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Law, Literature, and Violence Against Women: Ending the Victim Blame Game
by Erin L. KelleyThis book engages legal and literary texts in order to examine acquaintance crimes, such as rape, sexual harassment, stalking, and domestic abuse, and to challenge how the victim’s physical or psychological "freeze response" is commonly and inaccurately mistaken for her consent.Following increased interest in the #MeToo movement and the discoveries of sexual abuse by numerous public figures, this book analyzes themes in law and literature that discredit victims and protect wrongdoers. Interpreting a present-day novel alongside legislation and written court cases, each chapter pairs a fictional text with a nonfictional counterpart. In these pairings, the themes, events, and arguments of each are carefully unpacked and compared against one another. As the cross-readings unfold, we learn that a victim does not "ask for it," and she should not arouse suspicions just because she does not fight, run away, or report the crime. Instead, and as this book demonstrates, the more common and most practical response is to become physically and mentally paralyzed by fear; the victim dissociates, shuts down, and remains stuck in the fright and captivity of abuse.This book will interest scholars and students working in, and especially at the intersection of, law, literature, gender studies, and criminology.
Narrating a New Mobility Landscape in the Modern American Road Story, 1893–1921: Ambivalence and Aspiration (Studies in Mobilities, Literature, and Culture)
by Andrew VogelThis book examines travel narratives as a medium used by the American public to imagine and negotiate new ways to live in, move through, and share national space. Setting an array of archival material, including congressional deliberations, into analytical conversation with road stories by Walt Whitman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Upton Sinclair, Emily Post, Zitkala-Ša, Henry Ford and many others, this book reframes our understanding of the origins of American automobility. The evidence gathered here sheds light on the processes by which the defining social infrastructure of the twentieth century came to be enacted, and also exposes the fraught debates and abiding misgivings that continue to roil infrastructure planning today. The insights captured in this study purposefully deepen our attention to questions of land use and collective responsibility at a moment when the ecological and social-justice consequences of American automobility must be thoroughly re-evaluated so that more conscientious mobility futures may be developed.
Style and Sense(s)
by Sandrine Sorlin Linda PillièreThis edited volume celebrates cutting-edge research in stylistics and, more specifically, recent work on sense and the senses. The title originated in the Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA) 2022 conference and marks the 40th onsite event by showcasing some of the excellent papers delivered on that occasion. The selected chapters fall into 4 parts each of which gives pride of place to how style makes sense and how senses make style. The chapters follow research in neuroscience and sociocognition, investigate how body and mind are inextricably linked through embodied meaning; how emotions are both conveyed and perceived; and how impressions, thoughts and worldviews can be induced by a certain style. The apprehension of the senses is carried through a variety of theories (cognitive linguistics and stylistics, ecostylistics, phenomenology, simulation theory, enactivism, metaphor theory, Text World Theory) and is applied to various genres (poetry, novels, short stories, detectivefiction, restaurant reviews) and media (the oral vs written tradition, ekphrasis, and semiotic transfers). This book will be of interest to students and academics in stylistics, cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis, ecostylistics, and multimodality.
Communicating Climate Change in China: A Dynamic Discourse Approach
by Sidan WangThis book explores how China's media narrate climate policy and climate change. With the rapid growth of economy and carbon emissions, China has been seen as having a key role in addressingclimate change and receives substantial attention from the media. In theChinese coverage, climate change issues can be interpreted as various concernsand ideas involving the dimensions of the economy, energy and emissions, publicinvolvement, science and ecology, and responsibility. In this sense, a discourseapproach can be used to understand how the newspapers construct the climatechange discourse and discourse networks in the coverage. This study selectsthree different newspapers in China, namely People’sDaily, China Daily and Southern Weekend. This book will interest scholars of Chinese politics, environmentalists, and media studies scholars.
