Cromwell on the Moon; Or, Printing, Popularity, Persuasion : An Account of Text Reuse Patterns and Eighteenth-Century Utopian Thinking

Abstract: This thesis approaches eighteenth-century utopian thinking from a new methodological angle, namely by utilising the Reception Reader, an open-access text reuse detection tool, to study a sub-corpus of 39 utopian works available in ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collections Online), the largest collection of digitised eighteenth-century texts printed in the British and Irish Isles. As the first study of text reuse in utopian thinking, this thesis shows that text reuse detection is a viable method for gaining new insights into eighteenth-century utopian thinking. Engaging with existing theories of text reuse in historical materials, this thesis proposes a theoretical framework that is particularly suited for the study of text reuse in eighteenth-century books, with an emphasis on the interrelationship between text reuse and contemporary print culture. This thesis argues that an investigation of text reuse patterns at three interconnected levels—reflecting print culture, genre popularity, and individual authors’ persuasive strategies—results in a better understanding of the presence and purpose of text reuse in eighteenth-century utopian works. This thesis posits that text reuse was often a deliberate choice on the part of the author to signal belonging to a shared intellectual tradition, and, most importantly, to support the overall critical aim of the utopian work. Individual instances of text reuse in utopian works are signs of deliberate or unintentional engagement with the culture that surrounded these works. A more nuanced interpretation of how utopian thinking interacted with contemporary print culture is crucial for recognising why utopian thinking continued to be prevalent throughout the eighteenth century.