Sounding the Classics: From Sophocles to Thomas Mann: 83 (Contributions to the Study of World Literature) - Softcover

Rudolph Binion

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0275959651 ISBN 13: 9780275959654

Publisher: Praeger (UK), 1997

Synopsis

This book is a comparative study of 12 works of fiction broadly representative of the Western canon. Its aim is to discover what gives these 12 works their lasting appeal and vitality over and beyond their formal qualities. It focuses on the interplay of text and subtext within each work after defining these terms at the outset. It then compares its 12 sample classics systematically in a conclusion that argues from the works themselves to classics in general.

Binion's key finding is that for a piece of fiction to feel deep, whole, and great, as classics do, its text must be underpinned from start to finish by a subtext, or alternative reading, which calls that text itself into question. A book for scholar, student and educated public alike, no serious reader will be able to consider what makes a classic without reference to this work.

About this title

About the Author

RUDOLPH BINION is Leff Professor of History at Brandeis University. He is the author of numerous works including Hitler Among the Germans (1979) and Love Beyond Death (1993).

Edition details

• Publisher: Praeger (UK)
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0275959651
• ISBN 13: 9780275959654
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176