Literature And Society

In its emphasis on the text as a complex abstraction, much of the most influential recent work in criticism and theory has distanced itself from the traditional social and cultural questions of literary scholarship. In "Literature and Society", seven critics consider anew the situation of writing in history and human society. Their contributions deal with the subject from many viewpoints, all of which are informed but not overwhelmed by current trends in modern critical theory. -- From publisher's description

A Kaleidoscope of China is an advanced Chinese-language textbook that gives students a greater command of Chinese while deepening their understanding of the social and cultural issues facing China today. Geared to the unique needs of students with two or more years of instruction in modern Chinese, this book features a stimulating selection of articles and essays from major newspapers and periodicals in China, offering a revealing look at contemporary Chinese society. Topics include: buying a home versus having a child; consumer exports to America; depression; online dating; cell phones; empty-nest syndrome; fast food; the Virginia Tech massacre; medicine; the 2008 Sichuan earthquake; and global warming. Every selection is accompanied by a vocabulary list, exercises, and grammar notes. No other Chinese-language textbook so effectively helps advanced students expand their language skills while immersing them in what is truly a kaleidoscope of today's China. Teaches advanced Chinese while providing a window into contemporary China Features selections from actual Chinese newspapers and periodicals Includes vocabulary lists, exercises, and grammar notes Ideal for students with two or more years of instruction in modern Chinese

During the interwar period cinema and literature seemed to be at odds with each other, part of the continuing struggle between mass and elite culture which so worried writers such as Aldous Huxley, T.S. Eliot and the Leavises. And this cultural divide appeared to be sharp evidence of a deeper struggle for control of the nation’s consciousness, not only between dominant and oppositional elements within Britain, but between British and American vales as well. On the one hand, films like Sing As We Go, Proud Valley, and The Stars Look Down consolidated the assumptions about the existence of a national rather than separate class identities. On the other hand, working-class literature such as Love on the Dole articulated working-class experience in a manner intended to bridge the gap between the ‘Two Englands’. This book, originally published in 1987, examines how two of the most significant cultural forms in Britain contributed indirectly to the stability of Britain in the interwar crisis, helping to construct a new class alliance. A major element in the investigation is an analysis of the mechanics of the development of a national cultural identity, alongside separate working-class culture, the development of the lower-middle class and the implications of the intrusion of Hollywood culture. The treatment throughout is thematic rather than text-oriented – works of Graham Greene, George Orwell, Bert Coombes, Evelyn Waugh, the British Documentary Film Movement and Michael Balcon are included in the wide range of material covered.

Traditional and still prevalent accounts of late antique literature draw a clear distinction between 'pagan' and 'Christian' forms of poetry: whereas Christian poetry is taken seriously in terms its contribution to culture and society at large, so-called pagan or secular poetry is largely ignored, as though it has no meaningful part to play within the late antique world. The Myth of Paganism sets out to deconstruct this view of two contrasting poetic traditions and proposes in its place a new integrated model for the understanding of late antique poetry. As the book argues, the poet of Christ and the poet of the Muses were drawn together into an active, often provocative, dialogue about the relationship between Christianity and the Classical tradition and, ultimately, about the meaning of late antiquity itself. An analysis of the poetry of Nonnus of Panopolis, author of both a 'pagan' epic about Dionysus and a Christian translation of St John's Gospel, helps to illustrate this complex dialectic between pagan and Christian voices.

An enriching introduction to the diverse and exciting world of literature, this anthology offers a broad collection of short fiction, poetry, drama and nonfiction selections written by a diverse group of writers who represent different social classes, races, genders, cultures, and sexual orientations. Organizes selections around five socially relevant themes-- Growing Up and Growing Older; Women and Men; Money and Work; Peace and War; and Varieties of Protest. Shows how literary technique serves larger purposes-- the recreation of experience, the exploration of ideas, the analysis of social issues-- and how these larger purposes themselves shape literary form. Explains the ways in which literary form creates meaning, and provides a strong emphasis on writing about literature throughout, with a full chapter on all stages of the writing process -- generating ideas, developing a thesis, discovering a form, drafting, revising, and editing-- plus numerous excerpts from sample papers and journals. Now contains 42 new works, with more by Native American and Latino/Latina writers, as well as Bertolt Brecht's play Mother Courage" and Shakespeare's Othello"; also includes 18 works of nonfiction prose that have been chosen both for their literary technique as well as for their exploration of the five major themes.

This book presents a comprehensive study of the literature of the Cretan Renaissance and relates it to its historical, social and cultural context. Crete, ruled by Venice from 1211 to 1669, responded to the stimulus of contact with the Renaissance in a body of narrative, personal and dramatic poetry, written in the Cretan dialect, and now regarded as an important influence on Modern Greek literature. The historical background is related to an examination of the structure of Veneto-Cretan society, while the central chapters concentrate on the literary texts including tragedy, comedy, pastoral and religious drama.

The book is an attempt to reinstate - and demonstrate by practical example - the mutual relevance and interdependence of literary studies and cultural studies

1. Prolegomena The purpose of this book is to examine anew and from a number of different perspectives the highly complex and controversial relation between literature and society. This is not meant to be a study in sociology or political science; the analysis of literature - its structure, content, function, and effect - is our primary concern. What we shall try to find out is how the imaginative work is rooted in and grows out of the parent social body, to what extent it is influenced in subject matter as well as form and technique by the domi nant climate of ideas in a given historical period, and to what degree and in what manner literature "influences" the society to which it is addressed. The stream of literary influence is of course difficult to trace to its putative source, for here we are not dealing, as in science, with isolated physical phenomena which can be fitted precisely within some cause-and-effect pat tern. The relationship between literature and society is far more subtle and complex than social scientists or cultural critics commonly assume.

The essays in this volume focus on the text-world dichotomy that has been a pivotal problem since Plato, implicating notions of mimesis and representation and raising a series of debatable issues. Do literary texts relate only to the fictional world and not to the real one? Do they not only describe but also perform and thus create and transform reality? Is literature a mere reflection/expression of society, a field and a tool of political manipulations, a playground to exercise ideological and social power? Herbert Grabes’ seminal essay “Literature in Society/Society and Its Literature”, which opens this volume, perfectly captures the essential functions of literature in society, whether it be Derridean belief in a revolutionary potential of literature, “the power of literature to say everything”, or Hillis Miller’s view of literature having the potential to create or reveal alternative realities; or, according to Grabes, the ability of literature “to offer to society a possibility of self-reflection by way of presenting a double of what is held to be reality”; and, last but not least, the ability of literature “to considerably contribute to the joy of life by enabling a particular kind of pleasure” – the pleasure of reading literature. The subsequent essays collected in this volume deal with complex relations between Literature and Society, approaching this issue from different angles and in various historical epochs. They are on diverse thematics and written from diverse theoretical perspectives, differing in scope and methodology.