the swerve: How the world became modern
Stephen Greenblatt
Poggio Bracciolini is a self proclaimed book hunter in the 15th century who saves the last copy of Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things and reintroduces the ideas within the text that sparks modern thought. Based on the interaction of atoms, molecules etc., On the Nature of Things as the embedded text is significant because of the illustration of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. The poem’s rediscovery acts as a way to highlight the ways in which religious fear, that was rampant during the time period, warps human life and importance and significance. Christianity deemed the text heretical as it was filled with scandalous ideas of postmodern pleasure and human insignificance.
Greenblatt is very interested in moments of subversion and containment, artifacts and anecdotes, and writing the novel through a whiggish historical lens. The use of reason and classic physics etc., are compared to the opposing beliefs within the Christian religions. Poggio is used as a character to display the power that books hold. By preserving a text, Poggio (and Greenblatt) illustrates that libraries and books can either be looked upon as dangerous or liberating depending on the approach taken. Poggio also acts as an outsider who goes into a traditional setting and/or hierarchy and questions already established standards and ways of thinking, therefore creating a swerve in time, just as the rediscovery of On the Nature of Things created a swerve by challenging the current belief system and ushering in an age of modern thinking.
Greenblatt is very interested in moments of subversion and containment, artifacts and anecdotes, and writing the novel through a whiggish historical lens. The use of reason and classic physics etc., are compared to the opposing beliefs within the Christian religions. Poggio is used as a character to display the power that books hold. By preserving a text, Poggio (and Greenblatt) illustrates that libraries and books can either be looked upon as dangerous or liberating depending on the approach taken. Poggio also acts as an outsider who goes into a traditional setting and/or hierarchy and questions already established standards and ways of thinking, therefore creating a swerve in time, just as the rediscovery of On the Nature of Things created a swerve by challenging the current belief system and ushering in an age of modern thinking.