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Swift's Landscape
Swift's Landscape argues for a fundamental reevaluation of Jonathan Swift's place in eighteenth-century literary history. Combining history, biography, and literary criticism, Carole Fabricant restores both Swift's life and his writings to their proper landscape - by emphasizing the influence of the author's Irish involvements and environs on his work.
344 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1982
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October 29, 2020
Why do I own this book? I'm not especially interested in Swift scholarship or this period of history. I've had this since college and don't recall why I bought it (A sale? Recommended by a professor?) but I am reading it now in my sluggish project to get through some of these unwanted books and make space on my shelves.
I will say that Fabricant is a pretty clear writer and this is not heavily academic-jargoned -- if you happen to be into swift or landscape lit or whatnot you can probably follow it. I will summarize the main topic below. Each point is supported by a lot of quotes from Swift's published and non-published writing, and then contrasted with contemporary authors or Swift's correspondents.
This study explores the significance of Swift's landscape, both the actual features of his physical surroundings and the idiosyncratic, highly distinctive way in which he perceived them, as evidenced by their recurring, often obsessive depiction throughout his writings. Transformed alternately (or simultaneously) into political, symbolic, and satiric statement, these features constitute an al-encompassing ideological landscape.
...for Swift, the geographical and architectural aspects of his environment were invariably linked to prevailing social and economic conditions.
Chapter 1: "Landscape as vision and place"
Contra the general Augustan attitude of idealization and perfection and ordering, Swift was intellectual interested in disorder as a theme, and also acknowledged the harshness of reality.
Chapter 2: "Excremental vision vs excremental reality"
Sure, there are lots of satiric and symbolic mentions of shit, but it (and other disgusting waste) was also a literal everyday sight.
Chapter 3: "Antipastoral Vision and Ireland's Antipastoral reality"
Swift sneered at idealizations of the simple and innocent joys of rural life.
Idealized landscapes such as gardens only highlight the harshness of reality by showing how far it is from the idealized version.
This attitude was reinforced by Swift's experiences living and working in Ireland, where he was first posted to the impoverished, bleak, and decaying Kilroot.
Chapter 4: "Subversion of the Country house ideal"
Contra the ideal of the well-ordered and flourishing estate, Swift mocked incompetent landowners sinking money into losses. He saw the social classes as bitterly hostile rather than harmoniously balanced.
Chapter 5: "Spectator in the Landscape"
Members of the landowning elite expressed ownership through covetous viewing of "prospects," ideally from an elevation or distance. Swift seemed to feel that views were useless in the face of oppressive social conditions or emotional states. He didn't write about pretty landscapes because he was obsessed with visions of approaching doom for his native land.
Chapter 6: "The Drapier-Dean in his Landscape"
Swift's relationship to Ireland was a profoundly ambivalent, often tortured one. He described himself as an exile and stranger no matter where he was, in contrast to the journey-and-homecoming motif more characteristic of his contemporaries. He may have felt this to be a characteristic of the Irish as a whole, dispossessed and often refugees or emigrants.
I will say that Fabricant is a pretty clear writer and this is not heavily academic-jargoned -- if you happen to be into swift or landscape lit or whatnot you can probably follow it. I will summarize the main topic below. Each point is supported by a lot of quotes from Swift's published and non-published writing, and then contrasted with contemporary authors or Swift's correspondents.
This study explores the significance of Swift's landscape, both the actual features of his physical surroundings and the idiosyncratic, highly distinctive way in which he perceived them, as evidenced by their recurring, often obsessive depiction throughout his writings. Transformed alternately (or simultaneously) into political, symbolic, and satiric statement, these features constitute an al-encompassing ideological landscape.
...for Swift, the geographical and architectural aspects of his environment were invariably linked to prevailing social and economic conditions.
Chapter 1: "Landscape as vision and place"
Contra the general Augustan attitude of idealization and perfection and ordering, Swift was intellectual interested in disorder as a theme, and also acknowledged the harshness of reality.
Chapter 2: "Excremental vision vs excremental reality"
Sure, there are lots of satiric and symbolic mentions of shit, but it (and other disgusting waste) was also a literal everyday sight.
Chapter 3: "Antipastoral Vision and Ireland's Antipastoral reality"
Swift sneered at idealizations of the simple and innocent joys of rural life.
Idealized landscapes such as gardens only highlight the harshness of reality by showing how far it is from the idealized version.
This attitude was reinforced by Swift's experiences living and working in Ireland, where he was first posted to the impoverished, bleak, and decaying Kilroot.
Chapter 4: "Subversion of the Country house ideal"
Contra the ideal of the well-ordered and flourishing estate, Swift mocked incompetent landowners sinking money into losses. He saw the social classes as bitterly hostile rather than harmoniously balanced.
Chapter 5: "Spectator in the Landscape"
Members of the landowning elite expressed ownership through covetous viewing of "prospects," ideally from an elevation or distance. Swift seemed to feel that views were useless in the face of oppressive social conditions or emotional states. He didn't write about pretty landscapes because he was obsessed with visions of approaching doom for his native land.
Chapter 6: "The Drapier-Dean in his Landscape"
Swift's relationship to Ireland was a profoundly ambivalent, often tortured one. He described himself as an exile and stranger no matter where he was, in contrast to the journey-and-homecoming motif more characteristic of his contemporaries. He may have felt this to be a characteristic of the Irish as a whole, dispossessed and often refugees or emigrants.
Displaying 1 of 1 review