The present study is the first monograph dedicated to Jonathan Swift's sermons. As critics have noted, the sermons are "the least examined area within (the) least examined area" of Swift studies (Weinbrot 2008). While Swift's own disparaging comment on his homilies ("the idlest trifling stuff that ever was writ") might partly account for this critical disaffection, we suggest that his sermons may be fruitfully apprehended with a new approach of Swift as preacher of his homiletic language, as well as his use of language at large. This study presents a radically new perspective on the sermons, demonstrating that linguistic pragmatics reveals that they are characterised by a silent rhetoric, which complexifies the vision of the sermons as characterised by "narrow and shallow orthodoxy" (Nokes, 1985, p. 278). While this study leans toward the textual, the theory of language which underpins it is inclusive and makes it possible to reconcile text and context. Consequently, the overall approach is neither purely historicist nor exclusively textual, and contextualization and comparisons to other preachers are provided. The main thrust of this study thus consists in highlighting the intricate links between formal autonomy and the historico-political context in which the sermons are embedded.
| ISBN: | 9781802075281 |
| Publication date: | 10th September 2024 |
| Author: | Nathalie Zimpfer |
| Publisher: | Voltaire Foundation an imprint of Liverpool University Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 320 pages |
| Series: | Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment |
| Genres: |
Literary studies: general Social and cultural history Society and culture: general |
The present study is the first monograph dedicated to Jonathan Swift's sermons. As critics have noted, the sermons are "the least examined area within (the) least examined area" of Swift studies (Weinbrot 2008). While Swift's own disparaging comment on his homilies ("the idlest trifling stuff that ever was writ") might partly account for this critical disaffection, we suggest that his sermons may be fruitfully apprehended with a new approach of Swift as preacher of his homiletic language, as well as his use of language at large. This study presents a radically new perspective on the sermons, demonstrating that linguistic pragmatics reveals that they are characterised by a silent rhetoric, which complexifies the vision of the sermons as characterised by "narrow and shallow orthodoxy" (Nokes, 1985, p. 278). While this study leans toward the textual, the theory of language which underpins it is inclusive and makes it possible to reconcile text and context. Consequently, the overall approach is neither purely historicist nor exclusively textual, and contextualization and comparisons to other preachers are provided. The main thrust of this study thus consists in highlighting the intricate links between formal autonomy and the historico-political context in which the sermons are embedded.
The Sermons of Jonathan Swift features in the following genres: Literary studies: general, Social and cultural history, Society and culture: general
The Sermons of Jonathan Swift is available in Paperback
The Sermons of Jonathan Swift was written by Nathalie Zimpfer and published by Voltaire Foundation an imprint of Liverpool University Press
The Sermons of Jonathan Swift has 320 pages
Yes it is part of Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment series