{"product_id":"samuel-johnson-and-the-art-of-sinking-1709-1791-hardcover","title":"Samuel Johnson and the Art of Sinking 1709-1791 - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eFreya Johnston\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe traditional view of Samuel Johnson as hostile to particulars, trifles, and aesthetic mediocrity only half-explains his authorial character. \u003cem\u003eSamuel Johnson and the Art of Sinking 1709-1791\u003c\/em\u003e argues that, in a period dominated by social and literary hierarchies, Johnson's works reveal a defining interest in \"little,\" \"mean,\" or \"low\" topics and people. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFreya Johnston moves away from a critical emphasis on what literature of this period excludes, to consider its modes of including recalcitrant material. Of necessity finite, any piece of writing is informed by the subject matter it omits or to which it indirectly alludes. How can we identify the peripheral topics or characters purportedly \"excluded\" from a text, unless it provides compelling inferences that oblige us to supply the omission? In which case, something subtler is at work than barefaced proscription. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRehearsing the comparative merits of great and little things, Johnson and his contemporaries tested the opposing claims of pagan and Christian authority. Ancient criticism, and its eighteenth-century adherents, held that each subject required an appropriate style: little matters call for the low, lofty ones for the high. Yet Gospel writers stressed Christ's incarnation as a praiseworthy and imitable descent to the humanly little--one that is compatible with the most sublime style. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough a series of close readings, this book examines how Johnson conceived of his relationships to and with the margins of writing and of society. It proposes that his literary and critical practice is neither inclusive nor exclusive in its attitudes towards peripheral things.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFreya Johnson\u003c\/strong\u003e is a Fellow and Lecturer in English at Christ's College, Cambridge. She was previously Enid Welsford Research Fellow in English at Newnham College, Cambridge.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 282\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.75 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 28, 2005\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45257383936102,"sku":"9780199251827","price":131.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/Ums2V3U5NkQ2TW4vbFRXTUF6Z1hDZz09.webp?v=1773769829","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/samuel-johnson-and-the-art-of-sinking-1709-1791-hardcover","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}