Poverty, Dickens’s Oliver Twist, and J. R. McCulloch
As the precursor to the science of economics, political economy concerned some topics that also preoccupied novelists, such as poverty and wealth. Literary criticism in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has been charting the ways in which the discourses of literature and political...
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Selcuk University Press
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi |
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| Online Access: | https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1791736 |
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| author | Ayşe Çelikkol |
| author_facet | Ayşe Çelikkol |
| author_sort | Ayşe Çelikkol |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As the precursor to the science of economics, political economy concerned some topics that also preoccupied novelists, such as poverty and wealth. Literary criticism in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has been charting the ways in which the discourses of literature and political economy intersect, despite the Romantic disavowal of their commonalities. Aiming to contribute to this ongoing scholarly effort, this essay pinpoints an unexpected affinity between Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, a novel which addresses the plight of the poor under the New Poor Law of 1834, and the political economist J. R. McCulloch’s writing on that piece of legislation. Both mistrust theoretical knowledge and privilege the particular as the basis on which one must make decisions. This affinity is unexpected because Oliver Twist repudiates political economy. Recognizing McCulloch’s and Dickens’s common epistemology alerts us to the ways in which the preference for the particular over the systemic shapes Oliver Twist. The common ground between Oliver Twist and McCulloch’s writing on the New Poor Law attests to the interconnectedness of literature and political economy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-980472e58e054d0895bfda44bc70198f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2458-908X 2458-908X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Selcuk University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi |
| spelling | doaj-art-980472e58e054d0895bfda44bc70198f2025-02-03T01:03:52ZengSelcuk University PressSelçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi2458-908X2458-908X2021-06-0135483548https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.943870Poverty, Dickens’s Oliver Twist, and J. R. McCullochAyşe ÇelikkolAs the precursor to the science of economics, political economy concerned some topics that also preoccupied novelists, such as poverty and wealth. Literary criticism in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has been charting the ways in which the discourses of literature and political economy intersect, despite the Romantic disavowal of their commonalities. Aiming to contribute to this ongoing scholarly effort, this essay pinpoints an unexpected affinity between Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, a novel which addresses the plight of the poor under the New Poor Law of 1834, and the political economist J. R. McCulloch’s writing on that piece of legislation. Both mistrust theoretical knowledge and privilege the particular as the basis on which one must make decisions. This affinity is unexpected because Oliver Twist repudiates political economy. Recognizing McCulloch’s and Dickens’s common epistemology alerts us to the ways in which the preference for the particular over the systemic shapes Oliver Twist. The common ground between Oliver Twist and McCulloch’s writing on the New Poor Law attests to the interconnectedness of literature and political economy.https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1791736oliver twistcharles dickensnew poor lawpolitical economyj. r. mcculloch |
| spellingShingle | Ayşe Çelikkol Poverty, Dickens’s Oliver Twist, and J. R. McCulloch Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi oliver twist charles dickens new poor law political economy j. r. mcculloch |
| title | Poverty, Dickens’s Oliver Twist, and J. R. McCulloch |
| title_full | Poverty, Dickens’s Oliver Twist, and J. R. McCulloch |
| title_fullStr | Poverty, Dickens’s Oliver Twist, and J. R. McCulloch |
| title_full_unstemmed | Poverty, Dickens’s Oliver Twist, and J. R. McCulloch |
| title_short | Poverty, Dickens’s Oliver Twist, and J. R. McCulloch |
| title_sort | poverty dickens s oliver twist and j r mcculloch |
| topic | oliver twist charles dickens new poor law political economy j. r. mcculloch |
| url | https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1791736 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aysecelikkol povertydickenssolivertwistandjrmcculloch |