Author: Carl F. Cranor
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190635754
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
A world awash in little understood chemicals tragically harms adults and children alike. Laws keep health agencies in the dark about toxicants, slow, well motivated research hampers protections, and strenuous vested opposition exacerbates the harm. How science is used in the tort law can facilitate or frustrate redress of harm. This book recommends better approaches.
Tragic Failures
Author: Evina Sistakou
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110482320
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 262
Book Description
This is the first study considering the reception of Greek tragedy and the transformation of the tragic idea in Hellenistic poetry. The focus is on third-century Alexandria, where the Ptolemies fostered tragedy as a theatrical form for public entertainment and as an official genre cultivated by the Pleiad, whereas the scholars of the Museum were commissioned to edit and comment on the classical tragic texts. More importantly, the notion of the tragic was adapted to the literary trends of the era. Released from the strict rules established by Aristotle about what makes a good tragedy, the major poets of the Alexandrian avant-garde struggled to transform the tragic idea and integrate it into non-dramatic genres. Tragic Failures traces the incorporation of the tragic idea in the poetry of Callimachus and Theocritus, in Apollonius’ epic Argonautica, in the iambic Alexandra, in late Hellenistic poetry and in Parthenius’ Erotika Pathemata. It offers a fascinating insight into the new conception of the tragic dilemmas in the context of Alexandrian aesthetics.
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110482320
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 262
Book Description
This is the first study considering the reception of Greek tragedy and the transformation of the tragic idea in Hellenistic poetry. The focus is on third-century Alexandria, where the Ptolemies fostered tragedy as a theatrical form for public entertainment and as an official genre cultivated by the Pleiad, whereas the scholars of the Museum were commissioned to edit and comment on the classical tragic texts. More importantly, the notion of the tragic was adapted to the literary trends of the era. Released from the strict rules established by Aristotle about what makes a good tragedy, the major poets of the Alexandrian avant-garde struggled to transform the tragic idea and integrate it into non-dramatic genres. Tragic Failures traces the incorporation of the tragic idea in the poetry of Callimachus and Theocritus, in Apollonius’ epic Argonautica, in the iambic Alexandra, in late Hellenistic poetry and in Parthenius’ Erotika Pathemata. It offers a fascinating insight into the new conception of the tragic dilemmas in the context of Alexandrian aesthetics.
Bold Ventures
Author: Charlotte Van den Broeck
Publisher: Other Press, LLC
ISBN: 1635423171
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
A prize-winning Belgian poet explores the nature of creative endeavor—the godlike ambition, the crushing defeat of failure—through the stories of thirteen tragic architects. In thirteen fascinating chapters, Charlotte Van den Broeck goes in search of buildings that were fatal to their architects—architects who either killed themselves or are rumored to have done so. They range across time and space from a church with a twisted spire in seventeenth-century France to a theater that collapsed mid-performance in 1920s Washington, DC, and an eerily sinking swimming pool in the author’s hometown. Drawing on a vast range of material, from Hegel and Darwin to art history, stories from her own life, and popular culture, Van den Broeck brings patterns into focus as she asks, What is that strange, life-or-death connection between a creation and its creator? Threaded through each story is the author’s meditation on the question of suicide—what Albert Camus called the “one truly serious philosophical problem”—in relation to creativity and public disgrace. The result is a profoundly idiosyncratic book, breaking ground in literary nonfiction, as well as providing solace and consolation to anyone who has ever attempted a creative act.
Publisher: Other Press, LLC
ISBN: 1635423171
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
A prize-winning Belgian poet explores the nature of creative endeavor—the godlike ambition, the crushing defeat of failure—through the stories of thirteen tragic architects. In thirteen fascinating chapters, Charlotte Van den Broeck goes in search of buildings that were fatal to their architects—architects who either killed themselves or are rumored to have done so. They range across time and space from a church with a twisted spire in seventeenth-century France to a theater that collapsed mid-performance in 1920s Washington, DC, and an eerily sinking swimming pool in the author’s hometown. Drawing on a vast range of material, from Hegel and Darwin to art history, stories from her own life, and popular culture, Van den Broeck brings patterns into focus as she asks, What is that strange, life-or-death connection between a creation and its creator? Threaded through each story is the author’s meditation on the question of suicide—what Albert Camus called the “one truly serious philosophical problem”—in relation to creativity and public disgrace. The result is a profoundly idiosyncratic book, breaking ground in literary nonfiction, as well as providing solace and consolation to anyone who has ever attempted a creative act.
