To Leap First Down into the Trench: Tristram Shandy’s Critique of the Wounds of War
To Leap First Down into the Trench: Tristram Shandy’s Critique of the Wounds of War

Summary/Abstract: While scholars have mined Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy to understand the form and development of the novel as a literary genre, a central narrative element that has garnered significant scholarly attention is Tristram’s troubled Uncle Toby ‒ a veteran of the Nine Years War who bears a mysterious wound in the groin and who is obsessed with understanding war through the construction and use of miniature battle re-enactments. By recognizing Uncle Toby as a central character of Tristram Shandy and by contextualizing the novel as war literature, this essay demonstrates that Uncle Toby’s struggles to express his ambiguous trauma suffered as a soldier become a critical commentary on the social structures and circumstances that lead to the experiences of wounded veterans. Situating Tristram Shandy in the context of war literature, this article reveals how Toby’s character plays on Enlightenment conceptions of honour and valour as motivators for soldiers. Furthermore, the article argues that applying the theory of Moral Injury (long present but largely unnamed in war literature), rather than the tempting diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), allows for a more holistic understanding of Toby’s critical commentary.

• Details
• Contents