Author: Umberto EcoPublisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780151008124
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
Publisher Description
On Literature
Author: J. Hillis MillerPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134507615
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 177
Book Description
Debates rage over what kind of literature we should read, what is good and bad literature, and whether in the global, digital age, literature even has a future. But what exactly is literature? Why should we read literature? How do we read literature? These are some of the important questions J. Hillis Miller answers in this beautifully written and passionate book. He begins by asking what literature is, arguing that the answer lies in literature's ability to create an imaginary world simply with words. On Literature also asks the crucial question of why literature has such authority over us. Returning to Plato, Aristotle and the Bible, Miller argues we should continue to read literature because it is part of our basic human need to create imaginary worlds and to have stories. Above all, On Literature is a plea that we continue to read and care about literature.
The Politics Book
Author: DKPublisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1465441077
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 729
Book Description
Learn about how the world of government and power works in The Politics Book. Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about Politics in this overview guide to the subject, great for novices looking to find out more and experts wishing to refresh their knowledge alike! The Politics Book brings a fresh and vibrant take on the topic through eye-catching graphics and diagrams to immerse yourself in. This captivating book will broaden your understanding of Politics, with: - More than 100 groundbreaking ideas in the history of political thought - Packed with facts, charts, timelines and graphs to help explain core concepts - A visual approach to big subjects with striking illustrations and graphics throughout - Easy to follow text makes topics accessible for people at any level of understanding The Politics Book is a captivating introduction to the world's greatest thinkers and their political big ideas that continue to shape our lives today, aimed at adults with an interest in the subject and students wanting to gain more of an overview. Delve into the development of long-running themes, like attitudes to democracy and violence, developed by thinkers from Confucius in ancient China to Mahatma Gandhi in 20th-century India, all through exciting text and bold graphics. Your Politics Questions, Simply Explained This engaging overview explores the big political ideas such as capitalism, communism, and fascism, exploring their beginnings and social contexts - and the political thinkers who have made significant contributions. If you thought it was difficult to learn about governing bodies and affairs, The Politics Book presents key information in a clear layout. Learn about the ideas of ancient and medieval philosophers and statesmen, as well as the key personalities of the 16th to the 21st centuries that have shaped political thinking, policy, and statecraft. The Big Ideas Series With millions of copies sold worldwide, The Politics Book is part of the award-winning Big Ideas series from DK. The series uses striking graphics along with engaging writing, making big topics easy to understand.
On Literature
Author: Umberto EcoPublisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0156032392
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
In this collection of essays and addresses delivered over the course of his illustrious career, Umberto Eco seeks "to understand the chemistry of [his] passion" for the word. Eco's luminous intelligence and encyclopedic knowledge dazzle throughout. And when he reveals his own ambitions and superstitions, his authorial anxieties and fears, one feels like a secret sharer in the garden of literature to which he so often alludes. Illuminating, accessible, stimulating, this collection exhibits Eco's diversity of interests and depth of knowledge in pieces such as these and many more: A Reading of the Paradiso On the Style of The Communist Manifesto Wilde: Paradox and Aphorism A Portrait of the Artist as Bachelor Borges and My Anxiety of Influence On Symbolism On Style The American Myth in Three Anti-American Generations Umberto Eco is a professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna. His collections of essays include Kant and the Platypus, Serendipities, Travels in Hyperreality, and How to Travel with a Salmon. He is also the author of the bestselling novels The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum, and Baudolino. His most recent novel is The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. He lives in Milan. Translated from the Italian by Martin McLaughlin
On Literature and Philosophy
Author: Naguib MahfouzPublisher: Gingko Library
ISBN: 1909942782
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 175
Book Description
Naguib Mahfouz is one of the most important writers in contemporary Arabic literature. Winner of the Nobel Prize in 1988 (the only Arab writer to win the prize thus far), his novels helped bring Arabic literature onto the international stage. Far fewer people know his nonfiction works, however—a gap that this book fills. Bringing together Mahfouz’s early nonfiction writings (most penned during the 1930s) which have not previously been available in English, this volume offers a rare glimpse into the early development of the renowned author. As these pieces show, Mahfouz was deeply interested in literature and philosophy, and his early writings engage with the origins of philosophy, its development and place in the history of thought, as well its meaning writ large. In his literary essays, he discusses a wide range of authors, from Anton Chekov to his own Arab contemporaries like Taha Hussein. He also ventures into a host of important contemporary issues, including science and modernity, the growing movement for women’s rights in the Arab world, and emerging ideologies like socialism—all of which outline the growing challenges to traditional modes of living that we saw all around him. Together, these essays offer a fascinating window not just into the mind of Mahfouz himself but the changing landscape of Egypt during that time, from the development of Islam to the struggles between tradition, modernity, and the influences of the West.
