Committing Authorship: Thomas Nashe and the Engaged Reader

Criticism on Thomas Nashe has been notoriously preoccupied with the idea that he had nothing to say. While recent analyses have shown that his works in fact do say lots of specific things about the literary culture of his time, Nashe’s peculiar form and style remain at the centre of attention. This essay suggests that Nashe’s preoccupation with style is also what invokes a sense of commitment in his readers; by their use of the author’s persona and their often baffling narration, Nashe’s works also force the reader to consider questions of what literature is, why we read it and who has control over it. In other words, the repeated admissions of incompetence and narrative digressions have the result of engaging the readers in exercising their judgement and deliberating on aspects of style, narrative and, generally, what literature is.