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Abyssinia's Samuel Johnson
Ethiopian Thought in the Making of an English Author
Wendy Laura Belcher
304 pages
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4 illustrations
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235x156mm
978-0-19-979321-1
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Hardback
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21 June 2012
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- Features new readings on works by Samuel Johnson, such as Irene, Rasselas, and "The Vision of Theodore"—and the Ethiopian sources that inspired them
- Alters our understanding of how Europeans viewed Africa during the eighteenth century, providing an expansive view of 18th-century literary culture
- Adds a new dimension to the biography of the great Dr. Johnson
As a very young man, one of the most celebrated English authors of the eighteenth century translated a tome about Ethiopia. This experience permanently marked Samuel Johnson, leaving traces of the African discourse he encountered in that text in his drama Irene; several of his short stories; and his most famous fiction, Rasselas. In this book, Wendy Laura Belcher provides a much needed perspective in comparative literature and postcolonial studies on the power of the discourse of the other to infuse European texts. Belcher illuminates how the Western literary canon is globally produced by developing the powerful metaphor of spirit possession to posit some
texts in the European canon as energumens, texts that are spoken through. Her model of discursive possession offers a new way of theorizing transcultural intertextuality, in particular how Europe's others have co-constituted European representations. Through close readings of primary and secondary sources in English, French, Portuguese, and Ge'ez, Belcher challenges conventional wisdom on Johnson's work, from the inspiration for the name Rasselas and the nature of Johnson's religious beliefs to what makes Rasselas so strange.Readership: Readers of ELH, Comparative Literature, Calalloo, Eighteenth-Century Studies, PMLA, World Literature Today, The New Rambler; scholars of postcolonial studies, eighteenth-century
literature.
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Wendy Laura Belcher, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature, Princeton University Wendy Laura Belcher is Assistant Professor of African literature at Princeton University in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Center for African American Studies. She is a winner of the Washington State Governors Writers Award and PEN Society Martha Albrand finalist for first book of nonfiction.
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"Belcher's account radically reframes Johnson's thought while also offering a new model" - Jessica Richard, Review of English Studies "Belcher's strongest suit stems from her careful examination of relevant texts. Nobody before her has examined the Lobo translation in such detail. As a result she is able to demonstrate what few have suspected" - Robert Fraser, LUCAS "For any collection supporting teaching or research on Johnson, 18th-century culture, the history of colonialism, or posttcolonial theory, this book is required reading." - C.S. Vilmar, CHOICE
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Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Three Thousand Years of Habesha History and Discourse
Chapter 2: Samuel Johnson's Discursive Possession and The Voyage to Abyssinia
Chapter 3: Johnson's Reading, Beliefs, and Translation of The Voyage to Abyssinia
Chapter 4: Habesha Discourse in The Voyage To Abyssinia
Chapter 5: Habesha Discourse and Johnson's Drama Irene
Chapter 6: Habesha Discourse and Johnson's Oriental Tales
Chapter 7: Habesha Discourse in Johnson's Sources for Rasselas
Chapter 8: Habesha Discourse and Johnson's Rasselas
Conclusion
Bibliography
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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