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Political magic : British fictions of savagery and sovereignty, 1650-1750 / Christopher F. Loar.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Loar, Christopher F., author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Political fiction, English--History and criticism.
- Political fiction, English.
- English fiction--17th century--History and criticism.
- English fiction.
- English fiction--18th century--History and criticism.
- Politics and literature--Great Britain--History--17th century.
- Politics and literature.
- Politics and literature--Great Britain--History--18th century.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (320 p.)
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Fordham University Press, 2014.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- Political Magic examines early modern British fictions of exploration and colonialism, arguing that narratives of intercultural contact reimagine ideas of sovereignty and popular power. These fictions reveal aspects of political thought in this period that official discourse typically shunted aside, particularly the political status of the commoner, whose “liberty” was often proclaimed even as it was undermined both in theory and in practice. Like the Hobbesian sovereign, the colonist appears to the colonized as a giver of rules who remains unruly. At the heart of many texts are moments of savage wonder, provoked by European displays of technological prowess. In particular, the trope of the first gunshot articulates an origin of consent and political legitimacy in colonial showmanship. Yet as manifestations of force held in abeyance, these technologies also signal the ultimate reliance of sovereigns on extreme violence as the less than-mystical foundation of their authority. By examining works by Cavendish, Defoe, Behn, Swift, and Haywood in conjunction with contemporary political writing and travelogues, Political Magic locates a subterranean discourse of sovereignty in the century after Hobbes, finding surprising affinities between the government of “savages” and of Britons.
- Contents:
- Introduction: magical government
- Enchanting the savage: the politics of pyrotechnics in the Cavendish Circle
- Fire and sword: Aphra Behn and the materials of authority
- Talking guns and savage spaces: Daniel Defoe's civilizing technologies
- Doctrines detestables: Jonathan Swift, despotism, and virtue
- Savage vision: violence, reason, and surveillance in Eliza Haywood
- Coda: Enemies.
- Notes:
- Includes index.
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-318) and index.
- Description based on print version record.
- Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
- ISBN:
- 0-8232-5694-4
- 0-8232-6143-3
- 0-8232-5692-8
- OCLC:
- 880454954
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