The Forging of National Conscience in Language and Culture: On Thackeray's The Vanity Fair

Foreign Literature Studies ›› 2018, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (4): 58-68.

• English Literature in the Midst of Changes in the Idea of Culture • Previous Articles Next Articles

The Forging of National Conscience in Language and Culture: On Thackeray's The Vanity Fair

Sun Yanping

Online:2018-08-25 Published:2022-05-23
About author:Sun Yanping is associate professor of English at School of International Studies, Zhejiang University (Hangzhou 310058, China). Her research areas are English literature and Western literary criticism. Email: pearlsyp@163.com
Supported by:
“English Literature in the Midst of Changes in the Idea of Culture” (12&ZD17) sponsored by National Social Science Fund of China; “A Study of National Conscience in Thackeray's Fiction” (2017JD16), sponsored by Social Science Fund of Hangzhou

Abstract

Abstract: National conscience, as a cultural proposition, is a cognitive process that elicits the common code of conduct based on national and cultural identity. With a focus on The Vanity Fair, the essay discusses Rebecca Sharp's act of discarding Dr. Johnson's dictionary. Reading A Dictionary of the English Language as a symbol of national knowledge, culture and even morality, the paper argues for the function of English language in building up the national consciousness of Britain distinct from other nations. In Thackeray's description, British people is unconfident of national language and culture and the public media is featured with hypocrisy and the loss of conscience. In his novel, Thackeray intends to urge his fellow countrymen to adopt a homogenous language and culture with national conscience.

Key words: William Makepeace Thackeray, The Vanity Fair, the conscience of the nation, cultural identity

Sun Yanping. The Forging of National Conscience in Language and Culture: On Thackeray's The Vanity Fair[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2018, 40(4): 58-68.

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The Forging of National Conscience in Language and Culture: On Thackeray's The Vanity Fair

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