Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Companions to Literature

Suitable for students of English literature and creative writing alike, this book is an introduction to the techniques of good prose writing. Written in an engaging style by eminent scholars, critics, novelists, and biographers, it is a handbook on the art of prose as exemplified by the best writers of fiction and creative non-fiction.

Suitable for students of English literature and creative writing alike, this book is an introduction to the techniques of good prose writing. Written in an engaging style by eminent scholars, critics, novelists, and biographers, it is a handbook on the art of prose as exemplified by the best writers of fiction and creative non-fiction.

American literature, Canadian literature, European and world literature general

Aimed not only at a broad readership of classical scholars and students but also at all those interested in one of the most loved and influential poets of ancient Rome. Discusses Catullus' poetry, his late-republican background, and his scholarly and literary reception.

A detailed up-to-date survey of the most important woman writer from Greco-Roman antiquity. Examines the nature and context of her poetic achievement, the transmission, loss and rediscovery of her poetry, and the reception of that poetry in cultures far removed from ancient Greece, including Latin America, India, China, and Japan.

Roman comedy has been a model for writers and artists ranging from Shakespeare to Martin Luther and from Moliere to Cole Porter. This volume supplies a comprehensive critical introduction to Roman comedy and its reception presented by leading international scholars in more than twenty accessible and up-to-date chapters written by leading scholars.

Narrative theory explores how stories work and how we make them work. This Companion is both an introduction and a substantial contribution to the field. It takes the long historical view, outlines essential concepts, and reflects on the way narrative forms connect with and rework social forms.

This volume provides lively and authoritative introductions to twenty-nine of the most important British and Irish poets. Each essay offers a new assessment of a single poet's achievement and importance, with readings of the most important poems. The Companion is an ideal accompaniment to survey courses in English literature.

Comprehensive in scope, these new essays cover the fiction in the European languages from North Africa and Africa south of the Sahara, as well as in Arabic. Including a guide to further reading and a chronology, this is the ideal starting-point for students of African and world literatures.

This Companion offers a comprehensive overview and interpretation of Romantic poetry in its literary and historical contexts. Attention is given to the work of less well-known or recently rediscovered authors, alongside some of the greatest poets in the English language: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, Scott, Burns, Keats, Shelley, Byron and Clare.

This Companion charts the shape of DeLillo's career and provides in-depth assessments of his best-known novels, White Noise, Libra, and Underworld, which have become required reading not only for students of American literature, but for all interested in the history and the future of American culture.

This Companion offers a wide-ranging and innovative guide to one of the most exciting and important periods in British theatrical history. Chapters cover subjects such as actors and acting, playwrights and performers and the major theatrical forms of the period such as tragedy, melodrama and pantomime.

London has provided the setting and inspiration for a host of literary works, from canonical masterpieces to the popular and ephemeral. Drawing upon a variety of methods and materials, the essays in this volume explore representations of the city and its literary culture from medieval times to the present.

One of America's most powerful and original dramatists, August Wilson offered an alternative history of the twentieth century, as seen from the perspective of black Americans. He celebrated the lives of those seemingly pushed to the margins of national life, but who were simultaneously protagonists of their own drama and evidence of a vital and compelling community. Decade by decade, he told the story of a people with a distinctive history who forged their own future, aware of their roots in another time and place, but doing something more than just survive. Wilson deliberately addressed black America, but in doing so discovered an international audience. Alongside chapters addressing Wilson's life and career, and the wider context of his plays, this Companion dedicates individual chapters to each play in his ten-play cycle, which are ordered chronologically, demonstrating Wilson's notion of an unfolding history of the twentieth century.

The Irish novel has had a distinguished history. It spans such diverse authors as James Joyce, George Moore, Maria Edgeworth, Bram Stoker, Flann O'Brien, Samuel Beckett, Lady Morgan, John Banville, and others. Yet it has until now received less critical attention than Irish poetry and drama. This volume covers three hundred years of Irish achievement in fiction, with essays on key genres, themes, and authors. It provides critiques of individual works, accounts of important novelists, and histories of sub-genres and allied narrative forms, establishing significant social and political contexts for dozens of novels. The varied perspectives and emphases by more than a dozen critics and literary historians ensure that the Irish novel receives due tribute for its colour, variety and linguistic verve. Each chapter features recommended further reading. This is the perfect overview for students of the Irish novel from the romances of the seventeenth century to the present day.