Bernard Shaw’s and Virginia Woolf’s Interior Authors: Censored and Modern (Bernard Shaw and His Contemporaries)
by Lagretta Tallent LenkerVirginia Woolf and Bernard Shaw may be the odd couple of Twentieth Century modernism. Despite their difference in age (Shaw was twenty-six years older than Woolf), and public demeanor - Shaw sought public attention while Woolf shunned the spotlight - they actively held similar convictions on most of the pressing and controversial issues of the day. This book demonstrates that both engaged in social reform through the Fabian Society; both took public anti-war positions and paid dearly for it; both fought British censorship throughout most of their careers as writers; both sought to strengthen women’s rights; and both endeavored to revolutionize their respective art forms, believing that art could bring about positive social change. The main focus of the book, however, concerns how both also created interior authors - characters who write and who either self-censor their own works or highly publicized messages or are censored by their fellow characters. These fictional authors maybe considered reflections of their creators and their respective milieus and serve to illuminate the satisfactions and torments of each famous author during the writing process.
Marianne Moore and the Archives (Clemson University Press w/ LUP)
by Jeff W. WestoverThe essays that comprise Marianne Moore and the Archives: From Material Culture to the Digital Humanities use new archival research to explore the work of this major American modernist poet, providing innovative approaches to Moore’s career as it is documented in her archives. The volume represents new interpretations of archival materials found at the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia, where Moore’s collection is held. This volume is also the first that draws upon the Marianne Moore Digital Archive (MMDA), a major project that is digitizing, transcribing, and annotating Moore’s notebooks for use by scholars, students, and non-academics to make these materials more widely accessible.
Poet in Place and Time: Critical Essays on Joanne Kyger (Clemson University Press: Beat Studies)
by Mary Paniccia Carden and Jane FalkPoet in Place and Time: Critical Essays on Joanne Kyger provides a much-needed re-evaluation of the work of Joanne Kyger, a remarkably productive poet associated with transformative literary movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Kyger uses time and place to anchor her writing in the present moment (as reflected in the title of her collected poems, About Now), and this collection employs a similar approach to present Kyger to readers who may be less familiar with her work. The essays take readers from her stay in Japan in the 1960s to her return to California and her life in Bolinas from the 1970s on, as well as her travels to places such as Desecheo Island and Mexico. The essays explore Kyger’s poetics through close readings of her poems and journals, as well as through her approach to issues which concerned her throughout her life; these issues include ecology, reinhabitation, the politics of NAFTA, and the War on Terror. Contributors also investigate her relation to feminism, Buddhism, and ecopoetics. Kyger’s connections to various movements in American literature are also emphasized, as well as ways in which she is part of but extends and improvises on the Beat Movement.
Indian Classical Literature: Critical Essays
by Tanmoy Kundu and Ujjwal Kr. PandaThis book critically analyses classical Indian literature and explores the philosophical, literary, and cultural landscapes which have emerged in response to ancient Indian texts. It highlights the relevance of these texts and studies and how they have come to influence modern Indian literature in various ways. The authors look at classical literature both as a theoretical premise that primarily seeks to develop new knowledge and as a sphere of serious modern/postmodern critical attention. The volume features essays on key texts including Abhijnanasakuntalam, The Cilappatikaram: A Tale of An Anklet, Mrichchakatika, Panchatantra, and Mahabharata.A useful guide to ancient Indian texts, the book will be indispensable for students and researchers of mythology and classical literature, literary and critical theory, Indian literature, Sanskrit studies, and South Asian studies.