Tragic Failures
Author: Carl F. Cranor
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190635754
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
A world awash in little understood chemicals tragically harms adults and children alike. Laws keep health agencies in the dark about toxicants, slow, well motivated research hampers protections, and strenuous vested opposition exacerbates the harm. How science is used in the tort law can facilitate or frustrate redress of harm. This book recommends better approaches.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190635754
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
A world awash in little understood chemicals tragically harms adults and children alike. Laws keep health agencies in the dark about toxicants, slow, well motivated research hampers protections, and strenuous vested opposition exacerbates the harm. How science is used in the tort law can facilitate or frustrate redress of harm. This book recommends better approaches.
The Nobility of Failure
Author: Ivan Morris
Publisher:
ISBN: 9784902075502
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
Long recognized as a core book in any study of Japanese culture and literature, The Nobility of Failure examines the lives and deaths of nine historical individuals who faced overwhelming odds, and, realizing they were doomed, accepted their fate--to be killed in battle or by execution, to wither in exile, or to escape through ritual suicide. Morris then turns his attention to the kamikaze pilots of World War II, who gave their lives in defense of their nation in the full realization that their deaths would have little effect on the course of the war. Through detail, crystal-clear prose and unmatched narrative sweep and brilliance, Professor Morris takes you into the innermost hearts of the Japanese people.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9784902075502
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
Long recognized as a core book in any study of Japanese culture and literature, The Nobility of Failure examines the lives and deaths of nine historical individuals who faced overwhelming odds, and, realizing they were doomed, accepted their fate--to be killed in battle or by execution, to wither in exile, or to escape through ritual suicide. Morris then turns his attention to the kamikaze pilots of World War II, who gave their lives in defense of their nation in the full realization that their deaths would have little effect on the course of the war. Through detail, crystal-clear prose and unmatched narrative sweep and brilliance, Professor Morris takes you into the innermost hearts of the Japanese people.
Delphi Complete Poetical Works of T. S. Eliot (Illustrated)
Author: T. S. Eliot
Publisher: Delphi Classics
ISBN: 1801701210
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 2672
Book Description
An American-English poet, playwright and influential literary critic, T. S. Eliot was a leader of the Modernist movement in poetry, producing important works such as ‘The Waste Land’ and ‘Four Quartets’. His work exerted a strong influence on Anglo-American culture from the 1920’s until late on in the century. His experiments in diction, style and versification helped revitalise English poetry, while his critical essays challenged old orthodoxies and forged new approaches. Eliot was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry”. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature’s finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents Eliot’s complete poetical and dramatic works, with related illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Eliot’s life and works * Concise introductions to the major works * Images of how the books were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * The complete poetry * Excellent formatting of the poems * Rare poems often missed out of collections * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry * Easily locate the poems you want to read * The complete plays * Includes a wide selection of Eliot’s prose, including all the seminal essays * Ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres CONTENTS: The Poetry Collections Prufrock and Other Observations (1917) Poems, 1920 The Waste Land (1922) The Hollow Men (1925) Ash Wednesday (1930) Ariel Poems (1927-1954) Coriolan (1931) Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939) Contributions to ‘The Queen’s Book of the Red Cross’ (1939) Four Quartets (1943) Miscellaneous Verses The Poems List of Poems in Chronological Order List of Poems in Alphabetical Order The Plays The Rock (1934) Murder in the Cathedral (1935) The Family Reunion (1939) The Cocktail Party (1949) The Confidential Clerk (1953) The Elder Statesman (1959) The Prose Eeldrop and Appleplex (1917) Ezra Pound (1918) The Sacred Wood (1920) Homage to John Dryden (1924) The Clark Lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge (1926) Dante (1929) Thoughts after Lambeth (1931) Selected Essays (1932) The Turnbull Lectures at the Johns Hopkins University (1933) Elizabethan Essays (1934) Essays Ancient and Modern (1936) Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948) Introduction to ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ (1948) by Charles Williams Introduction to ‘Pascal’s Pensées’ (1958)
Publisher: Delphi Classics
ISBN: 1801701210
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 2672
Book Description
