Economy and (as) Fiction in sixteenth century England:
Usury, Debasement, Inflation and Circulation of Capital
Abstract
The present work stems from the analogies/homologies existing between the linguistic and the economic realms, which are ontologically considered as similar: systems of symbolic representation sharing similar dynamics of meaning production and retrieval. These similarities become apparent already in the 16th century, when the first early modern (proto) economic writers examine such notions as usury and money lending; debasement; inflationary processes; and the various approaches to money circulation and accumulation. It will be argued that these processes were not only examined by 16th century proto-economic authors, but they also articulated various aesthetic and literary productions, mostly in drama and poetry of the 1500s.
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