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Enlightenment in Ruins: The Geographies of Oliver Goldsmith
Author(s): Michael Griffin (Author)
- Publisher: Bucknell University Press (UK)
- Publication Date: 15 Aug. 2013
- Language: English
- Print length: 226 pages
- ISBN-10: 1611485053
- ISBN-13: 9781611485059
Book Description
Michael Griffin places Goldsmith in two contexts: one is the intellectual and political culture in which he worked as a professional author living in London; the other is that of his nationality and his as yet unstudied Jacobite politics. Enlightenment in Ruins thereby reveals a body of work that is compellingly marked by tensions and transits between Irishness and Englishness, between poetic and professional imperatives, and between cultural and scientific spheres.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Goldsmith might have something to tell us about what Michael Griffin in this very welcome book calls ‘the destructive negligence of the rich’. . . .This book is a model of historically informed literary analysis, beautifully written and assiduously researched.
Griffin (18th-century and Irish studies, Univ. of Limerick) offers a fresh look at the career of Oliver Goldsmith. Departing from the view that Goldsmith’s dabbling in varied themes and genres renders his canon a ‘sentimental foil to Swift, ‘ Griffin presents Goldsmith as representing complex political strands rooted in his Irish sympathies. This critical stance allows readers to appreciate the tensions between Enlightenment contexts and Jacobite politics. The study consists of four essays. The first chapters deal with Goldsmith’s survey of human nature and examine contemporary theories. The second section concerns political landscapes and deals specifically with Irish themes and concerns. In the final chapter, Griffin’s interpretation of ‘The Deserted Village’ gathers the considerations of the previous chapters and situates the poetic critique in an Irish context. This volume, part of Bucknell’s ‘Transits’ series, devoted to 18th-century studies, offers a vital contribution toward understanding the work of an often underappreciated author. The extensive notes and bibliography support further study of Oliver Goldsmith by specialists in Irish and 18th-century literature. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.
Griffin’s new monograph, Enlightenment in Ruins: The Geographies of Oliver Goldsmith, extends this analysis to Goldsmith’s entire career and offers a compelling picture of the self contradictions of Enlightenment culture at midcentury.