This Companion brings together sixteen new essays which examine, from various perspectives, the social and cultural role of the actress throughout history and across continents. Each essay focuses on a particular stage in her development, for example professionalism in the seventeenth century; the emergence of the actress/critic during the Romantic period and, later on, of the actress as best selling autobiographer; the coming of the drama schools which led to today's emphasis on the actress as a highly-trained working woman. Chapters consider the image of the actress as a courtesan, as a 'muse', as a representative of the 'ordinary' housewife, and as a political activist. The collection also contains essays on forms, genres and traditions - on cross dressing, solo performance, racial constraints, and recent Shakespeare - as well as on the actress in early photography and on film. Its unique range will fascinate, surprise and instruct theatre-goers and students alike.

This Companion explores an extensive range of 1930s authors, contexts, themes, and literary debates. Informed by current scholarly approaches and analysing the state of the field, it will be an important resource for students and scholars of twentieth-century literature.

The Companion provides an introduction to the relationship between law and literature in medieval England. It will be of interest to advanced students and scholars of literature, history and culture in the Anglo-Saxon, medieval and Tudor periods. Scholars will also appreciate the surveys and discussions of literary uses of legal motifs.

This second edition, including some new chapters, provides an essential introduction to all aspects of George Eliot's life and writing. Accessible essays by some of the most distinguished scholars of Victorian literature provide lucid and often original insights into the work of one of the most important novelists of the nineteenth century.

This second edition, including some new chapters, provides an essential introduction to all aspects of George Eliot's life and writing. Accessible essays by some of the most distinguished scholars of Victorian literature provide lucid and often original insights into the work of one of the most important novelists of the nineteenth century.

This Companion provides an essential grounding in early modern religious culture and the ideas that Shakespeare returned to throughout his career. Focused close-readings of individual plays explore the variegated Christian contexts of Shakespeare's work, as well as the treatment of Judaism, Islam and classical paganism.

Gives a rich and broad overview of Virgil, Virgilian reception over the centuries, and Virgilian studies. An introduction for students and their teachers and a touchstone for seasoned scholars; also ideal for scholars in other disciplines, anyone interested in the classical tradition, and general readers.

Gives a rich and broad overview of Virgil, Virgilian reception over the centuries, and Virgilian studies. An introduction for students and their teachers and a touchstone for seasoned scholars; also ideal for scholars in other disciplines, anyone interested in the classical tradition, and general readers.

This volume offers a cultural history of the idea of crusading over the last millennium. Focussing on the literature and culture of Europe, it shows how the Crusades, and the crusaders, were described, remembered, and romanticised by the various communities that have written about them.

This accessible collection of cutting-edge essays on Victorian women's poetry addresses major figures as well as the lesser known ones, adopting a culturally inclusive approach to poets' diversity and their multiple poetic forms and social issues. This book also features digital and close reading methods and a bibliography and chronology of publications.

This Companion will be used in undergraduate and graduate courses on African American studies and American literature. It will appeal to those wishing to examine black literature in relationship to a variety of disciplines - including psychology, political science, sociology and philosophy - and anyone interested in the relationship between art and social change.

This volume offers a sense of McEwan's standing in the canon on international contemporary fiction, and enriches understanding of McEwan's work by presenting complementary perspectives on the most complex novels. It will be a key resource for students, graduates, and scholars studying and teaching Ian McEwan.

The Companion uses accessible approaches and practical examples to help readers engage pleasurably with Shakespeare's challenging language. It will appeal to upper level undergraduate and graduate students of Shakespeare and Renaissance literature and drama, as well as students of English language and the history of language.

An accessible introduction to the key trends in nineteenth-century thought within philosophy, history, political thought, economics, religion and the social sciences, as well as feminism and imperialism. This Companion will appeal to scholars and advanced students of these disciplines.

A specially commissioned collection designed for use by students and first published in 2001. It provides an overview of the history of writing by women in the period, and offers several valuable tools for students, including a chronology of works and suggestions for further reading.