Sterne Studies on the Eve of the Tercentenary

Abstract

This essay surveys the most vital developments within scholarly criticism of Laurence Sterne, especially since 2000. Attention is granted not merely to criticism of Sterne’s major works, Tristram Shandy and A Sentimental Journey, but also to his published sermons, letters, and the Journal to Eliza. Several scholarly trends are here described: the proliferation of interest in Sterne’s sermons, the increasing association of Shandean “doubleness” with various strands of “modernity,” scholarly attempts to redeem the literature of sentiment through Sterne’s works, and the emergence of loss as an important topic within contemporary Sterne criticism. Overall, Sterne studies follows Sterne’s life in reconciling seeming opposites, so that traditional enemies – especially “theory” and “history”– are seen engaging rather than rejecting one another.