Reference: Literature

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Brief History of English Literature

A lively introductory guide to English literature from “Beowulf” to the present day. The book is written in a lucid style to create a continuing chronological narrative accessible to any reader. A lot of emphasis is placed on understanding the texts in relation to the social, political and cultural contexts in which they were written. Close readings of selected key texts. Hardback. (353 pages)
Level: Library/Depot

0333791770

British Fiction Today

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British Fiction Today is a critical introduction to key authors and novels since 1990 through a collection of new essays on current British fiction. It offers comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of a broad range of both established and emerging literary voices. The book is organised around key themes in contemporary writing — Modern Lives, Contemporary Living; Distortions and Dreams; States of Identity and Histories. The authors covered are: Peter Ackroyd, Martin Amis, Pat Barker, Julian Barnes, A. S. Byatt, Jonathan Coe, Jenny Diski, Alan Hollinghurst, Toby Litt, Ian McEwan, Ben Okri, Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, Adam Thorpe, Sarah Waters, and Jeanette Winterson. The essays introduce key works and major themes such as post-colonialism, gender and history.
Contents include: PART I: Modern Lives, Contemporary Living: 1. The Middle Years of Martin Amis – Joe Brooker; 2. Julian Barnes and a Case of English Identity – Dominic Head; 3. Genre, Repetition and History in Jonathan Coe – Pam Thurschwell; 4. Alan Hollinghurst and Homosexual Identity – Kaye Mitchell. PART II: Distortions and Dreams: 5. Reconsidering the Novels of Peter Ackroyd – Tamas Benyei; 6. Jenny Diski's Millenial Imagination – Philip Tew; 7. Ben Okri's Fiction 1995-2005 – Chris Ringrose; 8. Salman Rushdie: Paradox and Truth – Robert Eaglestone. PART III: States of Identity: 9. Possessing Toby Litt's Ghost Story – Leigh Wilson; 10. Ian McEwan's Ethical Fiction – Lynn Wells; 11. Considering Zadie Smith's On Beauty – Fiona Tolan; 12. Jeanette Winterson's Lighthouse keeping – Sonya Andermahr. PART IV: Histories: 13. Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy – Nick Hubble; 14. A.S. Byatt's Woven Realism – Wendy Wheeler; 15. Fiction's History: Adam Thorpe – Rod Mengham; 16. Sarah Waters and the Victorians – Mark Wormald.
Level: Library/Depot

0826487327

Cambridge guide to Women's Writing in English

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Now in a cheaper paperback edition. A new authoritative reference book about women’s writing. 2,500+ entries on the writers, individual texts and on the general terms, genres and movements — arranged alphabetically. Hardback. (696 pages)

0521668131

Dictionary of Literary Symbols

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Revised and enlarged 2007 edition. Lower price! Unlike other dictionaries of symbols, Michael Ferber’s dictionary concentrates on symbols in literature, in particular English and American literature (and their classical and biblical roots). A useful resource. (288 pages)
Level: Library/Depot

9780521690546

Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy

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A large-format, colourful but well-researched and informative guide. Contents: Types of Fantasy (fairy tales, arthuriana, sword and sorcery, heroic fantasy etc.); Fantasy Cinema; Television Fantasy; Who's Who of Fantasy (authors, film directors etc.): A-Z of Fantasy Characters and Entities; Fantasy Games; Fantasy Worlds (Middle Earth, Narnia, Discworld etc.); Fantasy Magazines; Glossary. Hardback. Editor: David Pringle. This title replaces the old edition (Fantasy: The Definitive Illustrated Guide). Among the new entries in this 2006 edition: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Constantine, King Kong, Narnia Chronicles (movies); Medium, Supernatural (TV); Kate Elliott (books); Oblivion, Pokemon, World of Warcraft (games); Sam and Dean Winchester, Alison Dubois (A - Z of characters); The World of Warcraft (worlds). Editor: David Pringle
Level: Library/Depot/students writing papers/background for the teacher

9781844420070

Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction
*NEW IN SEPTEMBER*

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What is Literary Theory? Is there a relationship between literature and culture? In fact, what is literature, and does it matter? These are the sorts of questions addressed by Jonathan Culler in a book which steers a clear path through a subject which is often perceived to be impenetrable. It offers insights into theories about the nature of language and meaning, whether literature is a form of self-expression or a method of appeal to an audience, and outlines the ideas behind a number of different schools: deconstruction, feminist theory, semiotics, postcolonial theory, and structuralism amongst them. (149 pages)
Level: Library/Depot/Inspiration for all teachers of English literature

Contents: 1. What is theory?; 2. What is Literature and Does it Matter?; 3. Literature and Cultural Studies; 4. Language, Meaning, and Interpretation; 5. Rhetoric, Poetics, and Poetry; 6. Narrative; 7. Performative Language; 8. Identity, Identification, and the Subject; Appendix: Theoretical Schools and Movements; References; Further Reading; Index

9780192853837

Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction

An accessible guide to crime fiction from the 1950s to the present. The main section is an A-Z of 500 UK and USA authors and their works. A second section covers 400 major TV series and films. (780 pages)

1841192872

Mammoth Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

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A new up-to-date guide to the world of SF writing. (612 pages):

A brief history of the birth and development of SF.

