The Enduring Power of Gulliver’s Travels

Join us as we explore further one of the most misunderstood novels in English literature.

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) is perhaps one of the most misunderstood novels in English literature, thanks largely to its almost immediate adaptation as a ‘children’s classic.' This talk will explore the targets of Swift’s satire, drawing attention to its enduring prescience.

This is a novel which is anxious about the devastating impact of humanity on the natural world, the corruptive impacts of commerce and capitalism and, as is often forgotten, it concludes with a damning indictment of colonialism and empire.

This talk will be delivered by Dr Adam James Smith, who has recently completed work on a new multimedia guide to the novel which will be released on the "Audrey Reads" Audiobook App over the summer.

Adam will take you on a tour through the worlds of Gulliver’s Travels. He will explain and unpack the workings of the novel’s satire, and suggest that although Swift was pessimistic about human nature, he also repeatedly demonstrated the enriching and transformative power of encounters with difference.

Though far from essential, audience members are invited to read Gulliver’s Travels ahead of the session and the talk will be followed by a reading group-style discussion.