A Culture of Mimicry

After his death in 1768, the famous novelist Laurence Sterne did not rest undisturbed in his grave. While rumours of the theft and dissection of Sterne's corpse circulated in the anatomy schools, numerous writers took possession of his literary body of work. New forms of Sternean entertainment were produced by literary mimics who impersonated the author through the medium of print, impersonations which included startling and unique interpretations of Sterne's character and fiction. Warren Oakley introduces two new critical concepts to eighteenth-century literary study, 'bodysnatching' and 'mimicry', to understand these texts that have been neglected and overlooked in Sterne studies. This lucid account reveals the personal stories of such literary mimics, the creative techniques they employed and the consequences of their actions upon the posthumous perception of Sterne, the man and his 'cadaverous goods'. Warren L. Oakley is a Postdoctoral Tutor at the School of English, University of Leeds.