Minority governments in parliamentary democracies are conventionally considered to be unstable and ineffective aberrations from the principle of majority rule. Through analysis of over 350 postwar governments, the author shows that minority governments are neither exceptional nor unstable but in fact a common feature of parliamentary democracies and frequently perform as well as, or better than, majority coalitions. Using the Italian and Norwegian governments as case studies, he suggests that minority governments are particularly likely to form when parties anticipate competitive elections...
Minority governments in parliamentary democracies are conventionally considered to be unstable and ineffective aberrations from the principle of major...
In recent decades, Wordsworth's poetry has become a point of focus for a great many of the proliferating schools of criticism and theoretical paradigms that dominate modern literary studies. Don Bialostosky here addresses the problem that the multiplicity of criticism has outrun the capacity to respond to it, often leaving teaching practices behind in their reflection of older models of literary study. Bialostosky's method draws on the work of Bakhtin and his followers to create a "dialogic" critical synthesis of what Wordsworth's readers--from Coleridge to de Man--have made of his poetry. He...
In recent decades, Wordsworth's poetry has become a point of focus for a great many of the proliferating schools of criticism and theoretical paradigm...
This important new reference book on human cancer provides a global picture of the epidemiology of cancer and its environmental causes. By summarising on a cancer-by-cancer basis geographical, environmental and ethical factors, the volume collates a wealth of information which, taken together, provides valuable insights into the causes of cancer and scope for its elimination and control. The contents include: (1) general epidemiological methods; (2) a review of known or suspected causes; (3) a detailed review of specific cancers; (4) a brief review of legal and ethical implications. The...
This important new reference book on human cancer provides a global picture of the epidemiology of cancer and its environmental causes. By summarising...
Paratexts are those liminal devices and conventions, both within and outside the book, that mediate between book, author and reader: titles, forewords and publishers' jacket copy form part of a book's private and public history. In this first English translation of Paratexts, Gerard Genette offers a global view of these liminal mediations and their relation to the reading public. With precision, clarity and through wide reference, he shows how paratexts interact with general questions of literature as a cultural institution. Richard Macksey's foreword situates Genette in contemporary literary...
Paratexts are those liminal devices and conventions, both within and outside the book, that mediate between book, author and reader: titles, forewords...
Kenneth Burke's influence ranged across history, philosophy and the social sciences. This important study examines Burke's influence on contemporary theories of rhetoric and the subject, and explains why Burke failed to complete his Motives trilogy. Burke's own critique of the "isolated unique individual" led him to question the possibility of unique individuation, thereby anticipating important elements of postmodern concepts of subjectivity. This book is both a timely and judicious exposition of Burke's long career and a crucial intervention in critical debates surrounding rhetoric, history...
Kenneth Burke's influence ranged across history, philosophy and the social sciences. This important study examines Burke's influence on contemporary t...
The question of modernity has provoked a vigorous debate in the work of thinkers from Hegel to Habermas. Our own self-styled postmodern age has seen no end to this debate, which now receives a major and wide-ranging intervention from the theorist and critic Anthony J. Cascardi. Offering an historical account of the origins and transformations of the rational subject or self as it is represented in Descartes, Cervantes, Pascal, Hobbes and the Don Juan myth, he carries his argument across the fields of epistemology, literature, political science, religion and psychology. The modern subject...
The question of modernity has provoked a vigorous debate in the work of thinkers from Hegel to Habermas. Our own self-styled postmodern age has seen n...
Paratexts are those liminal devices and conventions, both within and outside the book, that mediate between book, author and reader: titles, forewords and publishers' jacket copy form part of a book's private and public history. In this first English translation of Paratexts, Gerard Genette offers a global view of these liminal mediations and their relation to the reading public. With precision, clarity and through wide reference, he shows how paratexts interact with general questions of literature as a cultural institution. Richard Macksey's foreword situates Genette in contemporary literary...
Paratexts are those liminal devices and conventions, both within and outside the book, that mediate between book, author and reader: titles, forewords...
In this definitive work, Margaret Rose presents an analysis and history of theories of parody from ancient to contemporary times. Her earlier Parody/Meta-fiction (1979) was influential in broadening awareness of parody as a "double-coded" device that could be used for more than mere ridicule. In the present study she both expands and revises the introductory section of her 1979 text and adds substantial new sections on modern and postmodern theories and uses of parody and pastiche that analyze the work of theorists and writers including Bakhtin and Eco.
In this definitive work, Margaret Rose presents an analysis and history of theories of parody from ancient to contemporary times. Her earlier Parody/M...
The concept of possible worlds, originally introduced in philosophical logic, proves to be a productive tool when borrowed by literary theory to explain the notion of fictional worlds. Ruth Ronen develops a comparative reading of the use of possible worlds in philosophy and in literary theory. She suggests new criteria for the definition of fictionality; and through specific studies of domains within fictional worlds--events, objects, time and point of view--she proposes a radical rethinking of fictionality in general and fictional narrativity in particular.
The concept of possible worlds, originally introduced in philosophical logic, proves to be a productive tool when borrowed by literary theory to expla...
The postmodern debate has been heavily influenced by often contradictory conclusions about the foundations of knowledge. Horace Fairlamb contends that philosophy's foundationist quest has usually been misconceived as a choice between "super-science" and theoretical anarchy. Examining the history of foundationism, and providing detailed analysis of the work of leading theorists, including Fish, Foucault, Derrida, Gadamer and Habermas, Dr. Fairlamb argues for a less reductive and less arbitrary conception of knowledge and meaning. The result is an important contribution to the current...
The postmodern debate has been heavily influenced by often contradictory conclusions about the foundations of knowledge. Horace Fairlamb contends that...