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The STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS BABEŞ-BOLYAI issue article summary
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Abstract: Daniel Defoe is considered to be the first political journalist and one of the greatest polemicists of all times. The great eighteenth-century writer also combined the fictional, the diaristic, and the journalistic discourses in various proportions which give a unique specificity to his writing. His Journal of the Plague Year is an excellent sample in this respect.
Defoe was led to write a work on the plague following the terrible spread of the disease in France in 1721.After publishing his Due Preparations for the Plague in 8 February 1722, he published his Journal of the Plague Year on the 7 th March of the same year. The disease had caused great excitement and dread in England also and the people were wondering what they would do if one day they would be forced to face such a calamity and whether there was a religious meaning behind all. In his Due Preparations for The Plague, Defoe showed the plague as a punishment for the immorality of the people and recommended ways of saving the soul as well as the body, (Novak, 604); whereas in his Journal, he aimed to portray in great detail the city of London seized by this terrible disease that altered completely the peaceful life of the citizens. Defoe`s intention in writing two books was a matter of speculation. Since he was in the government pay, it might be assumed that he wanted to try something in support of the government`s unpopular embargo on trade with plague stricken countries. This emabargo act was passed in December 1721... |
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