Life Stories in Eighteenth-Century Britain: Personal Experience in Social Exchanges

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22520236
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Shizuoka University
• Principal Investigator: SUZUKI Mika 静岡大学, 人文社会科学部, 教授 (40297768)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 英文学 / 18世紀研究 / 日記 / 手紙 / 女性 / 個人の経験 / 物語の共有 / 公共心

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research focused on the life stories that eighteenth-century people in Britain were ready to offer both in fiction and in real life. It discussed their passion for writing down what they experienced, their desire to share the personal sentiments and their efforts to keep the records in good order. The sources it used included letters and journals in manuscripts. Among them it depended on what Georgiana, Lady Spencer wrote, received and kept. She was not a published author herself but a very educated and literary person, well-known for her charitable activities. Her charity was not institutional though well-organized by the help of capable staff. Her personal charity provided a place for unfortunate people to encounter the rich aristocrat via letters and to be judged if they deserved her attention and help. Retrospective life stories found their way in everyday life as well as in fiction, changing their styles and roles over the turn of the centuries.

Free Research Field

英文学