Introductory Literary Studies

The Bible and Literature: The Basics provides an interpretive framework for understanding the significance of biblical allusions in literature—even for readers who have little prior knowledge of the Bible. In doing so, it surveys the Bible’s influence on a broad range of English, American, and other..

The Bible and Literature: The Basics provides an interpretive framework for understanding the significance of biblical allusions in literature—even for readers who have little prior knowledge of the Bible. In doing so, it surveys the Bible’s influence on a broad range of English, American, and other..

This classic and eminently readable work provides a full critical introduction to the complete Canterbury Tales...

This introduction to the Russian folktale considers the origin, structure and language of folktales; tale-tellers and their audiences; the relationship of folktales to Russian ritual life; and the folktale types which are translated in subsequent volumes of "The Complete Russian Folktale"...

Traces the development of the sonnet from its invention in the early Italian Renaissance to the time of John Milton, showing how the form has developed and acquired the capacity to express lyrically the nature of the desiring self...

First published in 1971, this work examines the tradition of the epic and the many forms in which it has presented itself. After unpicking the defining aspects of an epic, the book tracks the literary tradition from the classical period through to modern day. _x005F_x000D_  ..

First published in 1972, this book provides a helpful overview of the grotesque and its use in a number of literary genres including novels, drama and poetry. _x005F_x000D_ This book will be a useful resource for those studying literary theory and literary works which include an element of the grote..

The Libertine's Nemesis..

First published in 1974, this book provides a helpful overview to the ode. After introducing the reader to classical odes, it goes on to trace the development of two major types: the Pindaric ode and the Horatian ode. The book concludes with a study of odes from the nineteenth and twentieth-centurie..

First published in 1977, this book studies the picaresque as a literary genre. It begins by discriminating between the literature of roguery and the picaresque in particular before discussing the origins of the genre in Spain and tracing its development into Europe. The book concludes with a brief d..

This book guides the student through the fundamentals of this enduring literary form. By using carefully selected novels, the authors provide a lively examination of the particular themes and modes of realist novels of the period...

First published in 1970, this work provides an overview of the Romance from the medieval period to the 20th century and tracks how the genre has changed with time, including its interaction with other forms of literature such as gothic novels, realism and science fiction. It explores a myriad of wri..