Friends – I spent some time talking about Lessing’s plea for interfaith tolerance and understanding in a previous post about Nathan the Wise, a play written in German in the late 18th Century. You can read my thoughts about it here, and I recommend doing so before continuing with this post. Today, I’d like to … Continue reading Reading the 18th Century, 04/17/17: Nathan the Wise 2 or Lessing and his Muslim Characters
Tag: reading the 18th Century
Reading the 18th Century, March 12, 2017. Rousseau redux: The Discourse on Inequality continued with some cool info on people who read him
Hi everyone -- welcome back as we take a second look at this seminal piece of writing by Jean Jacques Rousseau. Last time, I talked about Rousseau's theory of humans in the state of nature. Now we'll take a quick look at some of his other ideas. Part 2 of the Discourse starts off … Continue reading Reading the 18th Century, March 12, 2017. Rousseau redux: The Discourse on Inequality continued with some cool info on people who read him
February 27th 2017, Reading the 18th Century: Who are we really? Notes on human nature before civilization, after civilization, and the social contract by a weird Swiss guy who wrote about society but couldn’t actually bear to live in one. In other words, welcome to the world of Jean Jacques Rousseau, part 1
Friends – I’ve been putting off talking about one of the most problematic and fascinating figures of Enlightenment writing. I mean the author who my husband and I love to hate, and hate to love – the philosopher, social theorist, novelist, pedagogy expert, and memoirist, Jean Jacques Rousseau. Where to begin with this guy? Of … Continue reading February 27th 2017, Reading the 18th Century: Who are we really? Notes on human nature before civilization, after civilization, and the social contract by a weird Swiss guy who wrote about society but couldn’t actually bear to live in one. In other words, welcome to the world of Jean Jacques Rousseau, part 1
Reading the 18th Century (and the 19th and the 21st), 01/23/17: From Schiller to Hugo to Rogue One and back again
Friends – In my last post I talked about the important work done by playwright/poet/historian Friedrich Schiller. As I mentioned last time, Schiller wrote frequently about rebels. Almost all his plays feature protagonists (sometimes a man, and sometimes a woman) who are frustrated with the status quo and who revolt against their society, for both … Continue reading Reading the 18th Century (and the 19th and the 21st), 01/23/17: From Schiller to Hugo to Rogue One and back again
Self-deprecation and the gesture towards improvement: Why I love Jonathan Swift’s weird poem about his own death
I have no title to aspire Yet when you sink I seem the higher (Jonathan Swift, “Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift” transcribed from memory). Friends – The above is a quote from my favorite 18th Century poem “Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift,” written by Jonathan Swift himself and published in 1739. … Continue reading Self-deprecation and the gesture towards improvement: Why I love Jonathan Swift’s weird poem about his own death
Stephanie Barbé Hammer Writing (Un) Real 