may, on the one hand, be criticised as commodified neo-Victorianism, but, on the other hand, it can be seen as disturbing the bland heritage formulae still governing many neo-Victorian adaptations. Autumn comes in various guises that give rise to a plethora of fan engagement and foster controversy and publicity, such as her autobiographical neo-Victorian novel, An Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls (2009), her music albums, such as Enchant (2003), Opheliac (2006) or Fight Like a Girl (2012), songs (‘Miss Lucy Had Some Leeches’), poems and performances and tours in the USA and Europe. Addressing Autumn as an example of ‘performative’ neo-Victorianism, this article asks the same question that Christine Ferguson has posed with reference to steampunk subcultures: should her transmedia personae be described as an apolitical surface style or is there any substantial subcultural commitment in her contemporary adaptations of Victorianism?