Manchester University Press Writing and Constructing the Self in Great Britain in the Long Eighteenth Century: 4 (Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Studies)

This volume explores the various ways the ‘self’ was perceived, fashioned and written in the course of the long eighteenth century in Great Britain. Following a chronological narrative which highlights the problematic and intriguing nature of what we call the ‘self’ across time and from different perspectives, this book illustrates the diversity of vision, and the abiding unity of the subject, while foregrounding the emergence of a recognisably modern, individualistic, ‘sustainable’ self. This collection assembles contributions from both established and emerging researchers from Britain, Europe and the United States. The studies explore the interface between literature and philosophy, and include discussion of philosophers and thinkers such as Locke, Shaftesbury, Mandeville, Hutcheson and Hume; churchmen such as Isaac Barrow and John Tillotson; the novelists Eliza Haywood, Samuel Richardson and Laurence Sterne; the poets Anne Killigrew, Alexander Pope, William Blake and William Wordsworth; and the writers and sometime diarists Samuel Johnson and James Boswell. The twelve essays are preceded by an introduction that frames the problematic history of the notion of the ‘self’.  With its interdisciplinary scope, Writing and constructing the self in Great Britain in the long eighteenth century will appeal to a wide readership. It will prove invaluable to Literature and Humanities researchers and students at all levels, particularly those interested in the Enlightenment period, as well as anybody interested in questions of identity and consciousness, and their formulation in the past and present. Review 'The easy-to-follow structure of the volume gives readers the idea of the progress of thoughts in their continuity and helps understand both congruous and controversial ideas. The selection of authors and thinkers represents a kaleidoscope of the self as perceived by contemporaries and reread by twenty-first-century scholars. Writing and Constructing the Self is a must-read for academics and university students who are concerned with the philosophical, literary, historical aspects of selfhood--along with the related notions of self-awareness, subjectivity, the first-person perspective in narratives, self-articulation, and individuality.'Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (26.1) ' Writing and Constructing the Self contributes an important critical framework and serves as a touchstone for other such focused studies of the eighteenth-century self, and selves. Scholars interested in tracing the influence of Locke's Essay and/or teaching the self to undergraduate or graduate students would find this book valuable, due to its division into parts and chapters that serve as discussion starters. The book's foregrounding of women such as Haywood and Madame de La Fayette and their characters, alongside male-penned "female selves," renders it an important contribution to feminist literary/cultural studies.' ABO From the Back Cover This volume explores the various ways the 'self' was perceived, fashioned and written in the course of the long eighteenth century in Great Britain. Following a chronological narrative which highlights the problematic and intriguing nature of what we call the 'self' across time and from different perspectives, this book illustrates the diversity of vision, and the abiding unity of the subject, while foregrounding the emergence of a recognisably modern, individualistic, 'sustainable' self. This collection assembles contributions from both established and emerging researchers from Britain, Europe and the United States. The studies explore the interface between literature and philosophy, and include discussion of philosophers and thinkers such as Locke, Shaftesbury, Mandeville, Hutcheson and Hume; churchmen such as Isaac Barrow and John Tillotson; the novelists Eliza Haywood, Samuel Richardson and Laurence Sterne; the poets Anne Killigrew, Alexander Pop