The modern definition and associations of the word ‘mentor’ — a guide or adviser to a less experienced person — can be traced back to François Fénelon's didactic novel, Les aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse (1699). The novel was one of the most widely read works of the eighteenth century, but its influence on British didactic literature has received little critical attention. This article explores the development of the mentor book, a subgenre within the guide tradition, which invoked deeply interpersonal and mutually affectionate nature of the mentoring relationship in their titles and personified the text as an adviser of the reader. Fénelon's characterization of the mentor figure was imitated in the mode of instruction and pedagogical strategy of these mentor books, which reflected changing perceptions of the didactic role of print on eighteenth‐century society and culture.

中文翻译：

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十八世纪导师之书

“导师”这个词的现代定义和联想——经验不足的人的指导者或顾问——可以追溯到弗朗索瓦·费内隆的说教小说，泰莱马克的冒险，尤利西斯的故事（1699）。这部小说是十八世纪最广泛阅读的作品之一，但它对英国说教文学的影响却很少受到评论家的关注。本文探讨了导师书籍的发展，导师书籍是指南传统中的一个子类型，它在标题中援引了导师关系中深刻的人际和相互感情的本质，并将文本人格化为读者的顾问。这些导师书籍的教学模式和教学策略模仿了费内隆对导师形象的刻画，反映了人们对印刷品在 18 世纪社会和文化中的教学作用的看法不断变化。