The Marginal and the Mainstream as Aesthetic Categories in Eighteenth-Century Thought

The concepts of 'marginal' and 'central' in eighteenth-century England are worth considering for a number of reasons: firstly, they invite us to question ourselves about categories which, on careful analysis, appear to be anything but acquired or defined by clear and unambiguous criteria; secondly, they lead us to reconsider the validity of traditionally accepted practices of critical distinction, especially for the period under consideration. The question of the relationship between the marginal and the mainstream is crucial for those who study the history of aesthetic ideas in eighteenth-century England, not only in terms of authors or works, but also in terms of aesthetic speculative themes, intellectual attitudes and currents of thought.