The Rise of the Novel: An Overview of the 18th Century Reading Public
The essay explores the conditions that led to the rise of the novel in the 18th century, focusing on the limited literacy, economic challenges, and social stigma that influenced the reading public. It delves into the roles of different subgroups like women and the middle class, as well as the commercialization of the publishing industry. Drawing parallels between the Age of Authors and the present Age of Information, it contemplates how the novel as a medium impacted societal thought during its emergence.
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The Reading Public and the Rise of the Novel Ian Watt Presented by Roberta Wolfson
Overview Driving question of the chapter: What conditions accompanied the rise of the novel in the 18thcentury? Two main points of analysis: The 18thcentury reading public. Changes in the nature of literary publication.
The 18thc. Reading Public Reasons why the reading public remained relatively small compared to modern standards: Limited literacy. Economic challenges. Non-circulating libraries a possible solution? Logistical difficulties. Social stigma.
Subgroups of the Reading Public Women. Apprentices and household servants. An increasingly dominant middle class. Watt attributes the rise of the novel largely to the great power and self-confidence of the middle class as a whole (59).
The 18thc. Booksellers Booksellers vs. patrons. Commercialization of the publishing business. Literary changes that resulted from the commercialization of writing.
The Age of Authors Samuel Johnson referred to the 18thcentury in The Adventurer (1753-4) as the Age of Authors, since people of all abilities, educations, and professions published works. Can we compare the Age of Authors to the present- day Age of Information, when people of all professions, ages, backgrounds, etc. can post information on the Internet? If so, what might an analogy between the rise of the novel in the 18thc. and the rise of digital media in the 21stc. inform us about the reading public of the 18thc.?
The Rise of the Novel an Event in the History of Mediation? Siskin and Warner, in their Introduction to This is Enlightenment, propose a history of mediation that spanned from roughly 1450 to the 20thc., during which changes in media defined social and intellectual thought. They argue that the Enlightenment was one such event in this history of mediation. Can the Age of Authors be viewed as an event in the history of mediation? If the evolution of media has changed the way people think, and if we choose to view the novel as another step in the evolution of media, then could the novel have changed the way people think? If so, how?
A Latourian Reading of the 18thc. Novel The agential role of objects (i.e. objects as actors): It is always things and I now mean this last word literally which, in practice, lend their steely quality to the hapless society (Latour 68). If you can, with a straight face, maintain that hitting a nail with and without a hammer, boiling water with and without a kettle, fetching provisions with or without a basket, walking in the street with or without clothes, zapping a TV with or without a remote, slowing down a car with or without a speed-bump, keeping track of your inventory with or without a list, running a company with or without bookkeeping, are exactly the same activities, that the introduction of these mundane implements change nothing important to the real- ization of the tasks, then you are ready to transmigrate to the Far Land of the Social and disappear from this lowly one. For all the other members of society, it does make a difference under trials and so these implements, according to our definition, are actors, or more precisely, participants in the course of action waiting to be given a figuration (71).
A Latourian reading (contd) what is new is that objects are suddenly highlighted not only as being full-blown actors, but also as what explains the contrasted landscape we started with, the over- arching powers of society, the huge asymmetries, the crushing exercise of power (72). Considering the novel s profound effect on 18thc. society, could we view the novel as an object of agency, an actor in a sociology of associations? In other words, could (or should) we think of the novel as an object with social power in the Latourian sense? As an agential object, in what ways could the novel have shaped and influenced 18th c. society?
Questions Can we compare the Age of Authors to the present-day Age of Information, when people of all professions, ages, backgrounds, etc. can post information to the Internet? If so, what might an analogy between the rise of the novel in the 18thc. and the rise of digital media in the 21stc. inform us about the reading public of the 18thc.? Can the Age of Authors be viewed as an event in the history of mediation? If the evolution of media has changed the way people think, and if we choose to view the novel as another step in the evolution of media, then could the novel have changed the way people think? If so, how? Considering the novel s profound effect on 18thc. society, could we view the novel as an object of agency, an actor in a sociology of associations? In other words, could (or should) we think of the novel as an object with social power in the Latourian sense? As an agential object, in what ways could the novel have shaped and influenced 18thc. society?
