Coffehouse culture and satire
Absztrakt
This lesson looks into the dynamic relationship of the booming coffeehouse culture and that of periodicals, especially of Joseph Addison’s and Sir Richard Steele’s The Spectator (1711-1712). The lesson takes a look at both the positive perception of the coffeehouse culture, i.e. its democratizing effect and contribution to the dissemination of learning, and the negative perception of it, i.e. as site of sedition and political unrest. We will also look into the so called ‘culture of curiosity’ and its contribution and connection to coffeehouse culture. Finally, the lecture will briefly discuss the formal satire (Horatian and Juvenalian) with examples of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal. Topics to be discussed: • Coffeehouse as the centre for news culture (periodicals) • The gendered discourse around coffeehouse culture • Culture of curiosity and the formal satire o Swift’s A Modest Proposal (1729)