Swift's Parody [Hardcover]

An exploration of parody in Swift's early prose, and in textual and cultural developments in Swift's Britain.Jonathan Swift's prose has been discussed extensively as satire, but its major structural element, parody, has not received the attention it deserves. Robert Phiddian employs modern theory, and close attention to cultural context, in order to explore the parody in Swift's early texts, especially A Tale of a Tub. Through this exploration Phiddian throws new light on the development of Swift as a writer, and offers a major contribution both to the theory of parody and to our understanding of late seventeenth and early eighteenth century British culture.Jonathan Swift's prose has been discussed extensively as satire, but its major structural element, parody, has not received the attention it deserves. Robert Phiddian employs modern theory, and close attention to cultural context, in order to explore the parody in Swift's early texts, especially A Tale of a Tub. Through this exploration Phiddian throws new light on the development of Swift as a writer, and offers a major contribution both to the theory of parody and to our understanding of late seventeenth and early eighteenth century British culture.Jonathan Swift's prose has been discussed extensively as satire, but its major structural element, parody, has not received the attention it deserves. Focusing mainly on works before 1714, and especially on A Tale of a Tub, this study explores Swift's writing primarily as parody. Robert Phiddian follows the constructions and deconstructions of textual authority through the texts on cultural-historical, biographical, and literary-theoretical levels. The historical interest lies in the occasions of the parodies: in their relations with the texts and discourses which they quote and distort, and in the way this process reflects on the generation of cultural authority in late Stuart England. The biographical interest lies in a new way of viewing Swift's early career as a lS0