Colloquial Yiddish (Colloquial Series)
by Lily KahnSpecially written by an experienced teacher, Colloquial Yiddish offers a step-by-step approach to Yiddish as it is spoken and written today.Colloquial Yiddish provides the first widely available, easily accessible, comprehensive Yiddish course designed primarily for the twenty-first-century international English-speaking independent learner and suitable for use in Yiddish classes worldwide.Each unit presents numerous grammatical points that are reinforced with a wide range of exercises for regular practice. A full answer key can be found at the back as well as useful vocabulary summaries throughout.Key features include: graded development of speaking, listening, reading and writing skills realistic and entertaining dialogues jargon-free and clearly structured grammatical explanations a range of dynamic and appropriate supporting exercises supplementary texts presenting many of the most significant and relevant aspects of Yiddish culture. By the end of this rewarding course you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in Yiddish in a broad range of situations.Course components:The complete course comprises the book and audio materials. These are available to purchase separately in paperback, ebook, CD and MP3 format. The paperback and CDs can also be purchased together in the great-value Colloquials pack. Paperback: 978-0-415-58019-9 (please note this does not include the audio)CDs: 978-0-415-58020-5eBook: 978-0-203-85120-3 (please note this does not include the audio, available to purchase from http://ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/audio_viewbooks.aspx)MP3s: 978-0-415-58021-2 (available to purchase from http://ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/audio_viewbooks.aspx)Pack: 978-0-415-58022-9 (paperback and CDs)
Arguments and Reason-Giving
by Matthew W. McKeonArguments help us to give reasons for things. We use them to advance reasons for their conclusions in order to explain why we believe or did something, to justify our beliefs or actions, and to persuade others to do or to believe something. In Arguments and Reason-Giving, philosopher Matthew W. McKeon addresses the uses of arguments to advance their premises as reasons for believing their conclusions, that is, for believing that their conclusions are true. This book has two parts. In the first part, McKeon develops a conception of reason-giving uses of arguments that aims to deepen our understanding of the argument-centric dimension of our practices of reason-giving in everyday contexts. Inference claims play a central role in reason-giving uses of arguments. You use an argument to advance its premises as reasons for believing the conclusion only if you claim that they are such reasons. Taking such reason-giving to be rationally intentional, you believe what you claim. In the second part of the book, McKeon appeals to this conception of reason-giving uses of arguments to shed light on the nature of their persuasive force, the nature of the inferential reasoning that is expressed, argumentative rationality, and intellectual honesty and intellectual integrity. The notions of inference claims, reasons for belief, and reflective inferences provide the conceptual framework for the book's engagement with reason-giving uses of arguments and rational persuasion, argumentative rationality, and intellectual honesty and integrity.
Feeling Singular: Queer Masculinities in the Early United States
by Ben BascomMuch of U.S. cultural production since the twentieth century has celebrated the figure of the singular individual, from the lonesome Huckleberry Finn to the cinematic loners John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, but that tradition casts a backward shadow that prohibits seeing how the singular in America was previously marked as unwanted, outcast, excessive, or weird. Feeling Singular: Queer Masculinities in the Early United States examines the paradoxical nature of masculine self-promotion and individuality in the early United States. Through a collection of singular life narratives, author Ben Bascom draws on a queer studies approach that uncovers how fraught private desires shaped a public masculinity increasingly at odds with the disinterested norms of republican public culture. In telling the stories of excessive American masculinities, Feeling Singular presents the Early Republic of the United States as a queer and messy world of social outcasts and eccentric personalities all vying--and in spectacular ways failing--for public attention. These figures include John Fitch (1743-1798), a struggling working-class mechanic; Jeffrey Brace (1742-1827), a formerly enslaved Black Revolutionary War veteran; Timothy Dexter (1747-1806), a self-declared "Lord" who secured a fortune through a risky venture in bedpans and whalebone corsets; Jonathan Plummer (1761-1819), an itinerant peddler and preacher; and William "Amos" Wilson (1762-1821), a reclusive stonecutter who became popularly known as "the Pennsylvania Hermit." Despite leaving behind copious manuscripts and printed autobiographies, they dwindled instead into cultural insignificance, failing to achieve what scholars have called the hallmarks of "republican masculinity." Through closely reading a range of texts--from manuscripts to hastily printed books, and from phonetically spelled pamphlets to sexually explicit broadsides--Bascom uses the language of queer studies to understand what made someone singular in the early United States and how that singularity points at the ruptures in social codes that get normalized through historical analysis. Departing from the likes of Benjamin Franklin, whom tradition positions as a paragon of self-production, this book offers instead typologies of the failed inventor, the tragic outsider, the flamboyant pretender, the farcical exhorter, and the disaffected exile.
