This volume provides essential readings in the emerging interdisciplinary field of Tibetan literary studies. Chapters range from discussions of individual contemporary texts to theoretical interventions in literary and Tibetan studies.
Since the 1980s novels about childhood for adults have been a booming genre within the contemporary British literary market. Childhood in the Contemporary English Novel offers the first comprehensive study of this literary trend. Assembling analyses of key works by Ian McEwan, Doris Lessing, P. D. James, Nick Hornby, Sarah Moss and Stephen Kelman and situating them in their cultural and political contexts, Sandra Dinter uncovers both the reasons for the current popularity of such fiction and the theoretical shift that distinguishes it from earlier literary epochs. The book’s central argument is that the contemporary English novel draws on the constructivist paradigm shift that revolutionised the academic study of childhood several decades ago. Contemporary works of fiction, Dinter argues, depart from the notion of childhood as a naturally given phase of life and examine the agents, interests and conflicts involved in its cultural production. Dinter also considers the limits of this new theoretical impetus, observing that authors and scholars alike, even when they claim to conceive of childhood as a construct, do not always give up on the idea of its ‘natural’ core. Accordingly, this book reconstructs how the English novel between the 1980s and the 2010s oscillates between an acknowledgment of constructivism and an endorsement of childhood as the last irrevocable quintessence of humanity. In doing so, it successfully extends the literary and cultural history of childhood to the immediate present.
This essential guide provides a comprehensive survey of the most important debates in the criticism and research of contemporary British fiction. Nick Bentley analyses the criticism surrounding a range of British novelists including Monica Ali, Martin Amis, Pat Barker, Alan Hollinghurst, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, David Mitchell, Ali Smith, Zadie Smith, Sarah Waters and Jeanette Winterson. Exploring experiments with literary form, this authoritative book considers cutting-edge concerns relating to the neo-historical novel, the relationship between literature and science, literary geographies, and trauma narratives. Engaging with key literary theories, and identifying present trends and future directions in the literary criticism of contemporary British fiction, this is an invaluable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students of English literature, teachers, researchers and scholars.
These essential readings in the emerging field of Tibetan literary studies offer specialists and non-specialists provocative new studies of contemporary Tibetan literature and criticism, ranging from discussions of individual works to theoretical interventions. The nature of Tibetan literature as both a regional voice within China and a transnational voice in the world is explored by L. Hartley on the relationship between the terms rtsom-rig, wen, and literature, F. Robin on historical fiction, L. Maconi on literature in the Yunnan Tibetan areas, T. Dhondup on Mongolian-Tibetan writers, J. Drakpa on poetic explication, P. Schiaffini on the creation of Tibetan subjectivities, F.X. Erhard on magical realism, and Gray Tuttle’s interview with writer and critic Pema Bhum.
You're no idiot, of course. You know that Samuel Clemens had a better-known pen name, Moby Dick is a famous whale, and the Raven only said,"Nevermore." But when it comes to understanding the great works of Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe, you'd rather rent the videos than head to your local library. Don't tear up your library card yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide® to American Literature teaches you all about the rich tradition of American prose and poetry, so you can fully appreciate its magnificent diversity.
This book provides original essays that suggest ways to engage students in the classroom with the cultural factors of American literature. Some of the essays focus on individual authors' works, others view American literature more broadly, and still others focus on the application of culturally based methods for reading. All suggest a closer look at how ethnicity, culture and pedagogy interact in the classroom to help students better understand the complexity of works by African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and several other sometimes overlooked American cultural groups. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
This four-volume reference work surveys American literature from the early 20th century to the present day, featuring a diverse range of American works and authors and an expansive selection of primary source materials. Bringing useful and engaging material into the classroom, this four-volume set covers more than a century of American literary history—from 1900 to the present. Twentieth-Century and Contemporary American Literature in Context profiles authors and their works and provides overviews of literary movements and genres through which readers will understand the historical, cultural, and political contexts that have shaped American writing. Twentieth-Century and Contemporary American Literature in Context provides wide coverage of authors, works, genres, and movements that are emblematic of the diversity of modern America. Not only are major literary movements represented, such as the Beats, but this work also highlights the emergence and development of modern Native American literature, African American literature, and other representative groups that showcase the diversity of American letters. A rich selection of primary documents and background material provides indispensable information for student research.
Interviewing Appapachia is a rich collection of interviews from some of the forerunners of Appalachian Studies and Literature, such as James Still, Marilou Awiakta, Fred Chappell, Lee Smith, Jim Wayne Miller, Appalshop, and SAWC, the Southern Appalachian Writer's Cooperative. This collection of articles was gleaned from the pages of the Appalachian Journal, founded by co-editor J.W. Williamson in 1972. Published at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, this journal has been on the cutting edge of Appalachian Studies for over 30 years. Though Interviewing Appalachia is not a complete spectrum of every great interview to ever grace the pages of the Appalachian Journal, you won't find such in-depth interviews in one collection anywhere else. A must-read for anyone interested in the literature and culture of the Appalachian region.
The contents of this book cover what a Canon is and why it matters, the Canon backstory, modern Canons, factors that make a work Canonical, the literary Canon, and much more.