The Epistolary Novel: Representations of Consciousness - Rilegato

Bray, Joe

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0415306108 ISBN 13: 9780415306102

Casa editrice: Routledge, 2003

Riassunto

The epistolary novel is a form which has been neglected in most accounts of the development of the novel. This book argues that the way that the eighteenth-century epistolary novel represented consciousness had a significant influence on the later novel.
Critics have drawn a distinction between the self at the time of writing and the self at the time at which events or emotions were experienced. This book demonstrates that the tensions within consciousness are the result of a continual interaction between the two selves of the letter-writer and charts the oscillation between these two selves in the epistolary novels of, amongst others, Aphra Behn, Eliza Haywood, Samuel Richardson, Fanny Burney and Charlotte Smith.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Joe Bray lectures in Literary Stylistics at the University of Stirling, having previously held positions at the Universities of Strathclyde, Cambridge and Luton. He has published on Samuel Richardson and Jane Austen and is co-editor of Ma(r)king the Text: The Presentation of Meaning on the Literary Page (Ashgate, 2000).

Product Description:

The epistolary novel is a form which has been neglected in most accounts of the development of the novel. This book argues that the way that the eighteenth-century epistolary novel represented consciousness had a significant influence on the later novel. It is often assumed that letter-writers do little more than jot down their thoughts as they write. In fact, the letters studied here reveal complex tensions within the divided minds of their writers. The close stylistic analysis presented in this study suggests that the epistolary novel can probe individual psychology in sophisticated depth. Critics have drawn a distinction between the self at the time of writing and the self at the time at which events or emotions were experienced. This book demonstrates that the tensions within consciousness are the result of a continual interaction between the two selves of the letter-writer and charts the oscillation between these two selves in the epistolary novels of, amongst others, Aphra Behn, Eliza Haywood, Samuel Richardson, Fanny Burney and Charlotte Smith. The final chapter analyses the subtle way in which Jane Austen represents the consciousness of her characters. This study argues that, like many later novelists, Austen is indebted to the psychological tension and inner conflict which is characteristic of the epistolary novel.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Routledge
• Data di pubblicazione: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0415306108
• ISBN 13: 9780415306102
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 160