Is Samuel Johnson's 'Rasselas' still Relevant? - Professor Belinda Jack

For the first of her lectures on the inner mysteries of the Novel, Professor Belinda Jack examines the work of Samuel Johnson. Though he’s best known for his work on the Dictionary, Johnson was also a writer of renown, and his book ‘Rasselas’ is a work of imagination that bears greater study: www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-mysteries-of-writing-novels-and-poetry-an-introduction-by-professor-belinda-

Literature of any merit has its ambiguities and this allows for different readings, giving rise to different interpretations and so, literary critical debate. This series of lectures will focus on four novels and two poems in order to focus on these ‘Mysteries of Writing’.
Works have been selected for their popularity or, contrariwise, their relative obscurity, to offer historical range, and to include both English and non-English texts. In analysing a few works in detail, methods of reading will be identified which can be used to unlock from all texts some of their abiding and powerful relevance to human life.
Professor Jack continues her tenure as the Gresham Professor of Rhetoric. Information on her ongoing series of free public lectures is available here: www.gresham.ac.uk/rhetoric-lecture-series-2014-2015-an-introduction-by-professor-belinda-jack

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,600 lectures free to access or download from the website.
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