English Literature In Context

From Anglo-Saxon runes to postcolonial rap, this undergraduate textbook covers the social and historical contexts of the whole of the English literature.

This book examines a key topic in modern literary studies. Contextual factors shape our perception of how literary texts are made, and how they are read. This book contains accessible essays by leading scholars on the contextual understanding of works of literature from Chaucer to the present day.

Provides richly detailed essays on significant works of English Literature. Each 8-10 page concise essay examines both novels and works of short fiction through the following categories: Content Synopsis, Societal Context, Scientific and Technological Context, and Biographical Context. This volume includes discussion of over 30 novels and works of short fiction.

Context in Literary and Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary volume that deals with the challenges of studying works of art and literature in their historical context today. The relationship between artworks and context has long been a central concern for aesthetic and cultural disciplines, and the question of context has been asked anew in all eras. Developments in contemporary culture and technology, as well as new theoretical and methodological orientations in the humanities, once again prompt us to rethink context in literary and cultural studies. This volume takes up that challenge. Introducing readers to new developments in literary and cultural theory, Context in Literary and Cultural Studies connects all disciplines related to these areas to provide an interdisciplinary overview of the challenges different scholarly fields today meet in their studies of artworks in context. Spanning a number of countries, and covering subjects from nineteenth-century novels to rave culture, the chapters together constitute an informed, diverse and wide-ranging discussion. The volume is written for scholarly readers at all levels in the fields of Literary Studies, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, Art History, Film, Theatre Studies and Digital Humanities.

T. S. Eliot's work demands much from his readers. The more the reader knows about his allusions and range of cultural reference, the more rewarding are his poems, essays and plays. This book is carefully designed to provide an authoritative and coherent examination of those contexts essential to the fullest understanding of his challenging and controversial body of work. It explores a broad range of subjects relating to Eliot's life and career; key literary, intellectual, social and historical contexts; as well as the critical reception of his oeuvre. Taken together, these chapters sharpen critical appreciation of Eliot's writings and present a comprehensive, composite portrait of one of the twentieth century's pre-eminent men of letters. Drawing on original research, T. S. Eliot in Context is a timely contribution to an exciting reassessment of Eliot's life and works, and will provide a valuable resource for scholars, teachers, students and general readers.

The Romantic Period was one of the most exciting periods in English literary history. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the intellectual and cultural background to Romantic literature. It is accessibly written and avoids theoretical jargon, providing a solid foundation for students to make their own sense of the poetry, fiction and other creative writing that emerged as part of the Romantic literary tradition.

This is an impressive and lucid survey of eighteenth-century intellectual life, providing a real sense of the complexity of the age and of the cultural and intellectual climate in which imaginative literature flourished. It reflects on some of the dominant themes of the period, arguing against such labels as 'Augustan Age', 'Age of Enlightenment' and 'Age of Reason', which have been attached to the eighteenth-century by critics and historians.