Humour is rarely seen to raise its indecorous head in the surviving corpus of Old English literature, yet the value of reading that literature with an eye to humour proves considerable when the right questions are asked. Humour in Anglo-Saxon Literature provides the first book-length treatment of the subject. In all new essays, eight scholars employ different approaches to explore humor in such works as Beowulf and The Battle of Maldon, the riddles of the Exeter Book, and Old English saints' lives. An introductory essay provides a survey of the field, while individual essays push towards a distinctive theory of Anglo-Saxon humour. Through its unusual focus, this collection will provide an appealing introduction to both famous and lesser-known works for those new to Old English literature, while those familiar with the usual contours of Old English literary criticism will find here the value of a fresh approach

This is a study of the presence of Greek and Latin in British literature since the Renaissance. While the influence of Greek and Roman literature on British literature has been extensively surveyed, the role of those ancient languages themselves within modern British literature has only begun to be studied.

Have you ever wondered what the phrase “God is dead” means? You’ll find out in Existentialism For Dummies, a handy guide to Nietzsche, Sartre, and Kierkegaard’s favorite philosophy. See how existentialist ideas have influenced everything from film and literature to world events and discover whether or not existentialism is still relevant today.

Contemporary, philosophical, cultural, political and sociological influences have had a crucial impact on the way in which we approach and understand texts. Language, Literature and Critical Practice examines the major consequences of these influences on textual analysis and the role of language within it, and provides an overview of developments in language-centered criticism in the twentieth century.

Using a wide-ranging variety of texts, the author reviews and evaluates an equally wide-ranging variety of approaches to textual commentary, introducing the reader to the fundamental distinction between "actual" and "virtual" words in critical practice and theories of language, and elucidating the critically important practice of how texts mean.