This groundbreaking volume is the first to define the emergent field of transatlantic literary studies. It brings together a wide range of material to explore the theoretical and literary possibilitie
Through a detailed unpacking of the castaway genre’s appeal in English literature, Empire Islands forwards our understanding of the sociopsychology of British Empire. Rebecca Weaver-Hightower a
Controversies abound in studies of Edgar Allan Poe. From the time of his death well into the twentieth century, partisans debated the issue of his character: was he an alcoholic? drug addict? patholo
Does reading novels evoking empathy with fictional characters really cultivate our sympathetic imagination and lead to altruistic actions on behalf of real others? Empathy and the Novel presents a co
The Great Gatsby (1925) is a classic of modern American literature and is often seen as the quintessential novel of 'the jazz age'. This guide to The Great Gatsby explores the style, structure, themes
The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend is both a critical history of the Arthurian tradition and a reference guide to Arthurian works, names, characters, symbols, and places. Seven essays
Volume 1, The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World carries the interrelated stories of publishing, writing, and reading from the beginning of the colonial period in America up to 1790. Three major them
The city is not only built of towers of steel and glass; it is a product of culture. It plays an especially important role in Latin America, where urban areas hold a near-monopoly on resources and are
This book is a study of Gertrude Stein's diverse and idiosyncratic oeuvre, ranging from established works such as The Autobiography of Alice B. Tolkas to her lesser known pieces for the theatre. Drawi
This study discusses Adcock as a writer who draws on her experiences of dislocation in order to position herself between cultures. It relocates her work within the postwar British poetic mainstream by
Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy is quoted more often than any other passage in Shakespeare. It is arguably the most famous speech in the Western world - though few of us can remember much abo
Jansen (U. of Texas at Austin School of Information) is a consultant in the Big6 method for teaching information and technology skills. In this book, she offers advice specific to 5th-9th grade classr
Chu T'ien-hsin's "The Old Capital" is a brilliant evocation of Taiwan's literature of nostalgia and remembrance. The novel is centered on the question, "Is it possible that none of your memories count
Many readers first encounter Shakespeare’s plays in a book rather than a theater. Yet Shakespeare was through and through a man of the stage. So what do we lose when we leave Shakespeare the practitio
To some critics, to describe certain passages by Beckett as empty pits would be to assign them too much space and air. Levy (English, U. of British Columbia) understands well that critics have difficu
Roger Lundin traces how pragmatism and its reliance on experience eclipsed nature and religion as the ultimate moral authority. He explores why Americans prize experience as highly as they do, what th
"My South Seas Sleeping Beauty" is a captivating coming-of-age tale set in the magical jungles of Borneo. Told through the vivid recollections of a Chinese-Malay youth, the novel recounts the life of
Sincerity, the belief that the narrator of a poem is the author, is a constantly debated element of theory and practice. Being sincere is being pure, free from commercial culture and indicative of a p
Rooted in a thriving culture of amateur natural history, the keeping of nature journals and diaries flourished in late-eighteenth-and early-nineteenth-century Britain. As prescientific worldviews cede
Responding to the scientific revolution going on around them, the ladies and gentlemen of Britain ambled about the countryside in their bonnets and tweeds, (respectively) taking copious notes and sket
