Irony and Earnestness in Eighteenth-Century Literature

af Shane (Flinders University of South Australia) Herron

Delving into the interaction between satire and more serious forms of literature, Shane Herron overturns long-standing assumptions around genre and style to explore how eighteenth-century writers in fact used irony to deepen the serious content of popular fiction and, conversely, used earnestness to sharpen their satirical bite.