Kategoria BISAC: Literary Criticism >> Subjects & Themes - General

This volume will deal with the significance of the avant-garde(s) for modern Jewish culture and the impact of the Jewish tradition on the artistic production of the avant-garde, be they reinterpretations of literary, artistic, philosophical or theological texts/traditions, or novel theoretical openings linked to elements from Judaism or Jewish culture, thought, or history.

As Spain and England vied for dominance of the Atlantic world during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, mounting political and religious tensions between the two empires raised a troubling specter for contemporary British writers attempting to justify early English imperial efforts. Specifically, these writers focused on encounters with black Africans throughout the Atlantic world, attempting to use these points of contact to articulate and defend England s global ambitions. In "Black Africans in the British Imagination," Cassander L. Smith investigates how the physical presence of...

First published in 1977, this book studies the picaresque as a literary genre. It begins by discriminating between the literature of roguery and the picaresque in particular before discussing the origins of the genre in Spain and tracing its development into Europe. The book concludes with a brief description of contemporary works which belong to the same tradition.

In tracing the itinerary of the "picaro" in Europe and in America, it attempts to define a myth of the picaresque which consists of two phases: the first being the traditional Spanish model of the picaresque and the second...

First published in 1969, this work traces the evolution of Romanticism and in doing so, demonstrates its novelty as an imaginative and emotional perception of the world in contrast to the rationalistic approach which was dominant in the seventeenth century. It identifies the fundamental similarities between Romantic writing in England, France and Germany as well as their differences brought about by divergent literary and social backgrounds. The book is concluded by a review of the problems that arise from a simple definition of Romanticism.

First published in 1969, this work examines the genre of Tragedy from its origins in ancient Greece, to the modern day. Beginning with an overview of the meaning of tragedy in Europe through the ages, it goes on to explore common aspects of tragedies such as the tragic hero, the chorus and unities, catharsis, peripeteia, anagnorisis and suffering.

This book will be of interest to anyone studying European drama and literature.

First published in 1969, provides a helpful introduction to the study of Absurdist writing and drama in the first half of the twentieth century. After discussing a variety of definitions of the Absurd, it goes on to examine a number of key figures in the movement such as Esslin, Sartre, Camus, Ionesco and Genet. The book concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the term Absurd and possible objections to Absurdity.

This book will be of interest to those studying Absurdist literature as well as twentieth century drama, literature and philosophy. "

The evolving image of the 18th century English literary giant, Dr. Samuel Johnson, was employed copiously in the fiction and essays of the Romantic and Victorian Periods. References to Johnson were intended to carry profound weight in the narratives, on the assumption of their common understanding. Although still popular today, these narratives have lost much of their initial power due to cultural evolution. A biographical study of Johnson's life does not return to current readers the full weight of the many Johnson references, neither does a critical survey of Johnson's writing. It is...

What do we know about early modern sex, and how do we know it? How, when, and why does sex become history? In Thinking Sex with the Early Moderns, Valerie Traub addresses these questions and, in doing so, reorients the ways in which historians and literary critics, feminists and queer theorists approach sexuality and its history. Her answers offer interdisciplinary strategies for confronting the difficulties of making sexual knowledge.

Based on the premise that producing sexual knowledge is difficult because sex itself is often inscrutable, Thinking Sex with the Early...

Professor Leech considers the significance of the term 'Tragedy' as it has been used from classical times to the present day. He gives examples of tragic writing from a wide variety of dramatic literatures and relates theoretical writings on tragedy and the tragedies that have been contemporaneous with them. Free reference is made to critics from Aristotle to these of the present. Special stress is laid on the tragedies of the Greeks, of Renaissance writers and of our immediate contemporaries, notably Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard. There is also discussion of tragic writing in the modern...

Faszination ist eine zentrale Form asthetischen Erlebens in der Gegenwart, deren Merkmale und historisches Profil bislang nur ansatzweise beschrieben sind. Ausgehend vom modernen Verstandnis von Faszination entwickelt die begriffsgeschichtlich breit fundierte Untersuchung einen formalen Begriff dieser asthetischen Emotion, der fur zwei bedeutende Epochen der asthetischen, poetologischen und semiotischen Theoriebildung - die griechische Antike und das 18. Jahrhundert - diskutiert wird. In der Auseinandersetzung mit antiken Konzepten der Metapher und des Erhabenen sowie mit...

Edward Lobb's study, first published in 1981, is a thorough examination of Eliot's relation to Romantic criticism. This title also makes extensive use of Eliot's Clark Lectures on metaphysical poetry. Delivered in 1926, the lectures complete the picture of literary history set out in Eliot's published work, and are, the author believes, essential to a full understanding of the poet's ideas and their place in tradition. Drawing on a wide variety of primary sources and earlier scholarship, T. S. Eliot and the Romantic Critical Tradition will be of interest to students of literature....

This title, first published in 1961, explores the general background of attitudes, beliefs and ideas from which Eliot's works have originated. This study examines the influences of Eliot's work, and includes Eliot's personal views as told to the author. The book also looks at technique, structure and imagery of his poetry. This title will be of interest to students of literature.