Samuel Johnson and Eighteenth-century Thought

Download or read book Samuel Johnson and Eighteenth-century Thought written by Nicholas Hudson and published by Oxford : Clarendon Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In Samuel Johnson and the Making of Modern England Nicholas Hudson argues that Johnson not only came to personify English cultural identity but did much to shape it. Hudson examines his contribution to the creation of the modern English identity, approaching Johnson's writing and conversation from scarcely explored directions of cultural criticism - class politics, feminism, party politics, the public sphere, nationalism, and imperialism. Hudson charts the career of an author who rose from obscurity to fame during precisely the period that England became the dominant force in the Western world. In exploring the relations between Johnson's career and the development of England's modern national identity, Hudson develops new and provocative arguments concerning both Johnson's literary achievement and the nature of English nationhood."--book jacket