
Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature
Hamish Mathison(Author)
Edinburgh University Press
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-7486-2377-8 (ISBN)
Description
This thorough introduction to English literature of the eighteenth century maps the emergence of the novel onto rich and exciting changes in poetry, drama and popular print. It shows how literary genres and modes were shaped by radical changes in economics and the empire, political and religious culture, the rise of literary criticism and the development of the book trade. It offers essential readings of the work of canonical authors alongside a bigger picture that emphasises the investigation of writers whose work is only now gaining critical attention. The book opens with an introduction to the principal texts followed by an explanation of key terms, in their political, economic and social contexts. Each of the main chapters on poetry, prose fiction, theatre and 'culture of print' tells a story of literary evolution, interrogating extracts from key canonical texts whilst allowing space for a discussion of lesser-known contextual texts and intellectual currents. The book ends with a conclusion that highlights current critical debates in the field, and deals with the tricky bridge between writing of the eighteenth century and Romanticism.
Key Features *A comprehensive and accessible undergraduate introduction to Eighteenth-Century Literature from 1660 to the mid-1790s *Discusses John Milton's Paradise Lost, Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, Aphra Behn's Oroonoko, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Samuel Richardson's Pamela, Lawrence Sterne's Tristram Shandy as well as examples of Restoration drama, satire, song, popular and print culture. *Essential resources and further reading highlighted *Promotes informed engagement with the canon and current critical debates and establishes pathways towards further reading and lesser-known authors
Key Features *A comprehensive and accessible undergraduate introduction to Eighteenth-Century Literature from 1660 to the mid-1790s *Discusses John Milton's Paradise Lost, Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, Aphra Behn's Oroonoko, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Samuel Richardson's Pamela, Lawrence Sterne's Tristram Shandy as well as examples of Restoration drama, satire, song, popular and print culture. *Essential resources and further reading highlighted *Promotes informed engagement with the canon and current critical debates and establishes pathways towards further reading and lesser-known authors
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-7486-2377-8 (9780748623778)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Hamish Mathison is Lecturer in English at the University of Sheffield. He is the author of published articles, a contributor to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, editor, with Angela Wright, of Instruments of Enlightenment, a special issue of History of European Ideas (Elsevier, 2004), and literature reviews editor for the British Journal of Eighteenth-Century Studies.
Content
Chronology; Chapter One: Introduction, Writing in Enlightenment Britain; Writing in Britain; Writing and Reception; Writing in Enlightenment; Chapter Two: Poetry; Overview; Republic, Revolution, Epic; Satire and the 'Augustan'; Town, Country and the Self; Towards the Romantics; Chapter Three: Prose Fiction; Overview; Early prose and the 'proto-novel'; Formal Innovation and the emergence of 'I'; The Best-seller and the Letter; The Gothic and the Sentimental Novel; Maturity and Anxiety: the proto-romantic novel; Chapter Four: Theatre; Overview; Restoration drama; Satire, Song and the Stage; Professional Actors, Popular Theatres; The Stage and popular Culture; Chapter Five: Newspapers, Periodicals and the 'Culture of Print'; Overview; The invention of the newspaper; Reading and Sociability; The Public Sphere and the culture of print; Reporters, politics and the invention of the magazine; Authorship, copyright and the book trade; Chapter Six: Conclusion, After Enlightenment: Current Debates; Overview; Current Trends; Connections forward, connections back; Student Resources; Glossary; Index.