Quite independently, Alana and I came upon the same source for our presentation. It, too, got me thinking about Sterne's presentation of Yorick, a character often associated with himself. It is curious to think of Yorick as some kind of androgenous, though still sexual, character; even curiouser when one recognizes the influence Sentimental Journey had on the growing sentimental novel, as Mullan observes. The growing empowerment of women in the eighteenth century novel (which even traditionalists like Watt note) finds a balance in the "Man of Feeling," to use Mackenzie's term. For in that new hero, a more feminized male hero is engendered in the novel. But I mention the curiousity of this movement with respect to Sterne due to his treatment of the female reader of his Tristram Shandy, as persuasively argued by Barbara M. Benedict (among others). Benedict points out that the easily frightened, dense female reader that Sterne engenders is foiled with his intelligent, thoughtful male reader. Benedict finds Sterne's work to be antagonistically anti-feminine, critiquing romances, "female" trends in reading ("novelty over significance," for instance), and the corruption of the male literary culture (Benedict 490).
But this chauvinism is not apparent in Sentimental Journey. Without going into it too much here, I encourage everyone to consider the changing gender roles of the novels we've read. How does Sentimental Journey fit into this strain? Might you consider Sterne chauvanistic based on your reading of SJ alone? Did the sentimental novel change men's presentation in novels significantly?
Monday, March 19, 2007
Independent enGendering
Poor Yorick-sentimentality and gender in Sterne's work
While preparing my presentation on Sterne's Sentimental Journey, some themes kept reappearing throughout the book that had a fascinating effects on the narrative. Granted, we've kicked around the idea of gender and gendered reading quite a bit in this class, but
it has such an effect on the works we've read and our reaction to them that I feel it's valid to continue exploring as a theme. While reading other's interpretations of Sterne's work, I came across a journal article by Rebenna Gould entitled "Sterne's Yorick as a Male Hysteric." Gould made some interesting connections between the feminine attributes of hysteria (in the 17th century sense of the world, not the modern sense of the word) and Yorick's character, which I will cover in more detail in my presentation. However, Gould makes some very interesting points about the masculinity, or lack thereof, of Yorick. I do not think it is entirely accurate to claim that he is presented as an androgynous or asexual creation, as Gould does, since Yorick seems to be rather lucky with the ladies. Still, Gould makes a valid point in observing that Yorick is certainly not presented as overtly masculine, in contrast with the vigorous Le Fleur. Sterne uses feminine words (for example, Yorick's use of "prostitute" to describe himself) in connection with Yorick, and furthermore Yorick does not seem to be perceived as very masculine (and therefore dangerous) by any other characters in the story. Is Sterne feminising Yorick? Knowing that Sterne invested Yorick with several biographical details as they related to him personally, that is a hard question to answer. Certainly Yorick's "sentimentality" as the "man of feeling" rather than a man of action could be interpreted as feminine with regards to our traditional assignation of certain qualitites with the label of feminine or masculine. I rather feel as though this feminised quality of Yorick's makes him ultimately more accessible to those he comes into contact with. He makes emotional connections with both men and women, as as he is not perceived by women as a threat, he is given a certain amount of license in regards to being in private with them (which, I would point out, he certainly takes advantage of). We have seen a similar play with the concept of masculinity and femininity in Richardson and Fielding's work, and I feel as though the authors are attempting ot make certain points or assertions about the qualities invested in those gendered concepts. Richardson, for example, gives Pamela quite a bit of power but only within an extremely feminised sense. I don't want to ramble on in this post, but I really find this idea quite fascinating, and hopefully we will have a chance to discuss this further tonight.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Some thoughts on Joseph Andrews
Next class, we've got quite a few things to take care of--three presentations being the most significant of that to-do list. I'd also like to be able to tie up a few remaining issues relevant to our discussion of Joseph Andrews.
Last class, we briefly considered the role of gender in Fielding's work, and I'd like to take that idea up again--especially insofar Fielding's narrator characterizes women (Mrs. Slipslop, Mrs. Tow-wowse, Lady Booby, Fanny Goodwill, and the several incidental characters who seem inevitably to represent the height of vanity and affectation, which Fielding's narrator describes as the chief concern of the novel).
I'd also like to discuss the way the narrator treats coincidence and the conventions of romance, and if possible, get your thoughts on the important metaphors of travel and dress in Joseph Andrews. You might like to compose your post around one of those topics, which will help kickstart our discussion.
For those of you presenting next class, you might also consider how these ideas could be incorporated informally into your presentations. This last is not necessary, but it might help keep our discussions on point.