Swift's satires on modernism : battlegrounds of reading and writing

More Than Three Centuries Since Their First Publication, Jonathan Swift's A Tale Of A Tub, 'the Battle Of The Books, ' 'the Mechanical Operation Of The Spirit, ' And An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity Remain Striking, Prescient, And Still-relevant Challenges To Modern Commitments To Inwardness, Reflection, And Spiritualism. In This Lively And Engaging Study - Grounded In The Intellectual And Historical Currents Of Swift's Time, With An Eye On The Implications For The Present Day - G. Douglas Atkins Brings Forty-plus Years Of Scholarly And Critical Experience To Bear On Some Of The Greatest Satires Ever Written. The Study Reveals New Contexts For Understanding Swift's Satires, Including Post-reformation Reading Practices And The Development Of The Modern Personal Essay. This Book Revisits, From Fresh Perspectives, The Late Seventeenth-century Version Of The Perennial Warfare Between Ancients And Moderns, Then Often Instanced As 'the Battle Of The Books.'--publisher's Website. Introduction : The Spider And The Bee : Ancients Vs. Moderns And The Battle Of The Books -- The World Swift Saw Aborning -- The Priesthood Of All Readers : 'this Good Had Full As Bad A Consequence' -- Swift And The Modern Personal Essay : A Tale Of A Tub And 'a Modest Proposal' -- Tripping And Troping, Inside And Out : Surface, Depth, And The 'converting Imagination' In A Tale Of A Tub -- 'the Physical Act Of Worship, Not The Mental Act Of Belief Or Assent' : Reading An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity. G. Douglas Atkins. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Preface 7 Introduction—The Spider and the Bee: Ancients vs. Moderns and The Battle of the Books 10 1 The World Swift Saw Aborning 17 2 The Priesthood of All Readers: “This Good Had Full as Bad a Consequence” 31 3 Swift and the Modern Personal Essay: A Tale of a Tub and “A Modest Proposal” 54 4 Tripping and Troping, Inside and Out: Surface, Depth, and the “Converting Imagination” in A Tale of a Tub 77 5 “The Physical Act of Worship, Not the Mental Act of Belief or Assent”: Reading An Argument against Abolishing Christianity 91 Bibliography 105 Index 109 More than three centuries later, Jonathan Swift's writing remains striking and relevant. In this engaging study, Atkins brings forty-plus years of critical experience to bear on some of the greatest satires ever written, revealing new contexts for understanding post-Reformation reading practices and the development of the modern personal essay.