Silent Film and the Formations of U.S. Literary Culture: Literature in Motion
by Sarah Gleeson-WhiteSilent Film and the Formations of U.S. Literary Culture: Literature in Motion argues that the emergence of motion pictures constituted a defining moment in U.S. literary history. Author Sarah Gleeson-White discovers what happened to literary culture-both popular and higher-brow?when inserted into the spectacular world of motion pictures during the early decades of the twentieth century. How did literary culture respond to, and how was it altered by, the development of motion pictures, literature's exemplar and rival in narrative realism and enthrallment? Gleeson-White draws on extensive archival film and literary materials, and unearths a range of collaborative, cross-media expressive and industrial practices to reveal the manifold ways in which early-twentieth-century literary culture sought both to harness and temper the reach of motion pictures.
Arguments and Reason-Giving
by Matthew W. McKeonArguments help us to give reasons for things. We use them to advance reasons for their conclusions in order to explain why we believe or did something, to justify our beliefs or actions, and to persuade others to do or to believe something. In Arguments and Reason-Giving, philosopher Matthew W. McKeon addresses the uses of arguments to advance their premises as reasons for believing their conclusions, that is, for believing that their conclusions are true. This book has two parts. In the first part, McKeon develops a conception of reason-giving uses of arguments that aims to deepen our understanding of the argument-centric dimension of our practices of reason-giving in everyday contexts. Inference claims play a central role in reason-giving uses of arguments. You use an argument to advance its premises as reasons for believing the conclusion only if you claim that they are such reasons. Taking such reason-giving to be rationally intentional, you believe what you claim. In the second part of the book, McKeon appeals to this conception of reason-giving uses of arguments to shed light on the nature of their persuasive force, the nature of the inferential reasoning that is expressed, argumentative rationality, and intellectual honesty and intellectual integrity. The notions of inference claims, reasons for belief, and reflective inferences provide the conceptual framework for the book's engagement with reason-giving uses of arguments and rational persuasion, argumentative rationality, and intellectual honesty and integrity.
Between the Lines: A Philosophy of Theatre
by Michael Y. BennettIn Between the Lines: A Philosophy of Theatre, theatre theorist, Michael Y. Bennett offers a systematic account of theatre--thinking about theatre metaphysically, epistemologically, and ethically. To investigate theatre and its in-between spaces, Bennett introduces some basic ideas about coherence and correspondence and, much more prominently, conversations surrounding subsumption and distinctness in order to better describe theatre as a form of art. Instead of limiting the concept and use of subsumption to suggest that constituent parts are subsumed within a distinct whole, Bennett broadens the concept to claim that many of the properties of a theatrical character and/or a theatrical world are subsumed within the text. Unlike some forms of literary fiction in which a narrator describes the properties of characters in general terms, theatre (particularly for the theatregoer) is largely devoid of distinct properties attributed to theatrical characters. Outside of the fact that theatrical characters speak and perform actions during the time of the play, there are little-to-no specified properties regarding theatrical characters and/or theatrical worlds. In thinking about the conceptual empty spaces of theatre, Bennett investigates three main topics: theatre as an art form, the properties of theatrical characters and theatrical worlds, and the difference between truth and truthfulness in the theatre.
Silent Film and the Formations of U.S. Literary Culture: Literature in Motion
by Sarah Gleeson-WhiteSilent Film and the Formations of U.S. Literary Culture: Literature in Motion argues that the emergence of motion pictures constituted a defining moment in U.S. literary history. Author Sarah Gleeson-White discovers what happened to literary culture-both popular and higher-brow?when inserted into the spectacular world of motion pictures during the early decades of the twentieth century. How did literary culture respond to, and how was it altered by, the development of motion pictures, literature's exemplar and rival in narrative realism and enthrallment? Gleeson-White draws on extensive archival film and literary materials, and unearths a range of collaborative, cross-media expressive and industrial practices to reveal the manifold ways in which early-twentieth-century literary culture sought both to harness and temper the reach of motion pictures.