An A-Z guide to authors, major SF figures, magazines, movies and TV on both sides of the Atlantic.

A guide to the themes and devices of SF.

1841191779

Outline of American Literature

A complete survey of the prose, poetry and drama of the United States from Colonial times to the 1980s. It discusses the work of major authors in their historical context, with quotations, examples and illustrations. Special emphasis on the twentieth century.

0582745020

Oxford Companion to American Literature

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Look up authors from Philip Roth to Paul Auster. Look up the major “works” from the Declaration of Independence to Being there. Look up foreign authors and works associated with America. Also coverage of many periodicals, movements etc.

0195065484

Oxford Companion to English Literature

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Revised in 2006 — with updated entries, appendicies, chronology etc. Look up the individual authors, or major works, characters, literary movements, critical terms — major essays on Fantasy Fiction, Black British Literature etc. Good coverage of writers from other English speaking cultures. Editor: Margaret Drabble. Over 8,000 entries. Hardback (1172 pages)
Level: Library/Depot

0198614535

Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms

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New edition: Containing over 1,200 of the most troublesome literary terms encountered by students, this excellent book gives clear and often witty explanations to terms from The Absurd and Academic Drama to Zeitgeist and Zeugma. It also offers pronunciation guides and suggestions for further reading for many entries. The sensible selection of terms and the clear and humorous style makes this the most accessible dictionary of literary terms available for the gymnasium and similar levels. Author: Chris Baldick. (361 pages)
Level: Gymnasium – Library/Depot, a good resource for teachers

An expanded and fully updated edition of this best-selling dictionary

New terms from modern critical and theoretical movements, American poetry, Spanish verse forms, life writing, crime fiction, feminist criticism

Extensive coverage of drama, verse, fiction, rhetoric, and literary history

Pronunciation guidance for over 200 terms

Web links updated via the Dictionary of Literary Terms companion website

Updated bibliography

9780199208272

Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory

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A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory is perhaps the most recognized introduction to the field of modern literary theory, now expanded and updated in its fifth edition. It covers the full range of movements in contemporary literary theory. It organises the theories into clearly defined sections and presents them in an exceptionally clear and accessible style. You can go straight to the section you need: New Criticism ... Marxist Criticism ... Post-Modernism ... Feminism etc. This new edition also considers the “New Aestheticism” and “Post-Theory”. There are also extensive Further Reading lists, including web and electronic resources, and two appendices which recommend glossaries of key theoretical and critical terms and relevant journals. Authors: Raman Selden, Peter Widdowson and Peter Brooker. (302 pages)
Contents: Introduction — 1. New Criticism, moral formalism and F. R. Leavis — 2. Russian formalism and the Bakhtin school — 3. Reader-oriented theories — 4. Structuralist theories — 5. Marxist theories — 6. Feminist theories — 7. Poststructuralist theories — 8. Postmodernist theories — 9. Postcolonialist theories — 10. Gay, lesbian and queer theories — Conclusion: Post-Theory — Appendix 1: Recommended glossaries of theoretical and critical terms and concepts — Appendix 2: Literary, critical and cultural theory journals — Index
Level: Teachers/Library/Depot (partnership with: Dansk)

9780582894105

Scottish Literature Since 1707

The history and development of Scottish Literature since the start of the Union with England. The Scottish Enlightenment with Smith and Hume; the giants: Burns, Scott, Carlyle and Stevenson; Hugh MacDiarmid and the Scottish Renaissance; the post-war story: James Kennaway, Muriel Spark, James Kelman, Ian Banks and much more. (443 pages)

0582028922

Southern African Literatures

PRICE REDUCTION. The story of the literatures of Southern Africa from Bantu and Bushman songs and the stories to the present day. Covers: South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola and Namibia. Useful bibliography of Individual Authors.(533 pages)

0582053072

Wordsworth Companion to English Lit

A guide to the writers, to the movements, the terminology and the great works. (1036 pages)

1853263362