Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne
(1713 - 1768)
1. Intro
Anachronistic figure in English lit.
Important for 20th century lit.
Situation in English novelistic lit. at the
time :
1.Serious, didactic, sentimental novel
e.g. Richardson, Fieldings Amelia
2. Humoristic novel
e.g. Fieldings Shamela, Joseph Andrews
2. Bio
Author & clergyman
November 24, 1713, Ireland
Father poor regiment officer, dictated
the family lifestyle
First 10 years of life moving around
10 years old school, Halifax
18 years old, father dies, financial
troubles
3. Career
Started writing late & by chance
1759 A Political Romance (story, a
Swiftian satire, local success)
(supporting his dean in a church
squabble)
January 1, 1760 Tristram Shandy (2
volumes, written in 6 months)
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy,
Gentleman
published in York, selling also in London
London (hoping for success)
4. Success
Immediate hit
Sterne = fashionable author
Literary circles, high society
neglects boring wife, numerous
sentimental (platonic?) affairs
Mrs Draper Eliza in A Sentimental
Journey
1775 Letters of Yorick to Eliza
5. Tristram Shandy
Parody of accepted novel conventions
Eccentric characters: Walter Shandy,
Mrs Shandy, uncle Toby, widow
Wadman, Yorick
Ab ovo opening of the novel
No plot, no chronology, subjective vs.
objective time
Kaleidoscopic structure (collage)
6. A Sentimental Journey
Parody of a travelogue
Toying with genre, readers expectations
In medias res beginning (parody)
Revolution in attitude towards:
1.Characters (partially defined, implicitly
characterized, laughed at)
2.Novel form (no plot, disrupted chronology,
dual time, episodes, digressions,
intertextuality)
3.Reader (defying conventions, chatting,
more active)