Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture

Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture, volume 51, explores the complexities of eighteenth-century communities through groundbreaking research in various disciplines. It examines how artworks, literature, and cultural practices shaped moral spectatorship, challenged ideological prejudices, and fostered new forms of friendship. The volume also includes contributions from scholars exploring Daniel Defoe's ideas about individualism, community, and religious instruction.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 12 July 2022
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Focusing on the intricate ways in which communities are established, volume 51 of Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture presents groundbreaking research across all the disciplines that constitute eighteenth-century studies. In an engaging article, Aaron Santesso and David Rosen delve into the ongoing debates over critique by uncovering a theory of ethical reading rooted in liberalism. Similarly, Jesslyn Whittell interprets Christopher Smart's Jubilate Agno as a seminal precursor to contemporary experimental poetry.

Turning our attention to communities formed around artworks, Aaron Gabriel Montalvo analyzes Joseph Highmore's Pamela paintings for their role in inculcating new forms of moral spectatorship. Stacey Jocoy demonstrates how Robert Burns's ballad collections manipulated both tunes and lyrics to shape a new vision of Scottish culture. Renee Bryzik explores the role of asymmetrical friendships in eighteenth-century novels in dismantling ideological prejudices influenced by settler colonialism. Nathan D. Brown presents a comprehensive history of sweetness that extends beyond Caribbean plantations by reassessing the hopes vested in maple sugar. Dario Galvão argues that Buffon distinguished humans from animals by virtue of the former's capacity for dominance, while Noel Chevalier focuses on the ways in which pirates served as monstrous embodiments of commercial corruption.

This volume of SECC also features contributions from Li Qi Peh, Maximillian E. Novak, and Judith Stuchiner that explore Daniel Defoe's thoughts on individualism, community, and religious instruction. The volume concludes with a collection of short essays addressing the methodological challenges posed by Daniel O Quinn.

Weight: 544g
Dimension: 158 x 235 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781421443423