Autonomous Voices
An Exploration of Polyphony in the Novels of Samuel Richardson
Published on 29. September 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
236 pages
978-3-906769-80-6 (ISBN)
Description
The novels of Samuel Richardson are the essential topic of this book. Its main aim is to use Bakhtin's definition of polyphony as a way into Richardson's work and, in turn, to provide a basis from which to revise Bakhtin.
After tracing the development of psychological realism in the eighteenth-century novel and the growing potential for autonomy in the fictional character in general, the book goes on to examine the potential for polyphony which first emerges in Pamela and reaches its height in Clarissa.
Between editions of this momentous novel, Richardson felt compelled to make frantic attempts to control the reader's interpretation of the text. Lovelace - the villain of Clarissa - acquires a degree of autonomy that bears startlingly vivid testimony to the plurality of human identity itself. Sir Charles Grandison, Richardson's last novel, is a vivid retreat from the powerful effect of Lovelace.
After tracing the development of psychological realism in the eighteenth-century novel and the growing potential for autonomy in the fictional character in general, the book goes on to examine the potential for polyphony which first emerges in Pamela and reaches its height in Clarissa.
Between editions of this momentous novel, Richardson felt compelled to make frantic attempts to control the reader's interpretation of the text. Lovelace - the villain of Clarissa - acquires a degree of autonomy that bears startlingly vivid testimony to the plurality of human identity itself. Sir Charles Grandison, Richardson's last novel, is a vivid retreat from the powerful effect of Lovelace.
More details
Person
The Author: Alex Townsend was born in 1970. He was educated at the University of East Anglia in Norwich and the University of Kent at Canterbury, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1999. He currently teaches English language and literature to college students and continues to pursue ambitions in both academic and creative writing.
Content
Contents: The Emergence of Polyphony in 18th Century Fiction - Clarissa: Minor Characters and the Constraints on Polyphony - The Autonomy of Lovelace - Sir Charles Grandison: The Preclusion of Polyphony.