Taking (and leaving) hints: Joseph Addison’s classicism

Professor Paul Davis (UCL) presents the Department of Comparative Literature Research Seminar

Recent work on classicism in England during the long eighteenth century, moving away from the agonistic Bloomian paradigm of 'anxiety of influence', has turned to more sociable or collaborative models for classical reception, in particular that of dialogue or conversation. As a leading advocate of polite sociability in The Spectator, and also a critic, imitator and translator of classical verse, Joseph Addison potentially embodies that interactive model. This paper explores Addison’s lifelong fascination with one aspect of polite conversation – namely, hinting – as the bridge between his classicism and his thinking about sociability. The paper argues that, while as a critic in his celebrated Spectator essays on Paradise Lost, Addison regularly praised Milton for 'taking' or 'improving' hints from the ancients, in his own practice as a translator he was more reticent. The paper concludes with an analysis of Addison’s version of Horace, Odes III. iii, little-known nowadays but long regarded as a landmark in the tradition of English Horatianism. It represents, I will argue, Addison’s masterpiece of leaving hints. 

All are welcome to attend. No registration required.