Literary Criticism

This book extends the theme of Raymond Williams's earlier work in literary and cultural analysis. He analyses previous contributions to a Marxist theory of literature from Marx himself to Lukacs,...

Containing entries on over four hundred authors of fiction, poetry and drama from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, this invaluable work of reference presents material of a range and depth that...

The words of its writers are part of the texture of Dublin, an invisible counterpart to the bricks and pavement we see around us. Beyond the ever-present footsteps of James...

`A comprehensive, well-written and beautifully organized book on publishing articles in the humanities and social sciences that will help its readers write forward with a first-rate guide as good company.'...

The essays in Zero Point ask how we distinguish defeat from disaster, and how we confront despair without collapsing into it - questions never more pertinent than the current moment...

This new collection of specially commissioned essays on Chaucer's poetry is a single-volume guide to the best and most inventive work in Chaucerian studies today. The first such book written...

Professor Lewis believed that literature exists above all for the joy of the reader and that books should be judged by the kind of reading they invite. He doubted the...

'Grief and loneliness, depression, despair and failure - those things...are the common human lot at least at times in all our lives'. Yet it is philosophy which, while not providing...

From the very first book publication in 1920 to the recent film release of Death on the Nile, this investigation into Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot celebrates a century of probably...

Plutarch of Chaeronea is one of the great story-tellers of antiquity, a writer whose ability to create unforgettable scenes matches the grandeur of his subject matter. The heroes of his...

Shakespeare is often the first dramatist people study. You may have read, seen and even acted in plays, but Shakespeare may well be the first writer whose plays you are...

This is a guide for students of English, illustrating ways of constructing a critical response to novels. It shows how, through analysis of passages, they can approach novels confidently and...

This practical reference for university and senior high school students shows how to read, understand and analyze poetry. Included are sections on narrative poetry and writing essays.

How do you approach a Romantic poem, and what do the Romantic poets discuss in their works? In this clear, practical guide, Paul O'Flinn shows you how to think and...

This book is a major reader of Old English, the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons before the Norman Conquest. Designed both for beginning and for more advanced students, it broke...

Scholars have traditionally judged "fin-de-siecle" British fiction as insignificant, a stopover between high-Victorian realism and Modernist experimentation. But the decade's sexual mores and changing gender roles, its fascination with the...

Susan Sontag's incisive intelligence, expressive brilliance and deep curiosity about art, politics and the writer's responsibility to the world have secured her place as one of the most important thinkers...

The Site of Memory describes Toni Morrison's work of literary archaeology. She offers insights into how she arrives at a text through the act of imagination bound up with memory...