Jenny Mander
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199574803
- eISBN:
- 9780191869747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199574803.003.0032
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, Prose (inc. letters, diaries)
This chapter examines foreign novels, which greatly overshadowed the English novel. The prevalence of imitations and translations of foreign novels had been a matter of significant critical concern ...
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This chapter examines foreign novels, which greatly overshadowed the English novel. The prevalence of imitations and translations of foreign novels had been a matter of significant critical concern throughout the first half of the eighteenth century and contemptuously identified by many a censorious reviewer as a corrupting influence on both the morals and letters of the nation. By the middle of the century, however, there was a strong sense that the English novel had come of age; and as British novelists progressively consolidated their position both at home and abroad, readers became decreasingly dependent on foreign fiction. Nonetheless, non-native fiction remained a convenient focus for multiple anxieties relating to the genre of the novel and its commercialization. For while the overall picture for 1750–1820 as regards imported imaginative literature was one of general decline, many foreign novelists continued to compete successfully for the attention of the British public.Less
This chapter examines foreign novels, which greatly overshadowed the English novel. The prevalence of imitations and translations of foreign novels had been a matter of significant critical concern throughout the first half of the eighteenth century and contemptuously identified by many a censorious reviewer as a corrupting influence on both the morals and letters of the nation. By the middle of the century, however, there was a strong sense that the English novel had come of age; and as British novelists progressively consolidated their position both at home and abroad, readers became decreasingly dependent on foreign fiction. Nonetheless, non-native fiction remained a convenient focus for multiple anxieties relating to the genre of the novel and its commercialization. For while the overall picture for 1750–1820 as regards imported imaginative literature was one of general decline, many foreign novelists continued to compete successfully for the attention of the British public.
Rod Mengham
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198749394
- eISBN:
- 9780191869754
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198749394.003.0014
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature, Prose (inc. letters, diaries)
This chapter focuses on the way in which a settlement of differences between English language fiction and foreign fiction is always changing. During the Second World War, there were special reasons ...
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This chapter focuses on the way in which a settlement of differences between English language fiction and foreign fiction is always changing. During the Second World War, there were special reasons and motivations for literary allegiance that went beyond individual taste and circumstance. An economy of scarcity, both of materials and of the means of communication, prompted a marshalling of resources by editors and publishers to maintain existing links and forge new ones. The urgency of this literary war effort was meant to consolidate morale but must have also exposed the imagination’s vulnerability to attack. With the closing of the shipping lanes and the shrinking of the usual means of maintaining overseas contacts, British editors became keenly aware of the threat to literary relations.Less
This chapter focuses on the way in which a settlement of differences between English language fiction and foreign fiction is always changing. During the Second World War, there were special reasons and motivations for literary allegiance that went beyond individual taste and circumstance. An economy of scarcity, both of materials and of the means of communication, prompted a marshalling of resources by editors and publishers to maintain existing links and forge new ones. The urgency of this literary war effort was meant to consolidate morale but must have also exposed the imagination’s vulnerability to attack. With the closing of the shipping lanes and the shrinking of the usual means of maintaining overseas contacts, British editors became keenly aware of the threat to literary relations.
