On the Humble Writing Desk (original) (raw)

2023

Abstract

Deconstructionism, post-structuralism, psychoanalysis, and similarly sophisticated hermeneutic tools of contemporary analysis have explored, interpreted, and often over-interpreted texts. Today, my talk wishes to move the focus of discussion back to the author, whose death was predicted perhaps too hastily in the 1960s and 1970s, in particular back to the materiality surrounding authorship. I shall direct my analysis to the author’s writing desk and to the neglected heuristic and hermeneutic potential of this humble piece of furniture. My presentation will provide a broad canvas of investigation, to then zero in on the writing desks of Samuel Richardson, William Cowper, Jane Austen and Frances Burney, among others. I shall provide a ppt with essential images to encourage discussion among the participants.

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