The Work of the Sun: Literature, Science, and Political Economy, 1760-1860 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781403965998)

At the end of the Eighteenth century, British writers began to celebrate work in a strangely indirect way. Instead of describing diligence as an attribute of character, poets and novelists increasingly identified work with impersonal 'energies' akin to natural force. Chemists traced mental and muscular work back to its source in sunlight, giving rise to the claim (beloved by Nineteenth-century journalists) that 'all the labour done under the sun is really done by it'. The Work of The Sun traces the emergence of this model of work, exploring its sources in middle-class consciousness and its implications for British literature and science.

Author: T. Underwood
ISBN-10: 1403965994
ISBN-13: 9781403965998
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Language: English
Published: 10/13/2005
Pages: 240
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.91lbs
Size: 8.56h x 6.04w x 0.72d