ЛИТЕРАТУРНАЯ ПОЛЕМИКА Т. УОРТОНА И ДЖ. РИТСОНА В КОНТЕКСТЕ ПОИСКА ИСТОРИЧЕСКОЙ ПРАВДЫ В ЭПОХУ ПРОСВЕЩЕНИЯ

Abstract

The appeal to early and medieval poetry became one of the keys to rethinking the origins of national culture for British historians, antiquarians, textologists and writers of the XVIII century. This article examines the literary debate of English writer and textual critic Joseph Ritson with his colleague Thomas Wharton, author of “The History of English Poetry”, three volumes of which were published in 1774–1781. Since by the middle of the XVIII century, the history of the English language and literature has not yet received the status of a research discipline; in the process of studying ancient manuscripts, antiquarians put forward a variety of hypotheses that could explain the emergence of national art. Being an experienced researcher of antiquity, Ritson was well acquainted with the literary texts, that Wharton wrote about in his “History”, and could not approve his critical revision of AngloSaxon art for the formation of British culture. The debate between Ritson and Wharton can be seen as a dispute between two literary critics, in which each defends his own view on the development of the English language and poetry. On the other hand, in his “Observations” Ritson appears as a textual scholar and a rival of Wharton. In his works, he is intolerant of factual inaccuracies, loose assumptions and incorrect interpretations: Wharton’s irresponsible work is considered misleading and posing a great intellectual danger to the reader.