Between the Lines: A Philosophy of Theatre
by Michael Y. BennettIn Between the Lines: A Philosophy of Theatre, theatre theorist, Michael Y. Bennett offers a systematic account of theatre--thinking about theatre metaphysically, epistemologically, and ethically. To investigate theatre and its in-between spaces, Bennett introduces some basic ideas about coherence and correspondence and, much more prominently, conversations surrounding subsumption and distinctness in order to better describe theatre as a form of art. Instead of limiting the concept and use of subsumption to suggest that constituent parts are subsumed within a distinct whole, Bennett broadens the concept to claim that many of the properties of a theatrical character and/or a theatrical world are subsumed within the text. Unlike some forms of literary fiction in which a narrator describes the properties of characters in general terms, theatre (particularly for the theatregoer) is largely devoid of distinct properties attributed to theatrical characters. Outside of the fact that theatrical characters speak and perform actions during the time of the play, there are little-to-no specified properties regarding theatrical characters and/or theatrical worlds. In thinking about the conceptual empty spaces of theatre, Bennett investigates three main topics: theatre as an art form, the properties of theatrical characters and theatrical worlds, and the difference between truth and truthfulness in the theatre.
American Aurora: Environment and Apocalypse in the Life of Johannes Kelpius (Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism)
by Timothy Grieve-CarlsonAmerican Aurora explores the impact of climate change on early modern radical religious groups during the height of the Little Ice Age in the seventeenth century. Focusing on the life and legacy of Johannes Kelpius (1667-1707), an enormously influential but comprehensively misunderstood theologian who settled outside of Philadelphia from 1604 to 1707, Timothy Grieve-Carlson explores the Hermetic and alchemical dimensions of Kelpius's Christianity before turning to his legacy in American religion and literature. This engaging analysis showcases Kelpius's forgotten theological intricacies, spiritual revelations, and cosmic observations, illuminating the complexity and foresight of an important colonial mystic. As radical Protestants during Kelpius's lifetime struggled to understand their changing climate and a seemingly eschatological cosmos, esoteric texts became crucial sources of meaning. Grieve-Carlson presents original translations of Kelpius's university writings, which have never been published in English, along with analyses and translations of other important sources from the period in German and Latin. Ultimately, American Aurora points toward a time and place when climate change caused an eruption of esoteric thought and practice-and how this moment has been largely forgotten.
American Aurora: Environment and Apocalypse in the Life of Johannes Kelpius (Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism)
by Timothy Grieve-CarlsonAmerican Aurora explores the impact of climate change on early modern radical religious groups during the height of the Little Ice Age in the seventeenth century. Focusing on the life and legacy of Johannes Kelpius (1667-1707), an enormously influential but comprehensively misunderstood theologian who settled outside of Philadelphia from 1604 to 1707, Timothy Grieve-Carlson explores the Hermetic and alchemical dimensions of Kelpius's Christianity before turning to his legacy in American religion and literature. This engaging analysis showcases Kelpius's forgotten theological intricacies, spiritual revelations, and cosmic observations, illuminating the complexity and foresight of an important colonial mystic. As radical Protestants during Kelpius's lifetime struggled to understand their changing climate and a seemingly eschatological cosmos, esoteric texts became crucial sources of meaning. Grieve-Carlson presents original translations of Kelpius's university writings, which have never been published in English, along with analyses and translations of other important sources from the period in German and Latin. Ultimately, American Aurora points toward a time and place when climate change caused an eruption of esoteric thought and practice-and how this moment has been largely forgotten.
