Towards an epistolary discourse: receiving the eighteenth-century letter

This article suggests the significance of letters as texts in the long 18th century. It provides a survey of past and present critical approaches to letters in the period, and outlines the various ways in which scholars use letters in their research. The article argues against the tendency to conceive of the letter as a distinct literary genre, and rather suggests that scholars should think in terms of a broader epistolary discourse.