Untitled - Sexey's School Moodle

considering the novel as a social critique, it exhibits how the transgressive properties of
The Monk can offer a reflection of both the processes of canonization and other pervasive
ideologies. Finally, the chapter will explore the way in which the value as cultural capital
of the novel has been subsequently reappraised through the paradigm shifts of the
ensuing centuries.
* * *
Beyond the contextual influences brought forth by the geo-political changes
occurring during that time, the eighteenth century was also pivotal in the history of
canonization where the spread of literacy sparked by the vast dissemination of cultural
production, the rise of the novel as a genre, and the commercialization of literature
shaped a series of polarized debates regarding issues of gender and class of readership,
taste and value. As described in detail in Chapter One, the eighteenth century represented
the first period during which there was a continuous and widespread effort to establish an
English literary canon. More noteworthy however, is the fact that this period also
witnessed the advent of print capitalism and an emerging literary market. Elizabeth
Napier makes an astute observation regarding the rise of the Gothic novel when
economic factors contributed to the remarkable increase in potential readers:
The prominence of the Gothic coincided, significantly, with a rapid
expansion of the reading public in England. The consequences of
the decision in 1774 to enforce the Copyright Act of 1709 had been
immense: cheap editions of British Classics, no longer under
perpetual copyright, suddenly became available, and Lackingston’s
second-hand bookshops, book clubs, and the circulating libraries—
which had grown steadily in popularity since the 1740s—
contributed to swell and ‘democratize’ a previously élite reading
public. Access to books was, moreover, coupled by increased
leisure in which to read them, in particular among women of the
middle class. (viii-ix)
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