A Lash for the World: Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels
Date
2019-12-19
Authors
Higgins, Ian
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley Blackwell
Abstract
Gulliver's Travels is a landmark in world literature. Swift intended the work for the world and for all periods and the satire has a timelessness that makes it always contemporary. It has an enduring international multimedia presence. A mock travel book in a tradition of satirical imaginary voyages, Gulliver's Travels is confected from multiple genres and draws upon world literature, especially the literature of the classical world. What it isn't is a novel. Modern novelistic readings have led to a softening of what is an unpalatable hardcore misanthropic satire. Swift's work has multiple targets but a principal target is the reader. Aspects of Swift's satire are politically extremist. The work contains a famous denunciation of colonialism and provides an early astringent critique of a nascent global capitalism. A sensation and scandal at the time of its publication, the satire still arrests attention today.
Description
Keywords
capitalism, colonialism, comedy, dystopia, globalization, horses, misanthropy, satire, travel, utopia
Citation
Collections
Source
Type
Book chapter
Book Title
A Companion to World Literature
Entity type
Access Statement
License Rights
DOI
10.1002/9781118635193.ctwl0152
Restricted until
2037-12-31