Overview

The present study is the first monograph dedicated to Jonathan Swift’s sermons. As critics have noted, the sermons are “the least examined area within (the) least examined area” of Swift studies (Weinbrot 2008). While Swift’s own disparaging comment on his homilies (“the idlest trifling stuff that ever was writ”) might partly account for this critical disaffection, we suggest that his sermons may be fruitfully apprehended with a new approach of Swift as preacher of his homiletic language, as well as his use of language at large. This study presents a radically new perspective on the sermons, demonstrating that linguistic pragmatics reveals that they are characterised by a silent rhetoric, which complexifies the vision of the sermons as characterised by “narrow and shallow orthodoxy” (Nokes, 1985, p. 278). While this study leans toward the textual, the theory of language which underpins it is inclusive and makes it possible to reconcile text and context. Consequently, the overall approach is neither purely historicist nor exclusively textual, and contextualization and comparisons to other preachers are provided. The main thrust of this study thus consists in highlighting the intricate links between formal autonomy and the historico-political context in which the sermons are embedded.

Full Product Details

Author:   Nathalie Zimpfer
Publisher:   Liverpool University Press
Imprint:   Voltaire Foundation
Volume:   2024:09
ISBN:  

9781802075281

ISBN 10:   1802075283
Pages:   280
Publication Date:   28 September 2024
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   In Print  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

Introduction Part I: Introductory Matters Chapter 1: Jonathan Swift, Language, and the Duality of Signs Chapter 2: Swift, Intention and Interpretation Chapter 3: Understanding Homiletic Language Part II: Reading the Sermons Introduction: Swift as Satirist and Preacher: Mythopoesis and the Consistency Dogma Chapter 1: Swift’s Sermons and the Transmission of the Gospel Chapter 2: Swift and Institutional Regulation: From Theology to Politics Chapter 3: The Rhetoric and Communication Style of Swiftian Homiletics Conclusion Appendix: Scriptural references and allusions in the sermons

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Author Information

Dr. Nathalie Zimpfer is an independent French scholar currently based in Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or.

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