An American-English poet, playwright and influential literary critic, T. S. Eliot was a leader of the Modernist movement in poetry, producing important works such as ‘The Waste Land’ and ‘Four Quartets’. His work exerted a strong influence on Anglo-American culture from the 1920’s until late on in the century. His experiments in diction, style and versification helped revitalise English poetry, while his critical essays challenged old orthodoxies and forged new approaches. Eliot was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry”. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature’s finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents Eliot’s complete poetical and dramatic works, with related illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Eliot’s life and works * Concise introductions to the major works * Images of how the books were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * The complete poetry * Excellent formatting of the poems * Rare poems often missed out of collections * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry * Easily locate the poems you want to read * The complete plays * Includes a wide selection of Eliot’s prose, including all the seminal essays * Ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres CONTENTS: The Poetry Collections Prufrock and Other Observations (1917) Poems, 1920 The Waste Land (1922) The Hollow Men (1925) Ash Wednesday (1930) Ariel Poems (1927-1954) Coriolan (1931) Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939) Contributions to ‘The Queen’s Book of the Red Cross’ (1939) Four Quartets (1943) Miscellaneous Verses The Poems List of Poems in Chronological Order List of Poems in Alphabetical Order The Plays The Rock (1934) Murder in the Cathedral (1935) The Family Reunion (1939) The Cocktail Party (1949) The Confidential Clerk (1953) The Elder Statesman (1959) The Prose Eeldrop and Appleplex (1917) Ezra Pound (1918) The Sacred Wood (1920) Homage to John Dryden (1924) The Clark Lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge (1926) Dante (1929) Thoughts after Lambeth (1931) Selected Essays (1932) The Turnbull Lectures at the Johns Hopkins University (1933) Elizabethan Essays (1934) Essays Ancient and Modern (1936) Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948) Introduction to ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ (1948) by Charles Williams Introduction to ‘Pascal’s Pensées’ (1958)
The Sacred Wood and Major Early Essays
Author: T. S. Eliot
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 9780486299365
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 146
Book Description
One of poetry's great voices reviews the creations of his literary forebears with essays on the works of Dante, Shakespeare, Blake, the Metaphysical Poets, and other authors. Plus 4 essays from The Times Literary Supplement.
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 9780486299365
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 146
Book Description
One of poetry's great voices reviews the creations of his literary forebears with essays on the works of Dante, Shakespeare, Blake, the Metaphysical Poets, and other authors. Plus 4 essays from The Times Literary Supplement.
Delphi Collected Works of T. S. Eliot (Illustrated)
Author: T. S. Eliot
Publisher: Delphi Classics
ISBN: 1910630624
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 840
Book Description
An American-English poet, playwright and influential literary critic, T. S. Eliot was a leader of the Modernist movement in poetry, producing important works such as ‘The Waste Land’ and ‘Prufrock’. His work exerted a strong influence on Anglo-American culture from the 1920’s until late on in the century. His experiments in diction, style and versification helped revitalise English poetry, while his critical essays challenged old orthodoxies and forged new approaches. Eliot was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry”. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature’s finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents Eliot’s collected works, with related illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 2) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Eliot’s life and works * Concise introductions to the major works * All poems in the US public domain * Images of how the books were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the poems * Rare poems often missed out of collections * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry * Easily locate the poems you want to read * Includes a selection of Eliot’s prose * Ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres * UPDATED with more poems and prose texts CONTENTS: The Poetry Collections Prufrock and Other Observations (1917) Poems, 1920 The Waste Land (1922) The Hollow Men (1925) Miscellaneous Verses The Poems List of Poems in Chronological Order List of Poems in Alphabetical Order The Prose Eeldrop and Appleplex (1917) Ezra Pound (1918) The Sacred Wood (1920) Homage to John Dryden (1924) The Clark Lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge (1926)
Publisher: Delphi Classics
ISBN: 1910630624
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 840
Book Description
An American-English poet, playwright and influential literary critic, T. S. Eliot was a leader of the Modernist movement in poetry, producing important works such as ‘The Waste Land’ and ‘Prufrock’. His work exerted a strong influence on Anglo-American culture from the 1920’s until late on in the century. His experiments in diction, style and versification helped revitalise English poetry, while his critical essays challenged old orthodoxies and forged new approaches. Eliot was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry”. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature’s finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents Eliot’s collected works, with related illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 2) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Eliot’s life and works * Concise introductions to the major works * All poems in the US public domain * Images of how the books were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the poems * Rare poems often missed out of collections * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry * Easily locate the poems you want to read * Includes a selection of Eliot’s prose * Ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres * UPDATED with more poems and prose texts CONTENTS: The Poetry Collections Prufrock and Other Observations (1917) Poems, 1920 The Waste Land (1922) The Hollow Men (1925) Miscellaneous Verses The Poems List of Poems in Chronological Order List of Poems in Alphabetical Order The Prose Eeldrop and Appleplex (1917) Ezra Pound (1918) The Sacred Wood (1920) Homage to John Dryden (1924) The Clark Lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge (1926)
