Laurence Sterne(1713 - 1768)

1. IntroAnachronistic figure in English lit.Important for 20th century lit.Situation in English novelistic lit. at the time :Serious, didactic, sentimental novele.g. Richardson, Fieldings Amelia2. Humoristic novele.g. Fieldings Shamela, Joseph Andrews

Sterne brought together those 2 streamsReactions: audience approved, critics partly negative, authors immitated (the Continent)Sternes target audience: higher intellectual and educational levelRevolution: the technique, the form, the concept of novel

2. BioAuthor & clergymanNovember 24, 1713, IrelandFather poor regiment officer, dictated the family lifestyleFirst 10 years of life moving around10 years old school, Halifax18 years old, father dies, financial troubles

Jesus college, Cambridge (great-grandfather Master of the College, scholarship)B.A. & M.A.Clergyman out of necessity:DeaconVicar (vicarship in Yorkshire)Politics: the Whig (influence of uncle), political journalism (supporting Robert Walpole), then quits, falling out with uncle

Marriage: loyal but not very intellectual wife, both ill with consumption2 daughters, one died, other progressive imbecilityLiving a bit dull life in his parish for 20 years (reading, painting, violin, hunting, petty events)The Demoniacks club

3. CareerStarted writing late & by chance1759 A Political Romance (story, a Swiftian satire, local success)(supporting his dean in a church squabble)January 1, 1760 Tristram Shandy (2 volumes, written in 6 months)The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemanpublished in York, selling also in LondonLondon (hoping for success)

4. SuccessImmediate hitSterne = fashionable authorLiterary circles, high societyneglects boring wife, numerous sentimental (platonic?) affairsMrs Draper Eliza in A Sentimental Journey1775 Letters of Yorick to Eliza

1760 Sermons Propovedi (2 volumes)Regularly publishes Tristram Shandy total of 9 volumes, last in January 17671762 acute tuberculosis South France, Paris, Italy1766 Sermons (2 more volumes)1768 A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (2 volumes out of 4 intended)1768 dies (less than 2 months later)

5. Tristram ShandyParody of accepted novel conventionsEccentric characters: Walter Shandy, Mrs Shandy, uncle Toby, widow Wadman, YorickAb ovo opening of the novelNo plot, no chronology, subjective vs. objective timeKaleidoscopic structure (collage)

Conversational style, different treatment of reality (impressions)Episodes & digressionsAssociation of ideas (John Locke) creative continuumEducational novel Tristrapaedia

6. A Sentimental JourneyParody of a travelogueToying with genre, readers expectationsIn medias res beginning (parody)Revolution in attitude towards:Characters (partially defined, implicitly characterized, laughed at)Novel form (no plot, disrupted chronology, dual time, episodes, digressions, intertextuality)Reader (defying conventions, chatting, more active)

7. Sterne & 20th centurySamuel Johnson: Nothing odd will do long. Tristram Shandy did not last.Goethe: The most beautiful spirit that ever lived.InnovatorFree novel form, freedom in writingInterested in , introspectionStream-of-consciousness / interior monologue