로버트 그린의 얼뜨기잡기 팸플릿 연구: 인쇄 시장과 대도시 (A Study on Robert Greene's Cony-Catching Pamphlets: Early Modern Print Market and the Metropolitan City)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국고전중세르네상스영문학회
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· 저자명 : 조영미

초록

This paper explores Robert Greene's cony-catching pamphlets (1591-2) in relation with the print market in early modern England and the metropolitan city that contemporary London was changing into. Greene emphasized in the prefaces and epistles to the audience that his stories were based on factuality from his own experience with the London underworld. However, his assertion of factual accounts should be evaluated in the light that they were embodied in the form of pamphlets, the by-products of the early modern print market which required something lighter than classics or religious books to make the presses keep running. Pamphlets, small books usually considered not worthwhile to be bound as books, were the right form for both publishers and audience, as they could bring unexpected fortune to the publishers and also convey the light entertainment that most of the early modern audience wanted. In this sense, Greene's pose as a social commentator can be read as a clever strategy of a professional writer to attract a wide readership.
Even though Greene's cony-catching pamphlets were mainly written to give tantalizing entertainment to the contemporary audience, they are worth reading even today as they offer a glance into the depth of contemporary London. Greene's pamphlets thrive on scenes of misidentification coming from the anonymity of big cities. His scrutinization of the codes that rule social exchange further our understanding of the early modern cultural fascination with processes of identification. Moreover, in Greene's world, the threshold between "inlaws" and outlaws is too easily crossed, thus posing a question to the opposition between the licit and the illicit. His episodes verify that "those who cannot dissemble cannot live," as his Cuthbert Cunnycatcher contends. Through Greene's pamphlets, we can read early modern English society where mercantile modes were practiced by all and dissemblance was deemed to be integral to the society. Greene's fiction has generally been appraised as a precursor of English realist novels of the 18th century, but earlier than that, we can see the legacy of his insight into the contemporary cultural values of city comedies where the diverse aspects of the metropolitan city were explored more in earnest.

영어초록

This paper explores Robert Greene's cony-catching pamphlets (1591-2) in relation with the print market in early modern England and the metropolitan city that contemporary London was changing into. Greene emphasized in the prefaces and epistles to the audience that his stories were based on factuality from his own experience with the London underworld. However, his assertion of factual accounts should be evaluated in the light that they were embodied in the form of pamphlets, the by-products of the early modern print market which required something lighter than classics or religious books to make the presses keep running. Pamphlets, small books usually considered not worthwhile to be bound as books, were the right form for both publishers and audience, as they could bring unexpected fortune to the publishers and also convey the light entertainment that most of the early modern audience wanted. In this sense, Greene's pose as a social commentator can be read as a clever strategy of a professional writer to attract a wide readership.
Even though Greene's cony-catching pamphlets were mainly written to give tantalizing entertainment to the contemporary audience, they are worth reading even today as they offer a glance into the depth of contemporary London. Greene's pamphlets thrive on scenes of misidentification coming from the anonymity of big cities. His scrutinization of the codes that rule social exchange further our understanding of the early modern cultural fascination with processes of identification. Moreover, in Greene's world, the threshold between "inlaws" and outlaws is too easily crossed, thus posing a question to the opposition between the licit and the illicit. His episodes verify that "those who cannot dissemble cannot live," as his Cuthbert Cunnycatcher contends. Through Greene's pamphlets, we can read early modern English society where mercantile modes were practiced by all and dissemblance was deemed to be integral to the society. Greene's fiction has generally been appraised as a precursor of English realist novels of the 18th century, but earlier than that, we can see the legacy of his insight into the contemporary cultural values of city comedies where the diverse aspects of the metropolitan city were explored more in earnest.

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