Delphi Complete Works of Ben Jonson (Illustrated)
Author: Ben Jonson
Publisher: Delphi Classics
ISBN: 1909496413
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 4722
Book Description
The genius of Jacobean theatre appears here in his entirety for the first in digital print. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete works of Ben Jonson, with numerous illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Jonson’s life and works * Concise introductions to the plays and other texts * Images of how the dramas were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * ALL 19 plays, including rare fragments and F G Waldron’s continuation of THE SAD SHEPHERD * Includes the complete masques and entertainments for the first time in digital print * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry * Easily locate the poems you want to read * Includes Jonson’s rare non-fiction texts * Features a special Jacobean Language glossary, providing easy access to difficult words and their definitions * Special criticism section, with essays by writers such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and T. S. Eliot evaluating Jonson’s contribution to literature * Also includes a bonus biography – discover Jonson’s turbulent life * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres CONTENTS: The Plays A TALE OF A TUB THE ISLE OF DOGS (LOST PLAY) THE CASE IS ALTERED EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR EVERY MAN OUT OF HIS HUMOUR CYNTHIA’S REVELS THE POETASTER SEJANUS HIS FALL EASTWARD HO VOLPONE EPICOENE THE ALCHEMIST CATILINE HIS CONSPIRACY BARTHOLOMEW FAIR THE DEVIL IS AN ASS THE STAPLE OF NEWS THE NEW INN THE MAGNETIC LADY THE SAD SHEPHERD (Fragment) MORTIMER HIS FALL (Fragment) The Masques and Entertainments THE MASQUES OF BEN JONSON The Poetry Collections EPIGRAMS THE FOREST UNDERWOOD EUPHEME OR, THE FAIRE FAME EPITHALAMION MISCELLANEOUS POEMS The Poems LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER The Non-Fiction TIMBER, OR DISCOVERIES MADE UPON MEN AND MATTER ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Criticism NOTES ON BEN JONSON by Samuel Taylor Coleridge BEN JONSON by Jacob Feis MASQUES AND GENERAL INFLUENCE by W. W. Greg BEN JONSON by T. S. Eliot The Biography LIFE OF BEN JONSON by Felix E. Schelling Glossary of Jacobean Language
Publisher: Delphi Classics
ISBN: 1909496413
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 4722
Book Description
The genius of Jacobean theatre appears here in his entirety for the first in digital print. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete works of Ben Jonson, with numerous illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Jonson’s life and works * Concise introductions to the plays and other texts * Images of how the dramas were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * ALL 19 plays, including rare fragments and F G Waldron’s continuation of THE SAD SHEPHERD * Includes the complete masques and entertainments for the first time in digital print * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry * Easily locate the poems you want to read * Includes Jonson’s rare non-fiction texts * Features a special Jacobean Language glossary, providing easy access to difficult words and their definitions * Special criticism section, with essays by writers such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and T. S. Eliot evaluating Jonson’s contribution to literature * Also includes a bonus biography – discover Jonson’s turbulent life * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres CONTENTS: The Plays A TALE OF A TUB THE ISLE OF DOGS (LOST PLAY) THE CASE IS ALTERED EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR EVERY MAN OUT OF HIS HUMOUR CYNTHIA’S REVELS THE POETASTER SEJANUS HIS FALL EASTWARD HO VOLPONE EPICOENE THE ALCHEMIST CATILINE HIS CONSPIRACY BARTHOLOMEW FAIR THE DEVIL IS AN ASS THE STAPLE OF NEWS THE NEW INN THE MAGNETIC LADY THE SAD SHEPHERD (Fragment) MORTIMER HIS FALL (Fragment) The Masques and Entertainments THE MASQUES OF BEN JONSON The Poetry Collections EPIGRAMS THE FOREST UNDERWOOD EUPHEME OR, THE FAIRE FAME EPITHALAMION MISCELLANEOUS POEMS The Poems LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER The Non-Fiction TIMBER, OR DISCOVERIES MADE UPON MEN AND MATTER ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Criticism NOTES ON BEN JONSON by Samuel Taylor Coleridge BEN JONSON by Jacob Feis MASQUES AND GENERAL INFLUENCE by W. W. Greg BEN JONSON by T. S. Eliot The Biography LIFE OF BEN JONSON by Felix E. Schelling Glossary of Jacobean Language
Three Kingdoms and Chinese Culture
Author: Kimberly Besio
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791480496
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 222
Book Description
This is the first book-length treatment in English of Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi), often regarded as China's first great classical novel. Set in the historical period of the disunion (220–280 AD), Three Kingdoms fuses history and popular tradition to create a sweeping epic of heroism and political ambition. The essays in this volume explore the multifarious connections between Three Kingdoms and Chinese culture from a variety of disciplines, including history, literature, philosophy, art history, theater, cultural studies, and communications, demonstrating the diversity of backgrounds against which this novel can be studied. Some of the most memorable episodes and figures in Chinese literature appear within its pages, and Three Kingdoms has had a profound influence on personal, social, and political behavior, even language usage, in the daily life of people in China today. The novel has inspired countless works of theater and art, and, more recently, has been the source for movies and a television series. Long popular in other countries of East Asia, such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, Three Kingdoms has also been introduced to younger generations around the globe through a series of extremely popular computer games. This study helps create a better understanding of the work's unique place in Chinese culture.
