No Island Is an Island: Four Glances at English Literature in a World Perspective

152 Pages·2000·5.586 MB·English

by  Carlo Ginzburg

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FOUR GLANCES AT ENGLISH LITERATURE IN A WORLD PERSPECTIVE
In No Island Is an Island, an internationally
renowned historian approaches four works
of English literature from unexpected
angles. Following in the footsteps of a six¬
teenth-century Spanish bishop we gain a
fresh view of Thomas More’s Utopia.
Comparing Bayle’s Dictionary with Tristram
Shandy we suddenly enter into Laurence
Sterne’s mind. A seemingly narrow dispute
among Elizabethan critics for and against
rhyme turns into an early debate on English
national identity. Robert Louis Stevenson’s
story “The Bottle Imp” throws a new light
on Bronislaw Malinowsky’s attempts to dis¬
cover meaning in the “kula” trading system
among the Trobriand Islanders. Through¬
out, Ginzburg’s inquiry is informed by his
unique microhistorical sensibility, his atten¬
tion to minute detail, and his extraordinary
synthesizing imagination.

No Island Is an Island
ITALIAN ACADEMY LECTURE SERIES
The
Italian
Academy
ITALIAN ACADEMY LECTURES
Umberto Eco,
Smndxpiti.es: Language and Lunacy
No Island Is an Island
FOUR GLANCES AT ENGLISH LITERATURE IN A WORLD PERSPECTIVE
Carlo Ginzburg
Introduction translated by John Tedeschi
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2000 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ginzburg, Carlo.
No island is an island : four glances at English literature in a world
perspective / Carlo Ginzburg ; introduction translated by John Tedeschi
p. cm. — (Italian academy lectures)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: The old world and the new seen from nowhere — Selfhood as
otherness : constructing English identity in the Elizabethan age — A search
for origins : rereading Tristram Shandy — Tusitala and his Polish reader.
ISBN 0-231-11628-4 (alk. paper)
1. English literature —History and criticism. 2. English literature—Early
modern, 1500-1700—History and criticism. 3. Sterne, Laurence, 1713-1768.
Life and opinions of Tristram Shandy gentleman. 4. More, Thomas, Sir,
Saint, 1478-1535. Utopia. 5. Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894—Influence.
6. Difference (Psychology) in literature. 7. Identity (Psychology) in literature.
8. Malinowski, Bronislaw 1884-1942. 9. Literature and anthropology
10. Utopias. I. Title. II. Series.
PR99.G516 2000
820.9’353—dc2i
00-035844
©
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Contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VII
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX
INTRODUCTION XI
chapter one The Old World and the New Seen from Nowhere 1
chapter two Selfhood as Otherness:
Constructing English Identity in the Elizabethan Age 25
chapter three A Search for Origins: Rereading Tristram Shandy 43
chapter four Tusitala and His Polish Reader 69
notes 89
INDEX 113
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/noislandisislandOOOOginz