Representation and Misrepresentation in Later Stuart Britain - Partisanship and Political Culture (Hardcover, New)

In this original and illuminating study, Mark Knights reveals how the political culture of the eighteenth century grew out of earlier trends and innovations. Arguing that the period 1675-1720 needs to be seen as the second stage of a seventeenth-century revolution that ran on until c.1720, the book traces the development of the public as an arbiter of politics, the growth of a national political culture, the shift towards a representative society, a crisis of public discourse and credibility, and a political enlightenment rooted in local and national partisan conflict. The 'public' acquired a new status in the later Stuart period as a result of frequent elections, the lapse of pre-publication licensing, the emergence of party politics, the creation of a public debt and ideological conflict over popular sovereignty. These factors enlarged the role of the public and required it to make frequent acts of judgement. Yet contemporaries from across the political spectrum feared that the public might be misled by the misrepresentations peddled by their rivals. Each side, and those ostensibly of no side, discerned a culture of passion, slander, libel, lies, hypocrisy, dissimulation, conspiracy, private languages and fictions. 'Truth' appeared an ambiguous, political matter. But the reaction to partisanship was also creative, for it helped to construct an ideal form of political discourse. This was one based on reason rather than passion, on politeness rather than incivility, on moderation rather than partisan zeal, on critical reading rather than credulity; and the realisation of those ideals rested on infrequent rather than frequent elections. Finding synergies between social, political, religious, scientific, literary, cultural and intellectual history, 'Representation and Misrepresentation' reinvigorates the debate about the emergence of 'the public sphere' in the later Stuart period.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	March 2005
First published:	June 2005
Authors:	Mark Knights
Dimensions:	223 x 146 x 30mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	448
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-925833-8
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > 16th to 18th centuries Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > General Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1500 to 1750 Books > Humanities > History > British & Irish history > General Books > History > British & Irish history > General Books > History > World history > 1500 to 1750
LSN:	0-19-925833-3
Barcode:	9780199258338

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!