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791480496
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 222
Book Description
This is the first book-length treatment in English of Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi), often regarded as China's first great classical novel. Set in the historical period of the disunion (220–280 AD), Three Kingdoms fuses history and popular tradition to create a sweeping epic of heroism and political ambition. The essays in this volume explore the multifarious connections between Three Kingdoms and Chinese culture from a variety of disciplines, including history, literature, philosophy, art history, theater, cultural studies, and communications, demonstrating the diversity of backgrounds against which this novel can be studied. Some of the most memorable episodes and figures in Chinese literature appear within its pages, and Three Kingdoms has had a profound influence on personal, social, and political behavior, even language usage, in the daily life of people in China today. The novel has inspired countless works of theater and art, and, more recently, has been the source for movies and a television series. Long popular in other countries of East Asia, such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, Three Kingdoms has also been introduced to younger generations around the globe through a series of extremely popular computer games. This study helps create a better understanding of the work's unique place in Chinese culture.
Victorian Biography Reconsidered
Author: Juliette Atkinson
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191591432
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 326
Book Description
In 1939, Virginia Woolf called for a more inclusive form of biography, which would include 'the failures as well as the successes, the humble as well as the illustrious'. She did so in part as a reaction against Victorian biography, deemed to have been overly preoccupied with 'Great Men'. Yet a significant number of Victorians had already broken ranks to write the lives of humble, unsuccessful, or neglected men and women. Victorian Biography Reconsidered seeks to uncover and assess this trend. The book begins with an overview of Victorian biography followed by a reflection on how the bagginess of nineteenth-century hero-worship enabled new subjects to emerge. Biographies of 'hidden' lives are then scrutinized through chapters on the lives of humble naturalists, failed destinies, minor women writers, neglected Romantic poets rescued by Victorian biographers, and, finally, the Dictionary of National Biography. In its conclusion, the book briefly discusses how Virginia Woolf absorbed earlier biographical trends before redirecting the representation of 'hidden' lives. Victorian Biography Reconsidered argues that, often paradoxically, nineteenth-century biographers regarded the public sphere with intense wariness. At a time of instability for men of letters, biographers embraced the role of mediators in a manner that asserted their own cultural authority. Frequently, they showed little interest in vouchsafing immortality for their unknown or forgotten subjects, but strove instead to provoke amongst their readers a feeling of gratitude for the hidden labour that sustained the nation and an appreciation for the writers who had brought it to their attention.
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191591432
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 326
Book Description
In 1939, Virginia Woolf called for a more inclusive form of biography, which would include 'the failures as well as the successes, the humble as well as the illustrious'. She did so in part as a reaction against Victorian biography, deemed to have been overly preoccupied with 'Great Men'. Yet a significant number of Victorians had already broken ranks to write the lives of humble, unsuccessful, or neglected men and women. Victorian Biography Reconsidered seeks to uncover and assess this trend. The book begins with an overview of Victorian biography followed by a reflection on how the bagginess of nineteenth-century hero-worship enabled new subjects to emerge. Biographies of 'hidden' lives are then scrutinized through chapters on the lives of humble naturalists, failed destinies, minor women writers, neglected Romantic poets rescued by Victorian biographers, and, finally, the Dictionary of National Biography. In its conclusion, the book briefly discusses how Virginia Woolf absorbed earlier biographical trends before redirecting the representation of 'hidden' lives. Victorian Biography Reconsidered argues that, often paradoxically, nineteenth-century biographers regarded the public sphere with intense wariness. At a time of instability for men of letters, biographers embraced the role of mediators in a manner that asserted their own cultural authority. Frequently, they showed little interest in vouchsafing immortality for their unknown or forgotten subjects, but strove instead to provoke amongst their readers a feeling of gratitude for the hidden labour that sustained the nation and an appreciation for the writers who had brought it to their attention.