The Literature of Controversy: Polemical Strategy from Milton to Junius

The Literature of Controversy is a collection of essays by scholars from Britain, the United States, and Australia on major works from a classic epoch of English controversial prose. It explores how the constituents of texts are organized to coax, cajole, persuade, or inspire readers, accepting the validity of paying regard to the author and his intentions and engaging questions about the responses of the readership.

Format: Hardback
Length: 186 pages
Publication date: 30 November 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

First published in 1987, The Literature of Controversy is a comprehensive collection of essays by scholars from Britain, the United States, and Australia, exploring major works of English controversial prose from a classic era. Each essay delves into a single text or series of texts, focusing more on the rhetorical techniques employed for political manipulation than discussing the ideas and arguments themselves. While the emphasis may vary among contributions, the overarching goal is to examine the organization of these texts in order to persuade, cajole, or inspire their intended audiences.

The editor of this collection argues in his introduction that the critique of polemical strategy, which adopts this approach, largely accepts the validity of considering the author's intentions. It engages with questions about the responses of the readership targeted by these texts and employs intertextuality to reconstruct the controversies in which they were embedded and the codes within which they operated.

This book holds immense interest for students of literature, rhetoric, and history, offering valuable insights into the complex interplay of language, power, and persuasion in historical contexts.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032357751