British Women Satirists in the Long Eighteenth Century

Amanda Hiner, Elizabeth Tasker Davis

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781108837361
• eBook ISBN:
  9781108945851
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: English Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

This collection of innovative essays by leading scholars on eighteenth-century British women satirists showcases women's contributions to the satiric tradition and challenges the assumption that women were largely targets, rather than practitioners, of satire during the long eighteenth century. The essays examine women's satires across diverse genres, from the fable to the periodical, and attend to women writers' appropriation of a literary style and form often viewed as exclusively masculine. The introduction features a new theory of women's satire and proposes a framework for analyzing satiric techniques employed by women writers. Organized chronologically, the contributors' essays address a wide range of authors and explore the ways in which satiric writings by women engaged in contemporary cultural conversations, influencing assumptions about gender, sociability, politics, and literary practices. This inclusive yet tightly-focused collection formulates an innovative and provocative new feminist theory of satire.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Notes on Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Recognizing British Women's Satire in the Long Eighteenth Century
• Part I Traditions and Breaks: Early Eighteenth-Century Women Satirists
• Part II Publicity and Print Culture: Women Satirists during the Mid Eighteenth Century
• Part III Moral Debates and Satiric Dialogue: Women Satirists and Eighteenth-Century Sociability
• Appendix Selected List of Eighteenth-Century Women Writers and Their Satiric Works
• Selected Bibliography and Guide to Further Reading
• Index