Samuel Johnson: The Life of an AuthorHarvard University Press, 2009 M07 1 - 384 pages He was a servant to the public, a writer for hire. He was a hero, an author adding to the glory of his nation. But can a writer be both hack and hero? The career of Samuel Johnson, recounted here by Lawrence Lipking, proves that the two can be one. And it further proves, in its enduring interest for readers, that academic fashions today may be a bit hasty in pronouncing the "death of the author." |
From inside the book
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... Language 103 6. The Living World : The Rambler 145 7. Reclaiming Imagination : Rasselas 173 8. The Theater of Mind : The Plays of William Shakespeare 198 9. Journeying Westward : Political Writings ; A Journey to the Western Islands of ...
... language they use . The contempt for humanist ideals that once was reserved to a handful of philosophers , mostly in Europe , has now spread abroad . Nothing could be more absurd , from this point of view , than the belief of ...
... languages within which they are imprisoned , and persons are not agents or subjects but subject- positions . Hence the name of an " author " has no meaning , according to Foucault , except as an abbreviation for " author - function ...
... language itself , where any saying or scribble might be analyzed either as the prod- uct of a system of signs ( langue ) or as a fresh combination ( parole ) . Authors themselves may share these doubts , experiencing the process of ...
... language has fallen into a state of anar- chy that only a dictator can bring to order , " and I hereby declare that I make a total surrender of all my rights and privileges in the English language , as a free - born British subject , to ...
Contents
11 | |
34 | |
48 | |
Preferments Gate The Vanity of Human Wishes | 86 |
Man of Letters A Dictionary of the English Language | 103 |
The Living World The Rambler | 145 |
Reclaiming Imagination Rasselas | 173 |
The Theater of Mind The Plays of William Shakespeare | 198 |
Journeying Westward Political Writings A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
Touching the Shore The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
The Life to Come Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Abbreviation | 307 |
Notes | 309 |
Index | 363 |