The Aesthetics of Provinciality: Literary Expression and the Book Trade in Ireland, Scotland, and the United States, 1800-1850 – A Luncheon Discussion with Joseph Rezek

Joseph Rezek, Assistant Professor of English, will discuss his current book project, The Aesthetics of Provinciality, in which he argues that modern aesthetic theory was shaped by the success of Irish, Scottish, and American authors who triumphed in the London book trade, including Maria Edgeworth, Walter Scott, Washington Irving, and James Fenimore Cooper. Such authors, faced with London’s dominance of the marketplace, developed two lasting and contradictory notions about literary expression: on the one hand, that it transcends nationality and inhabits an autonomous sphere of culture and, on the other, that it reveals deep and essential truths about an author’s native land.

Mary Sarah Bilder, Professor of Law, Boston College, will respond.

Lunch provided. Please RSVP to eamrien@bu.edu by Friday, November 8.

This event is brought to you by the Center for the Study of Europe, as part of International Education Week, a university-wide celebration of BU's global engagement.

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