Same-Sex Desire and the Environment in Norwegian Literature, 1908–1979
by Per Esben SvelstadThis book explores how ideas of nature and the nonhuman play an important part in literary depictions of same-sex desire in twentieth-century Norwegian literature. Critically probing dichotomies such as pastoral/urban and human/animal, the chapters show how literary fiction constructs, represents, and interprets experiences of same-sex love and attraction, traditionally conceived as “unnatural.” Providing in-depth studies of a variety of texts, this book demonstrates the merits of bridging the gap between the “de-naturalizing” project of gender and queer theory on the one hand, and, on the other, the ecocritical centering of material, nonhuman environments.
The Routledge International Handbook of Positioning Theory (Routledge International Handbooks)
by Luk Van Langenhove Cynthia H. Brock Mary B. McVee Bo Allesøe ChristensenThis handbook is the first of its kind to explore Positioning Theory. Taking inspiration from the groundwork set by Rom Harré and collaborators such as Bronwyn Davies, Fathali Moghaddam, Luk Van Langenhove, and others the book explores the emergence, historical context, and disciplinary applications of Positioning Theory and its basic precepts as a social psychological theory.This volume encompasses over 20 chapters across four sections, assimilating cross-disciplinary insights that try to understand the theoretical underpinnings, methodological applications, and contemporary relevance of Positioning Theory. Part 1 explores the movement of scholarly figures and their numerous works on the subject. It discusses the foundational origins and the historical contexts of the existing theories on positioning and new directions for scholarship. Part 2 examines the methodological and narrative investigations used for data analysis in positioning research, navigating through the epistemological orientations and theoretical landscapes of Positioning Theory. Part 3 explores numerous applications across disciplines to consider the reach and influence of positioning within and across multiple disciplines. Lastly, the authors contemplate the future directions for Positioning Theory.Featuring researchers from leading research institutions from across the globe, the book is important reading for scholars interested in positioning and Positioning Theory. We recommend this handbook for graduate-level courses in social psychology, communication, discourse studies and related disciplines.
The Routledge International Handbook of Positioning Theory (Routledge International Handbooks)
This handbook is the first of its kind to explore Positioning Theory. Taking inspiration from the groundwork set by Rom Harré and collaborators such as Bronwyn Davies, Fathali Moghaddam, Luk Van Langenhove, and others the book explores the emergence, historical context, and disciplinary applications of Positioning Theory and its basic precepts as a social psychological theory.This volume encompasses over 20 chapters across four sections, assimilating cross-disciplinary insights that try to understand the theoretical underpinnings, methodological applications, and contemporary relevance of Positioning Theory. Part 1 explores the movement of scholarly figures and their numerous works on the subject. It discusses the foundational origins and the historical contexts of the existing theories on positioning and new directions for scholarship. Part 2 examines the methodological and narrative investigations used for data analysis in positioning research, navigating through the epistemological orientations and theoretical landscapes of Positioning Theory. Part 3 explores numerous applications across disciplines to consider the reach and influence of positioning within and across multiple disciplines. Lastly, the authors contemplate the future directions for Positioning Theory.Featuring researchers from leading research institutions from across the globe, the book is important reading for scholars interested in positioning and Positioning Theory. We recommend this handbook for graduate-level courses in social psychology, communication, discourse studies and related disciplines.
Dangerous Jokes: How Racism and Sexism Weaponize Humor
by Claire HoriskPeople often get away with belittling others if they frame their speech as jokes-speech that would be condemned if stated seriously. "It's just a joke," they say. But what is different or special about joking? And if jokes about lawyers and politicians are morally acceptable, then what is wrong with joking about race or gender? Furthermore, if we may joke about a politician's shirts, may we joke about his weight? People who are targeted by demeaning jokes feel their impact but may not be able to pinpoint where the harm lies. Dangerous Jokes develops a novel, well-researched, and compelling argument that lays bare the power of demeaning jokes in ordinary conversations. Claire Horisk draws on her expertise in philosophy of language and on evidence from sociology, law and cognitive science to explain how the element of humor-so often used as a defence-makes jokes more potent than regular speech in communicating prejudice and reinforcing social hierarchies. She addresses the morality of telling, being amused by, and laughing at, derogatory jokes, and she gives a new account of listening that addresses the morality of listening to demeaning speech. She leaves us with no illusions about whether "it's just a joke" is an excuse for demeaning humor.
