While the it-narrative, the thing-poem and thing theatre have been around for some time, the essay - which is often considered literature's fourth genre - is still lacking its thing-subgenre. Yet, particularly British and Anglo-Irish literature display a long, albeit so far implicit tradition of texts that can be categorised as 'thing-essays': Starting with Jonathan Swift's "Meditation upon a Broomstick" (1701) and continuing until today, these texts...