
Modernist Literature - Challenging Fictions
Vicki Mahaffey(Author)
Wiley (Publisher)
Published on 21. April 2008
Software
Other digital
264 pages
978-0-470-77572-1 (ISBN)
Description
This inclusive guide to Modernist literature considers the 'high' Modernist writers such as Eliot, Joyce, Pound and Yeats alongside women writers and writers of the Harlem Renaissance. * Challenges the idea that Modernism was conservative and reactionary. * Relates the modernist impulse to broader cultural and historical crises and movements. * Covers a wide range of authors up to the outbreak of World War II, among them Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, Langston Hughes, Samuel Beckett, HD, Virginia Woolf, Djuna Barnes, and Jean Rhys. * Includes coverage of women writers and gay and lesbian writers.
Reviews / Votes
"Ambitiously diverse and unsettling, a book that responds provocatively to the challenges it poses." --David Bradshaw, University of Oxford "In this sharp, thoughtful and clearly-written book, modernism is not simply a descriptive category pigeon-holing a literary period; it is made both more problematic (as when its ending is linked with the holocaust) and empowering. Boldly redefining the field, Mahaffey throws a truly original light on the social, political and ethical relevance of main modernist 'chronicles of disorder,' showing convincingly how they challenge repressive authorities as well as the reader's ingrained passivity." --Jean-Michel Rabate, University of Pennsylvania "This intelligent, strongly argued book reconceives the term 'modernist' to mean modern literature that challenges the reader because of its originality, complexity, obscurity, or transgressive nature." (Choice)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Hoboken
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
510 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-470-77572-1 (9780470775721)
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
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2008
1st Edition
Wiley-Blackwell
€39.99
Available for download
Person
Vicki Mahaffey is Professor of Modern Literature at the University of York and a former Guggenheim Fellow and winner of both the Lindback Award and the Ira Abrams Award for teaching. Her previous publications include Reauthorizing Joyce (1988) and States of Desire: Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, and the Irish Experience (1998).
Content
Preface. Acknowledgments. Part I: Introduction. 1. Why Read Challenging Literature?. Part II: Readings. 2. Partnering: Holmes and Watson, Author and Reader, Lover and Loved, Man and Wife. 3. Window Painting: The Art of Blocking Understanding. 4. Watchman, What of the Night?. Conclusion. Notes. Bibliography. Index.