This book explores the important role of the graphic novel in reflecting American society and in the shaping of the American imagination. It guides readers through the theoretical text-image scholarship to explain the meaning of the complex borderlines between graphic novels, comics, newspaper strips, caricature, literature, and art.
"Francois Villon, one of the greatest lyric poets of the late Middle Ages, lived on the margins of French society and died in obscurity. The details of Villon's life, including his disappearance after being exiled from Paris, are a puzzle that has occupied scholars throughout the twentieth century. His poems are rife with historical and personal references that were probably only meaningful to a select audience when they were written and are only explicable through supposition today. Fein suggests that a certain degree of uncertainty must be accepted by the student of Villon. In Francois Villon he directs his readers' attention to the "discernible patterns of language and images, changing voices, familiar thematic strands" evident throughout the historical specifics." "The range of subjects covered in this text reflects Fein's balanced and comprehensive approach. Fein moves from a biographical sketch of Villon to an exposition of his poetry. Fein examines not only Villon's masterpiece, Testament, but also his earlier long poem, the Lais, as well as five ballads. Fein explores biblical subtexts in Villon's work, noting his emphasis on the Old Testament. He also studies Villon's use of the literary and artistic motif of la danse macabre." "Fein understands the importance of Paris in Villon's work, so much that he composed this text with a map of fifteenth-century Paris at his side. Villon's poetry centers on the Latin quarter, and his characters encompass all walks of Parisian life. Paris gives Villon's work "its shape, its individuality, its vitality.""--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
J.C.B. Petropoulos examines the description of midsummer in Hesiod's Works and Days, explores modern Greek agrarian practices and relevant folk beliefs, proverbs, symbols, and songs, and cautiously attempts a "backward extrapolation." With the help of comparative ethnographic models, readers will not only better appreciate the seasonal settings of Hesiod's harvest and its midsummer aftermath, but also will obtain a provocative sidelight into the local song traditions and general lore that underlie the famous passage and Alcaeus's poem.
No one drew dames like Baker, pally! In fact, no one drew anything quite like Baker. The art of Matt Baker, one of the very first African-American artists in comics, was more than simply beautifully rendered. His art, particularly the women, had a realism and honesty that few others could even approach. Baker was one of the most imitated artists of his time with skilled illustrators like John Forte and Jack Kamen among the best.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this moving, poignant novel by the bestselling author of Birds of America—and a master of American fiction—we share a grown woman’s bittersweet nostalgia for the wildness of her youth. "An enchanting novel." —The New York Times The summer Berie was fifteen, she and her best friend Sils had jobs at Storyland in upstate New York where Berie sold tickets to see the beautiful Sils portray Cinderella in a strapless evening gown. They spent their breaks smoking, joking, and gossiping. After work they followed their own reckless rules, teasing the fun out of small town life, sleeping in the family station wagon, and drinking borrowed liquor from old mayonnaise jars. But no matter how wild, they always managed to escape any real danger—until the adoring Berie sees that Sils really does need her help—and then everything changes.
This volume contains a selection of the Australian poet Michael Sharkey’s uncollected essays and occasional writings on poetics and poets, chiefly Australian and New Zealand. Reviews and conversations with other poets highlight Sharkey’s concern with preserving and interrogating cultural memory and his engagement with the practice and championing of poetry. Poets discussed range from Lord Byron to colonial-era and early-twentieth-century poets (Francis Adams, David McKee Wright, and Zora Cross), under-represented Australian women poets of World War I, traditionalists and experimentalists, including several ‘New Australian Poetry’ activists of the 1970s, and contemporary Australian and New Zealand poets. Writings on poetics address form and tradition, the teaching and reception of poetry, and canon-formation. The collection is culled from commissioned and occasional contributions to anthologies of practical poetics, journals devoted to literary and cultural history and book reviewing, as well as newspaper and small-magazine features from the 1980s to the present. The writing reflects Sharkey’s poetic practice and pedagogy relating to the teaching of literature, rhetorical analysis, cultural studies, and writing in universities, schools, and cultural organizations in Australia, New Zealand, China, and Germany. It also evidences Sharkey’s familiarity with literatures written in English and his wider career in publishing, editing, free-lance journalism, and the promotion of Australian and New Zealand literature, especially poetry.
Every Canteen Kate story ever published--22 in all--is collected for the first time in "The Lost Art of Matt Baker (Vol. 1)," judiciously restored and enlarged 20 percent over their original published size. A rich introduction by veteran comics writer Steven Ringgenberg provides insightful historical and biographical context, and a bonus gallery spotlights Baker's skills as a cover artist. Best of all, Baker and his good-time gal bring you weapons-grade guffaws as well as art that will leave you eager to see more from this master draftsman. Regardless of what comics Baker drew, one quality always emerged: his naturalistically gorgeous women. This master of "good girl" art drew every installment of the candid wartime cutie, from her premiere in "Fightin' Marines" (1951) to her final bow in "Anchors Andrews" (1953), all contained in this volume. Unlike the jingoistic comics typically published during the Korean War, Canteen Kate tales were designed to be morale-boosting screwball fun. Volume 2 in "The Lost Art of Matt Baker" series will collect his entire output for the "Wartime Romances" comic, and Volume 3 will provide a sampling of his best war, western, and suspense stories (forthcoming in 2014). This volume on Matt Baker represents the sixth release from the much-lauded Lost Art Books line. Lost Art Books, the flagship series from Picture This Press, collects and preserves the works of illustrators and cartoonists from the first half of the 20th century. Too many of these artists have gone underappreciated for too long, with much of their work uncollected or unexamined for decades, if at all. The Lost Art Books series aims to preserve this cultural heritage by re-introducing these artists to new generations of working illustrators, historians, and admirers of things beautiful.
