The Origins of the Individualist Self

Beschreibung

This book traces the emergence of the concept of self-identity inmodern Western culture, as it was both reflected in and advanced bythe development of autobiographical practice in early modernEngland. It offers a fresh and illuminating appraisal of the natureof autobiographical narrative in general and of the early modernforms of biography, diary and autobiography in particular. Theresult is a significant and original contribution to the history ofindividualism. Michael Mascuch argues that the definitive characteristic ofindividualist self-identity is the personal capacity to produce aunified retrospective autobiographical narrative, and he stressesthat this capacity was first demonstrated in England during thelast decade of the eighteenth century. He examines the long-termprocess of innovation in written discourse leading up to thisevent, from the first use of blank almanacs and common place booksby the pious in the late sixteenth century, through the popularcriminal biographies of the late seventeenth century, to theprinted-for-the-author scandalous memoirs of the mid-eighteenthcentury. While offering a detailed account of a significant period in therise of a modern literary genre, Origins of the IndividualistSelf also addresses topics which are central in the fields ofliterary and cultural theory and social and cultural history.

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Michael Mascuch

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Early Modern History (1500-1780) Geschichte Geschichte der frühen Neuzeit (1500-1780) History

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"In this elegantly-written study, Michael Mascuch displays an impressive and refreshing ability to deploy the diverse disciplines of history, sociology and English literary criticism in forming a powerful argument about intellectual and cultural change. Through detailed textual and historical analysis he identifies the origins of the modern autonomous personality. By lending a new precision to debates on the mental world of pre-modern men and women this intelligent and highly original book will change the way we understand the historical origins of modern individualism." R. A. Houston, University of St. Andrews
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