"Clarissa" against the critics: Text, author, and "interpretive communities"

Allen John Witkowski, Purdue University

Abstract

Clarissa was very popular when it was published in 1747-48 but has been neglected until recently. Stanley Fish's theory of "interpretive communities," which attempts to account for the "disciplined disagreement" among readers' values and expectations over time, place, and social groups, provides insight into the dynamics of the audience's changing attitude toward the novel over the years. Popular, at first, for its sentiment and didacticism, Clarissa was neglected from the late-eighteenth century until the mid-twentieth century because these qualities were then associated with emotionalism and hypocrisy. The novel has had a rebirth of popularity among contemporary academics who use its complex and detailed descriptions of relationships and mental consciousness as examples for their literary and cultural studies.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Palmer, Purdue University.

Subject Area

British and Irish literature

COinS