|
The Power of the Passive Self in English Literature, 1640-1770 (170 words) |
 | This tradition - which Scott Paul Gordon locates in seventeenth-century religious discourse, in early eighteenth-century moral philosophy, in mid eighteenth-century acting theory, and in the emergent novel - resists autonomy and defers agency from the individual to an external ‘prompter’. |
| Gordon argues that the trope of passivity aims to guarantee a disinterested self in a culture that was increasingly convinced that every deliberate action involves calculating one’s own interest. |
| Gordon traces the origins of such ideas from their roots in the non-conformist religious tradition to their flowering in one of the central texts of eighteenth-century literature, Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa. |
|
English and American Literature Collection - Boston College (1503 words) |
| The predominant emphasis of the collection is on the literature in English of the U.S. and England. |
| However, the great majority of the primary and critical works of contemporary children's literature are purchased by and housed in the Educational Resource Center. |
| Literature in English of Scotland, Wales, and Canada are next in importance. |
Feeds |
Contact