Introductory Literary Studies

A Cultural Citizen of the World..

First published in 1969, this work explores aestheticism and its relationship with literature. After defining the term and examining the unique qualities of ‘the Aesthetes’, the book provides an overview of the literary movement from its emergence to its apotheosis in the 1890s...

A comprehensive, user-friendly introduction to Alexander Pope's life and works, outlining the major critical issues and offering guides to further reading...

This volume offers the broadest range of information on Jonson and his works, from background on contexts to details of recent interpretations of his plays...

First published in 1977, this book explores biography in the post-Renaissance period and investigates some of the problems implicit in this literary form. The introduction considers various aspects of biographical theory as expressed by practitioners and critics. The rest of the book is a detailed e..

First published in 1972, this book provides a helpful introduction to burlesque literature, a term used by critics from the seventh-century onwards to describe work in which an incongruity between serious subject-matter and style is used to provoke laughter. It examines the four main types of burles..

This introduction to Byron's extraordinary work explores the many interpretations of his texts. It is the ideal guide for those looking for a way through the wealth of contextual and critical material that surrounds the Byron canon...

This introduction to Byron's extraordinary work explores the many interpretations of his texts. It is the ideal guide for those looking for a way through the wealth of contextual and critical material that surrounds the Byron canon...

Offering an insight into African culture that had not been portrayed before, Things Fall Apart is the tragic story of an individual set in the wider context of colonialism, as well as a powerful and complex political statement of cross-cultural encounters._x000D_ This guide offers an accessible intr..

First published in 1972, this book provides an overview of Classicism in literature. After an informative introduction to the term, it explores some of the periods and places in which Classicism has been prominent: the Italian Renaissance, England before and during the Restoration, Renaissance Franc..

Close Reading: The Basics is formulated to bring together reading pleasure and analytic techniques that will engage the student of literature, and enhance their experience...

Close Reading: The Basics is formulated to bring together reading pleasure and analytic techniques that will engage the student of literature, and enhance their experience...