How did Laurence Sterne influence sentimental literature in 18th-century Europe?

Laurence Sterne exerted a profound influence on 18th-century European literature, particularly through his novels Tristram Shandy and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy.12

While Tristram Shandy served as a prototype for the "novel of sensibility" by highlighting characters with a deep susceptibility to emotion and sympathy, A Sentimental Journey solidified his reputation as the "high priest of sentimentalism" abroad. Sterne’s work shifted the focus of travel writing from sightseeing to the pursuit of meaningful human connection, exploring the psychological interdependence of sentimental and erotic impulses.324

His influence was so significant that, in his wake, it became common for authors to explicitly label their works as "A Sentimental Novel" on their title pages. Although his own writing maintained a complex balance of comedy and irony, his work provided a powerful impetus for later, less-ironic sentimental literature across the continent. By exalting feeling and sympathy, Sterne helped shape the broader European literary movement that would eventually inform the Romantic movement.1235