ENGLISH

Jonathan Swift and Popular Culture: Myth, Media, and the Man

By Ann Cline Kelly (auth.)

Book information

Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan US
Year
2002
ISBN
978-0-230-60234-2, 978-1-137-08264-0
DOI
10.1007/978-1-137-08264-0
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
26 MB (27120617 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
XI, 244\251
Time added
2017-06-25 01:07:36
Literary Theory; Cultural Theory; British and Iris

Description

Ann Kelly's provocative book breaks the mold of Swift studies. Twentieth century Swift scholars have tended to assess Jonathan Swift as a pillar of the eighteenth-century 'republic of letter', a conservative, even reactionary voice upholding classical values against the welling tide of popularization in literature. Kelly looks at Swift instead as a practical exponent of the popular and impressario of the literary image. She argues that Swift turned his back on the elite to write for a popular audience, and that he annexed scandals to his fictionalized print alter ego, creating a continual demand for works by or about this self-mythologized figure. A fascinating look at print culture, the commodification of the author, and the history of popular culture, this book should provoke lots of discussion.

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