Political Magic : British Fictions of Savagery and Sovereignty, 1650-1750 / Christopher F. Loar.
Loar, Christopher F., author.
2014
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Title Political Magic : British Fictions of Savagery and Sovereignty, 1650-1750 / Christopher F. Loar.
Author Loar, Christopher F., author.
ISBN 9780823256945
DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/9780823256945
Published New York, NY : Fordham University Press, [2014]
Copyright ©2014
Language English
Language Note In English.
Description 1 online resource (344 p.)
Other Standard Identifiers 10.1515/9780823256945 doi
Dewey Decimal Classification 823/.509358
Summary Political Magic examines early modern British fictions of exploration and colonialism, arguing that narratives of intercultural contact reimagine ideas of sovereignty and popular power. These fictions reveal aspects of political thought in this period that official discourse typically shunted aside, particularly the political status of the commoner, whose "liberty" was often proclaimed even as it was undermined both in theory and in practice. Like the Hobbesian sovereign, the colonist appears to the colonized as a giver of rules who remains unruly.At the heart of many texts are moments of savage wonder, provoked by European displays of technological prowess. In particular, the trope of the first gunshot articulates an origin of consent and political legitimacy in colonial showmanship. Yet as manifestations of force held in abeyance, these technologies also signal the ultimate reliance of sovereigns on extreme violence as the lessthan-mystical foundation of their authority.By examining works by Cavendish, Defoe, Behn, Swift, and Haywood in conjunction with contemporary political writing and travelogues, Political Magic locates a subterranean discourse of sovereignty in the century after Hobbes, finding surprising affinities between the government of "savages" and of Britons.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics text file PDF
Source of Description Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 03. Jan 2023)
In Fordham University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
Fordham University Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2014
Available in Other Form print 9780823256914
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Frontmatter
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Magical Government
1. Enchanting the Savage: Th e Politics of Pyrotechnics in the Cavendish Circle
2. Fire and Sword: Aphra Behn and the Materials of Authority
3. Talking Guns and Savage Spaces: Daniel Defoe's Civilizing Technologies
4. Doctrines Détestables: Jonathan Swift, Despotism, and Virtue
5. Savage Vision: Violence, Reason, and Surveillance in Eliza Haywood
Coda: Enemies
Notes
Bibliography
Index

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