
Almanach
A Natural History of Time and Fiction
Helen Solterer(Author)
Stanford University Press
Will be published approx. on 10. November 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
248 pages
978-1-5036-4837-1 (ISBN)
Description
An age-old, revolutionary design for keeping time by the moon: the almanach outlines a plan for your day-to-day - commemorating notable events in human history while forecasting others in the natural world. In this novel work of criticism, Helen Solterer adopts the form of the almanach to make the case for fiction as experimental work composed in time. Each entry examines a major fictional form taking shape in French around 1400 and its ensuing transformations and interventions in other epochs and cultures: the political vision of writer-activist Edith Thomas with Christine de Pizan, the personal poetry of Langston Hughes and Pauli Murray with Villon, the theater of Samuel Beckett and Bernard-Marie Koltes with those devising the first mystery plays. Solterer takes us from Turkey where almanachs were assembled, across the European continent, to circumpolar Arctic zones where Inuit Thule hunters incised graphic narrative in ivory that Inuit artists innovate today.
These "timely fictions," as Solterer dubs many of them, engage generations of creators at an unpredictable tempo; at any given moment, timely fictions exist as the sum of multiple experiments in time. They are a type of compost. Over years, writers and artists mix materials to fertilize the work they make for various different circumstances. By both unearthing and recycling this model, Solterer composes a wholly inventive natural history of fiction.
These "timely fictions," as Solterer dubs many of them, engage generations of creators at an unpredictable tempo; at any given moment, timely fictions exist as the sum of multiple experiments in time. They are a type of compost. Over years, writers and artists mix materials to fertilize the work they make for various different circumstances. By both unearthing and recycling this model, Solterer composes a wholly inventive natural history of fiction.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
35 illustrations - 35 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-5036-4837-1 (9781503648371)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Helen Solterer is Professor, French & Francophone Studies, Romance Studies, Duke University, and co-editor of Migrants Shaping Europe, (2022), among other titles.