What happened to beauty? How did the university literature classroom turn into a seminar on politics? Focusing on such writers as Don DeLillo, Virginia Woolf, and James Merrill, this book examines what has been lost to literature as a discipline, and to literary criticism as a practice, as a result of efforts to reduce the aesthetic to the ideological. Green-Lewis and Soltan celebrate the return of beauty as a subject in its own right to literary studies, a return all the more urgent given beauty’s ability to provide not merely consolation but a sense of order and control in the context of a threatening political world.
What Should I Read Next?: 70 University of Virginia Professors Recommend Readings in History, Politics, Literature, Math, Science, Technology, the Art
Even the most well-read among us feel gaps in our knowledge. Former English majors or art students want to understand the monetary system; mathematicians or doctors just want a great novel.
Jewish-American writing holds an essential place in America's literary tradition, and Jewish-American writers have flourished in many genres, including fiction, drama, poetry, and more. "Encyclopedia of Jewish-American Literature" examines hundreds of these authors and works, focusing on those that are part of the high school and college curriculum, as well as the historically significant and contemporary.
Hispanic-American literature has a venerable history and has dramatically increased in importance and popularity in today's literary circles. "Encyclopedia of Hispanic-American Literature" is a comprehensive new encyclopedia covering authors and works that are an integral part of the high school and college literary canon, as well as those that are historically significant and gaining a reputation. This comprehensive one-volume resource contains approximately 250 entries on some of the most popular Hispanic-American authors and their works.
Asian Americans have been writing and publishing since the 19th century, but today the popularity and importance of Asian-American literature is greater than ever. "Encyclopedia of Asian-American Literature", a comprehensive new encyclopedia, traces American writers whose roots are in all parts of Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and more.