Susan E. Whyman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199532445
- eISBN:
- 9780191714535
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532445.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter contrasts Jane Johnson's quiet reading and writing with the fast-paced public literary culture of her children — Robert and Barbara — and the patroness of their Bath poetry salon, Anna ...
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This chapter contrasts Jane Johnson's quiet reading and writing with the fast-paced public literary culture of her children — Robert and Barbara — and the patroness of their Bath poetry salon, Anna Miller. Changes in literary practices over the century, from the growth of epistolary fiction to the era of sensibility by the 1790s, are revealed through writings and reading records of Jane Johnson's children. It is suggested that the travelogue, methods of literary criticism, and the language of sentiment were influenced and shaped by letters. As sites of unsupervised reading, independent opinions, and cultural desires, letters had a political impact. Epistolary literacy thus provided a base for a free and active electorate at a time when political participation was still limited.Less
This chapter contrasts Jane Johnson's quiet reading and writing with the fast-paced public literary culture of her children — Robert and Barbara — and the patroness of their Bath poetry salon, Anna Miller. Changes in literary practices over the century, from the growth of epistolary fiction to the era of sensibility by the 1790s, are revealed through writings and reading records of Jane Johnson's children. It is suggested that the travelogue, methods of literary criticism, and the language of sentiment were influenced and shaped by letters. As sites of unsupervised reading, independent opinions, and cultural desires, letters had a political impact. Epistolary literacy thus provided a base for a free and active electorate at a time when political participation was still limited.
