The article is devoted to an imagological analysis of the series of essays by J. Lyttleton “Letters from a Persian in England to his friend at Ispahan” (1735), which presents a meta-image of the 18th century England. The conceptual element of Lyttleton’s essay is the technique of “defamiliarization,” a narration from the perspective of a cultural “other” (oriental character-mask), which allows us to sharpen and re-understand many of the realities of English national life of that time, to most fully and holistically present the picture of various aspects of English reality (political, social, economic, spiritual). In addition, the article traces the continuity of Lyttleton’s creative method and philosophical views in relation to the philosophical and artistic-aesthetic tradition of the Enlightenment (D. Locke, C. Montesquieu) and the development of images and ideas of the author of the “Letters of a Persian” in the works of English writers. The novelty of the work is also due to the fact that previously unstudied texts are introduced into the field of imagology, and the picture of the functioning of hetero-images of the East and other countries in the literature of England in the 18th century is complemented. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of J. Lyttleton’s and O. Goldsmith’ work, their relationship; the research materials can be used in further research of the problems of imagological reception and representation.
For citation: Polyakov O.Yu., Shubin K.I. The Image of England in J. Lyttleton’s Series of Essays “Letters from a Persian in England to his friend at Ispahan”, Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2024, iss. 4, pp. 5—14.