Title
The Secret History in Literature, 1660-1820
Files
Highlights
Secret history, with its claim to expose secrets of state and the sexual intrigues of monarchs and ministers, alarmed and thrilled readers across Europe and America from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century. Scholars have recognised for some time the important position that the genre occupies within the literary and political culture of the Enlightenment. Of interest to students of British, French and American literature, as well as political and intellectual history, this new volume of essays demonstrates for the first time the extent of secret history's interaction with different literary traditions, including epic poetry, Restoration drama, periodicals, and slave narratives. It reveals secret history's impact on authors, readers, and the book trade in England, France, and America throughout the long eighteenth century. In doing so, it offers a case study for approaching questions of genre at moments when political and cultural shifts put strain on traditional generic categories.
ISBN
978-1107150461
Publication Date
3-2017
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Keywords
propaganda, secret history, politics, political, gossip, 17th century, 18th century, 19th century, literature, romance
Disciplines
Literature in English, Anglophone outside British Isles and North America | Literature in English, British Isles
Recommended Citation
Carnell, Rachel K., "The Secret History in Literature, 1660-1820" (2017). English Department Publications. 6.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cleng_deptpub/6
