'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's 'Rasselas'

This is a study on the history of literary theory and on Samuel Johnson's novel The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (1759). Johnson's literary theory as formulated in the novel is examined in the light of the aesthetic thought of his age. Johnson's relationships both with classicism and with empiricist pre-Romanticism must be interpreted taking into account the tension between the author's lucidity and his desire. The paper reflects on the problem of levels of intentionality and its stylistic traces on the textual surface. Johnson's text evinces two modes of textual coherence, as a result of ideological and emotional conflicts in the author's mind. 

 

'The Enthusiastick Fit': 

The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's 'Rasselas'

http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M65Q4RK9H

Author(s):

José Angel GARCÍA LANDA (see profile)

Date:

1991

Group(s):

Literary theory, Narrative theory and Narratology

Subject(s):

Literary theory, History of aesthetics, Samuel Johnson, 18th-century English literature, English literature, Aesthetics, Literature

Item Type:

Article

Tag(s):

18th-century fiction

Permanent URL:

http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M65Q4RK9H

Resumen en español:

Estudio sobre historia de la teoría literaria y sobre la novela de Samuel Johnson The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (1759), examinando la teoría literaria de Johnson allí expuesta a la luz de sus otros pronunciamientos críticos y del pensamiento estético de la época. Las relaciones de Johnson tanto con el clasicismo como con el prerromanticismo empirista se resisten a una interpretación que desdeñe la tensión entre la lucidez y el voluntarismo del autor. Este artículo vuelve por tanto, esta vez con ocasión de la teoría literaria de Johnson, al tema de la interpretación de los niveles de intencionalidad y sus huellas estilísticas en la estructura textual. En esencia se descubren dos modalidades diferentes de coherencia textual en Johnson, resultado de conflictos ideológicos y emocionales del autor.

Notes:

Written 1989.

Available at:

_____. "'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas." Cuadernos de Investigación Filológica 17.1 (1991): 103-26.* Online:

         http://dx.doi.org/10.18172/cif.2301

         https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/cif/article/view/2301

         2019

_____. "'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas." Online at Net Sight de José Angel García Landa (2004):

         http://www.unizar.es/departamentos/filologia_inglesa/garciala/publicaciones/enthusiastick.html 

         2004

         http://personal.unizar.es/garciala/enthusiastick.html

         2019

_____. "'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas." Online PDF at Dialnet

         http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/oaiart?codigo=69021

         2008-02-12

_____. "'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas." Online PDF at Zaguán 21 Jan. 2009.

         http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/1962

         2009

_____. "'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas." Online PDF at Academia 14 April 2009.

         https://www.academia.edu/177981/

         2015

_____. "'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas." Online PDF at Social Science Research Network 23 April 2010.*

         http://ssrn.com/abstract=1594863

         2010 

English & Commonwealth Literature eJournal 23 April 2010.*

http://www.ssrn.com/link/English-Commonwealth-Lit.html

2012

_____. "'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas." ResearchGate 19 August 2012.*

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/33419598

2012

_____. "'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas." Humanities Commons 21 Oct. 2018.*

         http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M65Q4RK9H

         https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:21329/review/

         2018

_____. "'The Enthusiastick Fit': The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas." In García Landa, Vanity Fea 21 Oct. 2018.*

         https://vanityfea.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-enthusiastick-fit-function-and-fate.html

         2018

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