Kategoria BISAC: Literary Criticism >> Reference

This book promises to be a very useful reference work, covering material that has heretofore been hard to find. . . . . useful in academic libraries and large public libraries. "Reference Books Bulletin"

This dictionary provides an exhaustive reference guide to representative figures in Hispanic literature within the geographic, political, and cultural boundaries of the United States. While concentrating on contemporary writers who have made or promise to make a lasting contribution to multiethnic letters in this country, it is designed to make accessible to the English-language reader...

A major contemporary writer, Anne Tyler has published 13 novels and almost 50 short stories. Her earliest fiction was published in the Duke University literary magazine during her undergraduate years. In 1964, she published her first novel, "If Morning Ever Comes." She attained fame with "The Accidental Tourist" (1985), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was made into a movie. Her next novel, "Breathing Lessons" (1988), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and she has acquired a loyal following of readers. She has also written numerous reviews, and her short fiction has...

Kabuki has been a part of Japanese culture for nearly four centuries. The plays performed today are generally selected from a classic repertoire that gradually ceased to develop once Japan broke the chains of its isolationist policy and began the surge toward Westernization. The plays largely reflect the values of feudal Japan, and they portray a world of noble samurai overcoming evil adversaries, adulterous lovers overcoming their dilemmas through double suicide, parents sacrificing their children in the name of loyalty to a superior, and children giving up their lives for the sake of...

One of the greatest novelists of the 20th century, John Steinbeck continues to be read and studied at all levels. This encyclopedia extensively overviews his life and writings. Included are roughly 1200 alphabetically arranged entries by more than 40 expert contributors. Entries cover his works, major characters, family members and contemporaries, influences, and various special topics related to his literary career. Many of the entries cite works for further reading, and the encyclopedia closes with a selected, general bibliography.

Known for his searing social criticism, John...

The last 25 years have witnessed extraordinary growth in the academic specialization variously described as composition studies or rhetoric and composition. What was noticeable about the field in its infancy was a preoccupation with practice, a lack of emphasis on theory, and an exclusive reliance on the writing process. As its disciplinary status has grown, the field has become far more theoretical. Composition studies has expanded its focus, reconceptualized the writing process, and embraced a wide range of critical perspectives. The result of this change is that terms such as...

Kate Chopin has emerged as one of the most significant American writers of the nineteenth century. Though her works typically reflect the language and customs of the Louisiana of her memories, they also make universal comments about women, men, and human relationships. Best known as the author of "The Awakening" (1899), she also wrote nearly a hundred short stories, essays, poems, reviews, and a play. While the contemporary response to her works was sometimes negative, much recent critical debate concerns her lasting place in the American literary canon, with some scholars placing "The...

This unique poetry resource offers interpretations of 250 poems, representing the work of 86 poets from a wide spectrum of historical, contemporary, ethnic, and canonical writers. Organization of this volume facilitates easy access to information on poetry for users' individual purposes. The main section of the guide contains narrative essays on 21 alphabetically arranged themes that recur throughout the rich history of American poetry.

In each section, the explications of individual poems are arranged chronologically to trace the evolution of a particular theme over time. Educators...

Neil LaBute: A Casebook is the first book to examine one of the most successful and controversial contemporary American playwrights and filmmakers. While he is most famous, and in some cases infamous, for his early films In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors, Labute is equally accomplished as a playwright. His work extends from the critique of false religiosity in Bash to examinations of opportunism, irresponsible art, failed parenting, and racism in later plays like Mercy Seat, The Shape of Things, The Distance From Here, Fat...