Writing rogues : cheap print representations of deviance in early modern London
The figure of the rogue, either as a trickster or a threat, gripped the early modern imagination. Through plays, pamphlets, proclamations and gossip about criminals, London dwellers were bombarded with information about rogues, all of which created the impression that London was swarming with such unsavoury characters. This thesis adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the study of pamphlets about rogues, combining the history of print culture and its methods with the social history of London and crime. This contrasts with previous treatments of this material: rogue literature has been used as background for the analysis of early modern plays, especially late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century ones, by literary scholars, and has usually been dismissed by historians as entirely fictional. My thesis focuses on cheap pamphlets about rogues from 1590 to 1670; this period saw a burst of publications about criminals, ranging from rogue discoveries to narratives of life and death and descriptions of prisons. Through these publications, the image of the rogue was modified, acquiring new connotations, such as the Cavalier, while at the same time retaining earlier ones, such as the trickster figure or the image
Liapi, Eleni
Writing rogues : cheap print representations of deviance in early modern London. The figure of the rogue, either as a trickster or a threat, gripped the early modern imagination. Through plays, pamphlets, proclamations and gossip about criminals, London dwellers were bombarded with information about rogues, all of which created the impression that London was swarming with such unsavoury characters. This thesis adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the study of pamphlets about rogues, combining the history of print culture and its methods with the social history of London and crime. This contrasts with previous treatments of this material: rogue literature has been used as background for the analysis of early modern plays, especially late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century ones, by literary scholars, and has usually been dismissed by historians as entirely fictional. My thesis focuses on cheap pamphlets about rogues from 1590 to 1670; this period saw a burst of publications about criminals, ranging from rogue discoveries to narratives of life and death and descriptions of prisons. Through these publications, the image of the rogue was modified, acquiring new connotations, such as the Cavalier, while at the same time retaining earlier ones, such as the trickster figure or the image
writing cheap print representation deviance early_modern london figure either threat grip early_modern imagination play pamphlet proclamation criminal london dweller information create_impression london character adopts interdisciplinary_study pamphlet combine history print_culture method social_history london crime contrast_previous treatment material literature use background analysis early_modern play especially late sixteenth literary_scholar usually dismiss historian entirely fictional focus cheap pamphlet period_saw burst publication criminal range discovery narratives life_death description prison publication image modify acquire new connotation time retain early figure image