TY - GEN T1 - Reading it wrong : an alternative history of early eighteenth-century literature A1 - Williams, Abigail LA - English PP - Princeton PB - Princeton University Press YR - 2023 UL - https://ebooks.jgu.edu.in/Record/jstor_dda_on1374247042 AB - "How eighteenth-century literature depended on misinterpretation--and how this still shapes the way we read. Reading It Wrong is a new history of eighteenth-century English literature that explores what has been everywhere evident but rarely talked about: the misunderstanding, muddle and confusion of readers of the past when they first met the uniquely elusive writings of the period. Abigail Williams uses the marginal marks and jottings of these readers to show that flawed interpretation has its own history--and its own important role to play--in understanding how, why and what we read. Focusing on the first half of the eighteenth century, the golden age of satire, Reading It Wrong tells how a combination of changing readerships and fantastically tricky literature created the perfect grounds for puzzlement and partial comprehension. Through the lens of a history of imperfect reading, we see that many of the period's major works--by writers including Daniel Defoe, Eliza Haywood, Mary Wortley Montagu, Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift--both generated and depended upon widespread misreading. Being foxed by a satire, coded fiction or allegory was, like Wordle or the cryptic crossword, a form of entertainment, and perhaps a group sport. Rather than worrying that we don't have all the answers, we should instead recognize the cultural importance of not knowing"-- OP - 309 CN - PR441 .W55 2023 SN - 0691252343 SN - 9780691252346 SN - 9780691170688 KW - English literature : 18th century : History and criticism. KW - English literature : Appreciation. KW - Satire, English : History and criticism. KW - Books and reading : England : History : 18th century. KW - Littérature anglaise : 18e siècle : Histoire et critique. KW - Livres et lecture : Angleterre : Histoire : 18e siècle. KW - LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 18th Century. KW - HISTORY / Modern / 18th Century. KW - Books and reading KW - English literature KW - English literature : Appreciation KW - Satire, English KW - England KW - 1700-1799 KW - Electronic books. KW - Criticism, interpretation, etc. KW - History KW - Literary criticism KW - Literary criticism. KW - Critiques littéraires. ER -