ORCID
- Moore, Dafydd: 0000-0003-1471-7275
Abstract
This article discusses the ways in which James Macpherson's Poems of Ossian engage with other literary texts within their footnotes, adopting David Hopkins's notion of ‘conversing with antiquity’ to articulate how Macpherson conveys meaning and seeks to establish poetic characteristics through this interaction with other forms of expression. Attention to this process leads to a discussion of the dramatic qualities of Ossian as discussed by Macpherson and Hugh Blair, concluding with a discussion of Ossian's contribution to an emerging understanding of primitive dramatic forms, comparing the ways in which criticism understands Ossian and Aeschylus during the 1760s and 1770s.
DOI
10.1111/1754-0208.12393
Publication Date
2016-05-18
Publication Title
British Journal for Eighteenth Century Studies
Volume
39
Issue
2
ISSN
0141-867X
Embargo Period
2018-05-18
Organisational Unit
Office of the Vice Chancellor
First Page
171
Last Page
182
Recommended Citation
Moore, D. (2016) '‘A Comparison Similar to this’: Ossian and the Forms of Antiquity', British Journal for Eighteenth Century Studies, 39(2), pp. 171-182. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/1754-0208.12393