Dangerous Jokes: How Racism and Sexism Weaponize Humor
by Claire HoriskPeople often get away with belittling others if they frame their speech as jokes-speech that would be condemned if stated seriously. "It's just a joke," they say. But what is different or special about joking? And if jokes about lawyers and politicians are morally acceptable, then what is wrong with joking about race or gender? Furthermore, if we may joke about a politician's shirts, may we joke about his weight? People who are targeted by demeaning jokes feel their impact but may not be able to pinpoint where the harm lies. Dangerous Jokes develops a novel, well-researched, and compelling argument that lays bare the power of demeaning jokes in ordinary conversations. Claire Horisk draws on her expertise in philosophy of language and on evidence from sociology, law and cognitive science to explain how the element of humor-so often used as a defence-makes jokes more potent than regular speech in communicating prejudice and reinforcing social hierarchies. She addresses the morality of telling, being amused by, and laughing at, derogatory jokes, and she gives a new account of listening that addresses the morality of listening to demeaning speech. She leaves us with no illusions about whether "it's just a joke" is an excuse for demeaning humor.
The Invention of Angela Carter: A Biography
by Edmund GordonWidely acknowledged as one of the most important English writers of the last century, Angela Carter's work stands out for its bawdiness and linguistic zest, its hospitality to the fantastical and the absurd, and its extraordinary inventiveness and range. Her life was as vigorously modern and unconventional as anything in her fiction. This is the story of how Angela Carter invented herself - as a new kind of woman and a new kind of writer - and how she came to write such seductive and distinctive masterworks as The Bloody Chamber, Nights at the Circus, and Wise Children. Because its subject so powerfully embodied the spirit of the times, the book also provides a fresh perspective on Britain's social and cultural history in the second half of the twentieth century. It examines such topics as the 1960s counterculture, the social and imaginative conditions of the nuclear age, and the advent of second wave feminism. Author Edmund Gordon has followed in Angela Carter's footsteps - travelling to the places she lived in Britain, Japan, and the USA - to uncover a life rich in adventure and incident. With unrestricted access to her manuscripts, letters, and journals, and informed by interviews with Carter's friends and family, Gordon offers an unrivalled portrait of one of the twentieth century's most dazzlingly original writers. This sharply written narrative will be the definitive biography for years to come.
Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children's Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books
by Philip NelRacism is resilient, duplicitous, and endlessly adaptable, so it is no surprise that America is again in a period of civil rights activism. A significant reason racism endures is because it is structural: it's embedded in culture and in institutions. One of the places that racism hides-and thus perhaps the best place to oppose it-is books for young people. Was the Cat in the Hat Black? presents five serious critiques of the history and current state of children's literature tempestuous relationship with both implicit and explicit forms of racism. The book fearlessly examines topics both vivid-such as The Cat in the Hat's roots in blackface minstrelsy-and more opaque, like how the children's book industry can perpetuate structural racism via whitewashed covers even while making efforts to increase diversity. Rooted in research yet written with a lively, crackling touch, Nel delves into years of literary criticism and recent sociological data in order to show a better way forward. Though much of what is proposed here could be endlessly argued, the knowledge that what we learn in childhood imparts both subtle and explicit lessons about whose lives matter is not debatable. The text concludes with a short and stark proposal of actions everyone-reader, author, publisher, scholar, citizen- can take to fight the biases and prejudices that infect children's literature. While Was the Cat in the Hat Black? does not assume it has all the answers to such a deeply systemic problem, its audacity should stimulate discussion and activism.