The Author As Annotator : : Ambiguities of Self-Annotation in Pope and Byron / / Miriam Lahrsow.

• Superior document: Beiträge Zur Englischen und Amerikanischen Literatur Series ; Volume 42
• VerfasserIn: Lahrsow, Miriam,
• Place / Publishing House: Paderborn, Germany : : Brill Schöningh,, [2021]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Beiträge zur englischen und amerikanischen Literatur ; Volume 42.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

What literary and social functions do self-annotations (i.e. footnotes and endnotes that authors appended to their own works) serve? Focussing on Alexander Pope’s Dunciad s and a wide selection of Lord Byron’s poems, Lahrsow shows that literary self-annotations rarely just explain a text. Rather, they multiply meanings and pit different voices against each other. Self-annotations serve to ambiguate the author’s self-presentation as well as the genre, tone, and overall interpretation of a text. The study also examines how notes were employed for ‘social networking’ and how authors used self-annotations to address, and differentiate between, various groups of readerships. Additionally, the volume sheds light on the wider literary and cultural context of self-annotations: How common were they during the long eighteenth century? What conventions governed them? And were they even read? The study hence combines literary analysis with insights into book history and the history of reading.

Table of Contents

Preliminay Material / Miriam Lahrsow -- Copyright page / Miriam Lahrsow -- Dedication / Miriam Lahrsow -- Acknowledgements / Miriam Lahrsow -- Figures and Tables / Miriam Lahrsow -- A Note on the Texts / Miriam Lahrsow -- A Note on Names / Miriam Lahrsow -- List of Abbreviations / Miriam Lahrsow -- Prelude: Self-Annotation, Xenographic Annotation, and Ambiguity / Miriam Lahrsow -- Chapter 1 Introduction / Miriam Lahrsow -- Chapter 2 Functions and Strategies of Self-Annotation in Pope / Miriam Lahrsow -- Interlude: Byron and Pope – Two Very Different Self-Annotators / Miriam Lahrsow -- Chapter 3 Functions and Strategies of Self-Annotation in Byron / Miriam Lahrsow -- Chapter 4 Conclusion / Miriam Lahrsow -- Appendix / Miriam Lahrsow -- Works Cited / Miriam Lahrsow -- Index / Miriam Lahrsow.