Irish independence vs British colonialism: A study of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal".
详细信息
文摘
This thesis will analyze Jonathan Swift's legendary ambiguity and irony within A Modest Proposal as it reflects Swift's patriotic sympathies concerning Ireland's relation to British colonialism. Much of the popular and current scholarly discourse concerning Swift and A Modest Proposal revolves around his political affiliations (Whigs and Tories) and the work as a political tract. Leading scholars such as Ian Higgins in Swift's Politics and Claude Rawson in the introduction and notes to The Essential Writings of Jonathan Swift focus much of their study on the historical and political attributes in such Swift texts as Gulliver's Travels and A Tale of a Tub,among others. There is also a rather large discourse surrounding Swift's literary identity and his relationship with Ireland,yet most of it is based around Swift's direct politics in his more popular works； however I plan to explore some of Swift's Irish Tracts from 1715-1729 and argue that Swift aimed to promote Irish independence over British colonialism rather than a more narrowly construed literary agenda. My research in this thesis will build upon and add to the current Swift critical discourse by examining the colonial relationship between Ireland and Britain more fully and through an analytical close reading of Jonathan Swift's Irish Tracts,primarily A Modest Proposal..