Abstract
AbstractIn Joseph Addison and Richard Steele’s periodicals The Tatler and The Spectator, the character sketch—a genre which traditionally relies on listing the distinctive traits of socio-moral characters—functions as an arena of literary experiment in the service of entertaining and reforming contemporary society. The article shows that these playful texts adapt conventional forms of the list, namely the last will and testament as well as the library catalog, to represent more or less well-known types of men and women. They thus engage the readers’ attention in what emerges as a complex epistemological process.
Funder
European Research Council
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
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