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5 The Novel and the Literary Marketplace: Print Culture, Popular Reading, and an Emerging British Canon

  • Natalie Roxburgh
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Handbook of the British Novel in the Long Eighteenth Century
This chapter is in the book Handbook of the British Novel in the Long Eighteenth Century

Abstract

This chapter will consider the rise of the novel in the context of the general rise of print culture. By focusing on genre theory alongside historical criticism, it will survey key moments in the history of the novel to show how the development of the literary marketplace produced questions about truth and virtue as well as a space for fiction and the aesthetic. This space for fiction, however, grew into a division of readerships: popular and elite. The chapter will demonstrate that this separation was an imaginative division, and it will examine the cultural politics and gender issues underlying it, discussing relevant criticism that has considered the emerging British canon through the way the novel becomes respectable by the end of the eighteenth century.

Abstract

This chapter will consider the rise of the novel in the context of the general rise of print culture. By focusing on genre theory alongside historical criticism, it will survey key moments in the history of the novel to show how the development of the literary marketplace produced questions about truth and virtue as well as a space for fiction and the aesthetic. This space for fiction, however, grew into a division of readerships: popular and elite. The chapter will demonstrate that this separation was an imaginative division, and it will examine the cultural politics and gender issues underlying it, discussing relevant criticism that has considered the emerging British canon through the way the novel becomes respectable by the end of the eighteenth century.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 The Novel and Liberty: Individual Freedom and Civic Order 21
  7. 2 The Novel and Sense(s): Reason, Sentiment, and Subjectivity 41
  8. 3 The Novel and Intimacy: Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Readings 65
  9. 4 The Novel and Cultural Encounters: Colonialism, Cosmopolitanism, and the Other 85
  10. 5 The Novel and the Literary Marketplace: Print Culture, Popular Reading, and an Emerging British Canon 107
  11. 6 The Novel and the Environment: Nature, Cultivation, and Alien Ecologies 123
  12. Part II: Close Readings
  13. 7 Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave (1688) 141
  14. 8 Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe Trilogy (1719‒1720) 157
  15. 9 Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (1726) 175
  16. 10 Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady (1747–1748) 193
  17. 11 Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (1749) 211
  18. 12 Eliza Haywood, The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751) 229
  19. 13 Robert Paltock, The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins (1751) 243
  20. 14 Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote (1752) 259
  21. 15 Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759) 279
  22. 16 Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall (1762) 295
  23. 17 Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759–1767) 311
  24. 18 Frances Brooke, The History of Emily Montague (1769) 327
  25. 19 Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling (1771) 347
  26. 20 Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) 365
  27. 21 Frances Burney, Evelina (1778) 381
  28. 22 Phebe Gibbes, Hartly House, Calcutta (1789) 399
  29. 23 Ann Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest (1791) 417
  30. 24 Charlotte Smith, Desmond (1792) 435
  31. 25 Mary Wollstonecraft, Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman (1798) 449
  32. 26 William Earle, Obi; or The History of Three-Fingered Jack (1800) 467
  33. 27 Anonymous, The Woman of Colour; A Tale (1808) 483
  34. 28 Maria Edgeworth, Ormond (1817) 499
  35. 29 Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy (1817; revised 1829–1830) 519
  36. 30 Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818) 539
  37. 31 Jane Austen, Persuasion (1818) 557
  38. Index of Names 575
  39. Index of Subjects 583
  40. List of Contributors 595
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110650440-006

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 The Novel and Liberty: Individual Freedom and Civic Order 21
  7. 2 The Novel and Sense(s): Reason, Sentiment, and Subjectivity 41
  8. 3 The Novel and Intimacy: Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Readings 65
  9. 4 The Novel and Cultural Encounters: Colonialism, Cosmopolitanism, and the Other 85
  10. 5 The Novel and the Literary Marketplace: Print Culture, Popular Reading, and an Emerging British Canon 107
  11. 6 The Novel and the Environment: Nature, Cultivation, and Alien Ecologies 123
  12. Part II: Close Readings
  13. 7 Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave (1688) 141
  14. 8 Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe Trilogy (1719‒1720) 157
  15. 9 Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (1726) 175
  16. 10 Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady (1747–1748) 193
  17. 11 Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (1749) 211
  18. 12 Eliza Haywood, The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751) 229
  19. 13 Robert Paltock, The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins (1751) 243
  20. 14 Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote (1752) 259
  21. 15 Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759) 279
  22. 16 Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall (1762) 295
  23. 17 Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759–1767) 311
  24. 18 Frances Brooke, The History of Emily Montague (1769) 327
  25. 19 Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling (1771) 347
  26. 20 Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) 365
  27. 21 Frances Burney, Evelina (1778) 381
  28. 22 Phebe Gibbes, Hartly House, Calcutta (1789) 399
  29. 23 Ann Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest (1791) 417
  30. 24 Charlotte Smith, Desmond (1792) 435
  31. 25 Mary Wollstonecraft, Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman (1798) 449
  32. 26 William Earle, Obi; or The History of Three-Fingered Jack (1800) 467
  33. 27 Anonymous, The Woman of Colour; A Tale (1808) 483
  34. 28 Maria Edgeworth, Ormond (1817) 499
  35. 29 Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy (1817; revised 1829–1830) 519
  36. 30 Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818) 539
  37. 31 Jane Austen, Persuasion (1818) 557
  38. Index of Names 575
  39. Index of Subjects 583
  40. List of Contributors 595
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