A frequent complaint against contemporary American fiction is that too often it puts off readers in ways they find difficult to fathom. Books such as Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, and Don DeLillo's Underworld seem determined to upset, disgust, or annoy their readers or to disorient them by shunning traditional plot patterns and character development. Kathryn Hume calls such works "aggressive fiction." Why would authors risk alienating their readers and why should readers persevere? Looking beyond the theory-based justifications...
A frequent complaint against contemporary American fiction is that too often it puts off readers in ways they find difficult to fathom. Books such ...
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348 ca. 406) is one of the great Christian Latin writers of late antiquity. Born in northeastern Spain during an era of momentous change for both the Empire and the Christian religion, he was well educated, well connected, and a successful member of the late Roman elite, a man fully engaged with the politics and culture of his times. Prudentius wrote poetry that was deeply influenced by classical writers and in the process he revived the ethical, historical, and political functions of poetry. This aspect of his work was especially valued in the Middle Ages by...
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348 ca. 406) is one of the great Christian Latin writers of late antiquity. Born in northeastern Spain during an era o...
First published in 1984, this book rejects generic definitions of fantasy, arguing that it is not a separate or even separable strain in literary practice, but rather an impulse as significant as that of mimesis.
First published in 1984, this book rejects generic definitions of fantasy, arguing that it is not a separate or even separable strain in literary prac...
