With the rise of the novel in the mid-eighteenth century came the rise of sentimentalism. While the fondness for sentiment embarrassed later literary critics, it originally legitimized a morally suspect phenomenon: the novel. This book describes that legitimation, yet it looks beyond the narrowly literary to the lives and expressed philosophies of some of the major writers of the age, showing the language of feeling to be a resource of philosophers like David Hume and Adam Smith, as much as novelists like Richardson and Sterne.
Reviews
'Mullan's prose is stylish ... and his argument compelling ... this is a remarkable study of sentimentalism.'Times Literary Supplement
'Mullan has provided a stimulating study which is not afraid to explore complex themes and be provocative in its judgements' Times Higher Education Supplement
'admirable study' Notes and Queries
'responsible, informed and thoughtful book' Yvonne Noble, British Journal of 18th Century Studies, 13:2
`Mullan's study is a valuable, sustained, and richly suggestive meditation on the essential ambiguity of the language of feeling. He deserves much credit for his refusal to talk reductively about a subject so complex ... I can highly recommend this book.' Eighteenth-Century Fiction
'absorbing study' English Studes
Mullan's book is an original and important contribution to the history of ideas. It offers brilliant and convincing reinterpretations kof Clarissa adn Tristam Shandy. * The Eighteenth Century *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198122524
Author John Mullan
Format Paperback
Page Count 270
Imprint Clarendon Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 368g
Dimensions(mm) 217mm * 138mm * 17mm