Satire, Sincerity, and Swift's Exploded Gospel
This essay examines Jonathan Swift's satire An Argument against Abolishing Christianity in order to re-evaluate the conventions of sincerity. Whereas the Argument is typically recognized as satirizing insincere Christian belief, my literary-historical approach focuses on Swift's references...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Johns Hopkins University Press
[2017]
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| In: |
Christianity & literature
Year: 2017, Volume: 67, Issue: 1, Pages: 139-162 |
| RelBib Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture TJ Modern history |
| Further subjects: | B
Public Sphere
B SWIFT, Jonathan, 1667-1745 B Satire B Christianity B Sincerity B Jonathan Swift B Mediation |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This essay examines Jonathan Swift's satire An Argument against Abolishing Christianity in order to re-evaluate the conventions of sincerity. Whereas the Argument is typically recognized as satirizing insincere Christian belief, my literary-historical approach focuses on Swift's references to public opinion and the speaker's claim that the Gospel is generally antiquated and exploded. For Swift, public opinion has a distorting effect on communication, and yet he participates in the public sphere nevertheless. This performative contradiction provides an instructive addition to Christian debates concerning the moral dangers of assimilation and taking on a role. |
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| ISSN: | 2056-5666 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Christianity & literature
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0148333117736771 |