FRIENDSHIP AND SOCIABILITY IN THE VERSE LETTERS OF JOHN DONNE
Date
2022-08-30
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
ORCID
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Doctoral
Abstract
The verse letters of John Donne have been understudied and critically underappreciated
for almost as long as they have existed in print. In their 1978 article, “Dark Texts Need Notes,”
David Aers and Gunther Kress posit that the root of this condemnation and neglect is “the lack of
a descriptive or interpretative framework within which the real interest of these poems can be
perceived and analyzed” (138). This dissertation develops such a framework based on the
concept of sociability. Within this framework, sociability conceptualizes Donne’s verse letters as
literary objects that are not only representative of social exchange, but are themselves social
artifacts whose presence in multiple contexts and perspectives perform and generate social
connection.
This dissertation explores three applications of sociability: the lexicon of friendship
common to Donne and his contemporaries via the classical model of friendship outlined by
Cicero; the metaphors of the letter as a physical manifestation of its sender meant to embody
social ties in epistolary communication despite anxieties over physical absence; and the social
configurations, organization, and reader reception of early modern manuscripts. Ultimately, these
applications point to the need for a new editorial practice: the network edition emphasizes
sociability and social relationships by employing a network visualization as its primary user
interface. This interface informs a methodology for engaging new readers with applications of
sociability in the network edition. In Donne’s case, recontextualizing the verse letters within an
editorial framework that showcases their value as social artifacts of literary exchange is a
necessary first step to a fuller critical appreciation of these poems and has significant
implications for our understanding of the coterie poetry of Donne and his contemporaries.
Description
Keywords
Renaissance Literature, Digital Humanities, Manuscript Studies, NeoLatin, Literary Criticism, Poesy
Citation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
English
Program
English