Fables of Modernity: Literature and Culture in the English Eighteenth Century

Rating:
Summary: Necessary, Insightful, Satisfying
Review: Laura Brown's new book is necessary reading for anyone interested in modernity, the English eighteenth century, or the connections between literature and history. Deftly interweaving dense historical detail with keen close readings, Brown persuades us that the "cultural fables" she describes were key elements in the period's understanding of the massive changes of modernity. These fables include those of expansion, comprising the metropolis (in figures of sewers) and the notion of imperial fate (in figures of torrents and oceans; those of exchange, comprising finance (in the image of lady credit) and capitalism (in fables of a new world); and those of alterity (in the story of the native prince and of animals, figured as a means of commenting on and assimilating new worlds and peoples). It's a rich and fascinating book. I highly recommend it!