A World of Disorderly Notions : Quixote and the Logic of Exceptionalism

Shortlisted for the Kenshur Prize for Best Book in Eighteenth-Century Studies from the Indiana University Center for Eighteenth-Century StudiesFrom Jonathan Swift to Washington Irving, those looking to propose and justify exceptions to social and political norms turned to Cervantes's notoriously mad comic hero as a model. A World of Disorderly Notions examines the literary and political effects of Don Quixote, arguing that what makes this iconic character so influential across oceans and cultures is not his madness but his logic. Aaron Hanlon contends that the logic of quixotism is in fact exceptionalism—the strategy of rendering oneself an exception to everyone else's rules.As British and American societies of the Enlightenment developed the need to question the acceptance of various forms of imperialism and social contract theory—and to explain both the virtues and limitations of revolutions past and ongoing—it was Quixote's exceptionalism, not his madness, that captured the imaginations of so many writers and statesmen. As a consequence, the eighteenth century witnessed an explosion of imitations of Quixote in fiction and polemical writing, by writers such as Jonathan Swift, Charlotte Lennox, Henry Fielding, and Washington Irving, among others.Combining literary history and political theory, Hanlon clarifies an ongoing and immediately relevant history of exceptionalism, of how states from Golden Age Spain to imperial Britain to the formative United States rendered themselves exceptions so they could act with impunity. In so doing, he tells the story of how Quixote became exceptional. Shortlisted for the Kenshur Prize for Best Book in Eighteenth-Century Studies from the Indiana University Center for Eighteenth-Century Studies From Jonathan Swift to Washington Irving, those looking to propose and justify exceptions to social and political norms turned to Cervantess notoriously mad comic hero as a model. A World of Disorderly Notions examines the literary and political effects of Don Quixote, arguing that what makes this iconic character so influential across oceans and cultures is not his madness but his logic. Aaron Hanlon contends that the logic of quixotism is in fact exceptionalismthe strategy of rendering oneself an exception to everyone elses rules. As British and American societies of the Enlightenment developed the need to question the acceptance of various forms of imperialism and social contract theoryand to explain both the virtues and limitations of revolutions past and ongoingit was Quixotes exceptionalism, not his madness, that captured the imaginations of so many writers and statesmen. As a consequence, the eighteenth century witnessed an explosion of imitations of Quixote in fiction and polemical writing, by writers such as Jonathan Swift, Charlotte Lennox, Henry Fielding, and Washington Irving, among others. Combining literary history and political theory, Hanlon clarifies an ongoing and immediately relevant history of exceptionalism, of how states from Golden Age Spain to imperial Britain to the formative United States rendered themselves exceptions so they could act with impunity. In so doing, he tells the story of how Quixote became exceptional. Introduction: a world of disorderly notions -- Part I: The character of quixotism. Quixotic exceptionalism -- Anatomy of quixotism -- Character and front matters -- Relational quixotism -- Part II: The character of exceptionalism. Gulliver and English exceptionalism -- Underhill and American exceptionalism -- Adams, Farrago, and civic exceptionalism -- Arabella, Dorcasina, and domestic exceptionalism -- Launcelot and juridical exceptionalism -- Knickerbocker and reactionary exceptionalism -- Marauder and radical exceptionalism -- Coda: quixotism, phenomenology, epistemology "From Jonathan Swift to Thomas Jefferson, those looking to propose and justify exceptions to social and political norms turned to Cervantes's notoriously mad comic hero as a model, yielding an explosion of imitations of Quixote in fiction and polemical writing; this book examines the exceptionalist character of Quixote and tells the story of how quixotism became political and politicized"-- Provided by publisher