The Challenge of Periodization: Old Paradigms and New Perspectives

by Lawrence Besserman (Editor)

Overview

In these essays some of today's leading literary scholars and cultural critics re-examine major writers, genres, and themes in relation to their traditional period affiliations. The essays cover a broad range of writers and periods from the Middle Ages to the present, grouped in two main areas: Chaucer and Medieval and Renaissance studies (Larry D. Benson, Heiko A. Oberman, Lee Patterson, and Aldo Scaglione), and English and American literary history (Sanford Budick, H. M. Daleski, Denis Donoghue, Robert J. Griffin, Geoffrey Hartman, J. Hillis Miller, Jerome McGann, and Helen Vendler). In addition to shedding new light on a specific author, each essay also refines or reinvigorates critical approaches to specific periods. The analyses illuminate and clarify our understanding of what are traditionally but problematically called the Medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romantic, Modern, and Postmodern eras in European cultural history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781317730934
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/04/2014
Series:	Garland Reference Library of the Humanities
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	270
File size:	650 KB

About the Author

Lawrence Besserman

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Challenge of Periodization: Old Paradigms and New Perspectives, Lawrence Besserman; Chapter 2 The Beginnings of Chaucer's English Style, Larry D. Benson; Chapter 3 The Place of the Modern in the Late Middle Ages, Lee Patterson; Chapter 4 Reuchlin and the Jews: Obstacles on the Path to Emancipation, Heiko A. Oberman; Chapter 5 The Periodization of the Renaissance and the Question of Mannerism, Aldo Scaglione; Chapter 6, Sanford Budick; Chapter 7 A Critique of Romantic Periodization, Robert J. Griffin; Chapter 8 A Project for the Sun, Geoffrey H. Hartman; Chapter 9 Rethinking Romanticism, Jerome J. McGann; Chapter 10 Thomas Hardy: A Victorian Modernist?, H. M. Daleski; Chapter 11 Reading and Periodization: Wallace Stevens' “The Idea of Order at Key West”, J. Hillis Miller; Chapter 12 Is There a Perennial Literature?, Denis Donoghue; Chapter 13 Periodizing Modem American Poetry, Helen Vendler;

Editorial Reviews

Literary scholars and cultural critics re-examine major writers, genres, and themes in terms of their traditional period affiliations from the Middle Ages to the present. They illuminate both the specific works and some problems with what have become the conventional temporal categories. Among the 13 perspectives are the beginnings of Chaucer's English style, a critique of Romantic periodization, Thomas Hardy, Wallace Stevens, and the question of a perennial literature. No index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"The list of contributors contains some of the most well-respected names in the fields of Medieval, Early Modern and Modern studies." — Literary Research

From the Publisher