An Anatomy of Melancholy is a re-working of Robert Burton's 1621 text The Anatomy of Melancholy. Burton's text aims to investigate "the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures" of the condition of melancholy through literature, science and ontology. An Anatomy of Melancholy has the same aims, but pursues them via Twitter. Burton's original text is itself citational, being in the main the collated opinions of a multitude of writers supported by lengthy quotations. Keats named it as his favourite book and Sterne was accused of plagiarising it in The Life and Opinions of Tristra Shandy, although it is perhaps more accurate to say that Sterne parodied it.
An Antatomy of Melancholy is an assemblage of every tweet mentioning the word "melancholy" during the calendar month of January, commonly agreed to be the most depressing month of the year. In it, we find the whole spectrum of melancholia, ranging from devastating loss to light drizzle, from existential terror to burnt pizza. There are 31 chapters in the book, plus an appendix of symbols and other excised signifiers.
Click below to read chapter 1.
You can also listen to an extract from chapter 5.
You can buy a copy of An Anatomy of Melancholy here.
You can read Gareth Twose's review on the Litter site.
An Antatomy of Melancholy is an assemblage of every tweet mentioning the word "melancholy" during the calendar month of January, commonly agreed to be the most depressing month of the year. In it, we find the whole spectrum of melancholia, ranging from devastating loss to light drizzle, from existential terror to burnt pizza. There are 31 chapters in the book, plus an appendix of symbols and other excised signifiers.
Click below to read chapter 1.
You can also listen to an extract from chapter 5.
You can buy a copy of An Anatomy of Melancholy here.
You can read Gareth Twose's review on the Litter site.
| melancholy_sample.pdf |
