Sage writing was a genre of creative nonfiction popular in the Victorian era. The concept originates with John Holloway's 1953 book The Victorian Sage: Studies in Argument.
Sage writing is a development from ancient wisdom literature in which the writer chastises and instructs the reader about contemporary social issues, often utilizing discourses of philosophy, history, politics, and economics in non-technical ways. Prominent examples of the genre include writings by Thomas Carlyle, Matthew Arnold, John Ruskin, and Henry David Thoreau. Some 20th-century writers, such as Joan Didion and New Journalists such as Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe, have also been identified as sage writers.
Read more about Sage Writing: Characteristic Traits, Influences, Major Sage Texts, References
Famous quotes containing the words sage and/or writing:
“The sage does not hoard. Having bestowed all he has on others, he has yet more; Having given all he has to others, he is richer still.”
—Lao-Tzu (6th century B.C.)
“To him Homer was a great writer, though what his writing was about he did not know.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)