Bourdieu and Literature
Author: John R. W. SpellerPublisher: Open Book Publishers
ISBN: 1906924422
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
Bourdieu and Literature is a wide-ranging, rigorous and accessible introduction to the relationship between Pierre Bourdieu's work and literary studies. It provides a comprehensive overview and critical assessment of his contributions to literary theory and his thinking about authors and literary works. One of the foremost French intellectuals of the post-war era, Bourdieu has become a standard point of reference in the fields of anthropology, linguistics, art history, cultural studies, politics, and sociology, but his longstanding interest in literature has often been overlooked. This study explores the impact of literature on Bourdieu's intellectual itinerary, and how his literary understanding intersected with his sociological theory and thinking about cultural policy. This is the first full-length study of Bourdieu's work on literature in English, and it provides an invaluable resource for students and scholars of literary studies, cultural theory and sociology.
"What is Literature?" and Other Essays
Author: Jean-Paul SartrePublisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674950849
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
What is Literature? challenges anyone who writes as if literature could be extricated from history or society. But Sartre does more than indict. He offers a definitive statement about the phenomenology of reading, and he goes on to provide a dashing example of how to write a history of literature that takes ideology and institutions into account.
Making Literature Now
Author: Amy HungerfordPublisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804795128
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
How does new writing emerge and find readers today? Why does one writer's work become famous while another's remains invisible? Making Literature Now tells the stories of the creators, editors, readers, and critics who make their living by making literature itself come alive. The book shows how various conditions—including gender, education, business dynamics, social networks, money, and the forces of literary tradition—affect the things we can choose, or refuse, to read. Amy Hungerford focuses her discussion on literary bestsellers as well as little-known traditional and digital literature from smaller presses, such as McSweeney's. She deftly matches the particular human stories of the makers with the impersonal structures through which literary reputation is made. Ranging from fine-grained ethnography to polemical argument, this book transforms our sense of how and why new literature appears—and disappears—in contemporary American culture.
The Comparative Perspective on Literature
Author: Clayton KoelbPublisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501743988
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Few would deny that comparative literature is rapidly moving from the periphery toward the center of literary studies in North America, but many are still unsure just what it is. The Comparative Perspective on Literature shows by means of twenty-two exemplary essays by many of the most distinguished scholars in the field how comparative literature as a discipline is conceived of and practiced in the 1980s. Nearly all of them published here for the first time, the essays discuss and themselves reflect significant changes at the core of the field as well as evolving notions as to what comparative literature is and should be. The volume editors, Clayton Koelb and Susan Noakes, have included essays that address the scope and concerns of comparative literature today, historical and international contexts of the field, and the relationship of literary criticism to other disciplines, as well as affording comparative perspectives on current critical issues.
Literature for Young Adults
Author: Joan L. KnickerbockerPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135106715X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 467
Book Description
Now in its second edition, this book explores a great variety of genres and formats of young adult literature while placing special emphasis on contemporary works with nontraditional themes, protagonists, and literary conventions that are well suited to young adult readers. It looks at the ways in which contemporary readers can access literature and share the works they're reading, and it shows teachers the resources that are available, especially online, for choosing and using good literature in the classroom and for recommending books for their students’ personal reading. In addition to traditional genre chapters, this book includes chapters on literary nonfiction; poetry, short stories, and drama; and film. Graphic novels, diversity issues, and uses of technology are also included throughout the text. The book's discussion of literary language—including traditional elements as well as metafictive terms—enables readers to share in a literary conversation with their peers (and others) when communicating about books. This book is an essential resource for preservice educators to help young adults understand and appreciate the excellent literature that is available to them. New to the second edition: New popular authors, books, and movies with a greater focus on diversity of literature Updated coverage of new trends, such as metafiction, a renewed focus on nonfiction, and retellings of canonical works Increased attention to graphic novels and multimodal texts throughout the book eResources with downloadable materials, including book lists, awards lists, and Focus Questions
