The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Anglo-French relations and the novel in the eighteenth century

Anglo-French relations and the novel in the eighteenth century
Anglo-French relations and the novel in the eighteenth century
The business of novels in the long eighteenth century was an international affair. This chapter argues that literary histories giving accounts of the ‘rise’ of the novel should look again at influential nineteenth and twentieth century national histories, and challenge them: the European novel can be seen to develop as a cross-channel product in the period. Taking a book-historical perspective, and giving evidence of reception of French Fiction in Britain via that most English of authors, Jane Austen herself, I document the presence of the French novel on British bookshelves. Via readings of the ways in which fiction crossed the channel, it becomes apparent that British anxieties about French fiction have their roots in the eighteenth century and – I argue – with the establishment of formal reviewing and periodical culture. Anglo-French exchanges in the novel in the long eighteenth century look very different if we look beyond the canonical texts and authors of the period. Now neglected eighteenth-century women writers – often translated, and themselves translators – adopted a feminised cosmopolitanism in their novels. I conclude that taking a cross-channel approach is the most appropriate way to write our histories of the novel in the eighteenth century.
152-169
Cambridge University Press
Dow, Gillian
99725015-9c49-4358-a5b0-9a75f0b120fb
Watt, Adam
Dow, Gillian
99725015-9c49-4358-a5b0-9a75f0b120fb
Watt, Adam

Dow, Gillian (2021) Anglo-French relations and the novel in the eighteenth century. In, Watt, Adam (ed.) The Cambridge History of the Novel in French. Cambridge University Press, pp. 152-169. (doi:10.1017/9781108683920.012).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

The business of novels in the long eighteenth century was an international affair. This chapter argues that literary histories giving accounts of the ‘rise’ of the novel should look again at influential nineteenth and twentieth century national histories, and challenge them: the European novel can be seen to develop as a cross-channel product in the period. Taking a book-historical perspective, and giving evidence of reception of French Fiction in Britain via that most English of authors, Jane Austen herself, I document the presence of the French novel on British bookshelves. Via readings of the ways in which fiction crossed the channel, it becomes apparent that British anxieties about French fiction have their roots in the eighteenth century and – I argue – with the establishment of formal reviewing and periodical culture. Anglo-French exchanges in the novel in the long eighteenth century look very different if we look beyond the canonical texts and authors of the period. Now neglected eighteenth-century women writers – often translated, and themselves translators – adopted a feminised cosmopolitanism in their novels. I conclude that taking a cross-channel approach is the most appropriate way to write our histories of the novel in the eighteenth century.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 2019
Published date: 12 February 2021

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 430937
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/430937
PURE UUID: d6f11b1a-5699-4bd6-8e00-7830fecdf844

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 17 May 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 01:42

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Gillian Dow
Editor: Adam Watt

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×