In this book, first published in 1984, Joel Weinsheimer
advocates revitalizing the practice of imitating literature as a
mode appropriate for literary critics as well as artists. The book
is not only about imitation; it is itself an imitation,
specifically of Samuel Johnson. As both the focus and mode of
presentation, imitation is presented not merely as a kind of poetry
that once flourished in the eighteenth century but also as a kind
of criticism particularly relevant today. Applying arguments from
philosophy of science, deconstruction, psycho-analysis, literary
theory, semiotics and hermeneutics, Weinsheimer shows that the
three main currents of thought responsible for forcing imitation
underground were empiricism, originalism and historicism. The three
central chapters of the book concentrate on their representatives:
John Locke, Edward Young and Thomas Warton. The author then applies
Johnsonian arguments supported by those of Gadamer Peirce to
challenge those objections and re-establish imitation as an
intellectually defensible mode of writing. "
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