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Chapter 4 - The Shape of the Nation

from Part 1 - Form and Function

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2022

Pat Rogers
Affiliation:
University of South Florida
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Summary

Chapter 4 provides the fullest discussion to date of the range of formal devices employed in the Tour. It suggests that Defoe enlists these to build up a regional scheme that will unify his picture of the nation, parallel in some ways to the zones into which modern British highways are divided, with a map to illustrate the process. A table and a map show the larger towns in Britain around 1700, with a population of 5,000 or more, as a basis for discussion of Defoe’s coverage of urban settlements. Further, the chapter provides a comparison with the methods used in previous travel writing, such as antiquarians (John Leland, William Camden) and subsequent authors of literary journeys (for example, Celia Fiennes, John Macky, William Cobbett). It defines the originality of the work within the history of this genre by means of a semiotic square, adapted from the schema developed by A.J. Greimas.

Type
Chapter
Information
Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain
Panorama of the Nation
, pp. 85 - 110
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • The Shape of the Nation
  • Pat Rogers, University of South Florida
  • Book: Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain
  • Online publication: 04 February 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106412.005
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  • The Shape of the Nation
  • Pat Rogers, University of South Florida
  • Book: Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain
  • Online publication: 04 February 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106412.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Shape of the Nation
  • Pat Rogers, University of South Florida
  • Book: Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain
  • Online publication: 04 February 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106412.005
Available formats
×