The Novel: Language and Narrative from Cervantes to Calvino - Softcover

Brink, André

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0333684095 ISBN 13: 9780333684092

Publisher: Palgrave, 1998

Synopsis

The Postmodernist novel has become famous for the extremes of its narcissistic involvement with language. In this challenging and wide-ranging new study, Andre Brink argues that this self-consciousness has been a characteristic of the novel since its earliest stirrings. More specifically, every novel appears both to construct, and to be constructed by, its own notion of language, elaborated through all the strategies of narrative. Taking as his starting point 'the propensity for story' embedded in language he offers stimulating new readings of novels from Cervantes to Calvino, demonstrating that in many respects the old familiar texts may be more startingly modern, and the Postmodernist texts more firmly rooted in convention, than we tend to think.

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Review

"A novel in which two 'intellectuals of color'--the narrator, a middle-aged law professor, and his protege, Rodrigo Crenshaw--sit down and hash out the issues of our time. . . Intellectually exuberant"-"Los Angeles Times",

"Richard Delgado is a triple pioneer. He was the first to question free speech ideology; he and a few others invented Critical Race Theory, and he is both a theorist and an exemplar of the importance of story-telling to the workings of the law. This volume brings all of Delgado's strengths together in a stunning performance."-Stanley Fish, author of "There's No Such Thing as Free Speech; and It's a Good Thing, Too"

"An excellent starting place for the national discussion about race we so desperately need."-"The Washington Post Book World",

"A probing, thoughtful explication of the unexamined myths and assumptions that condition so many current U.S. public policy debates."-"Booklist",

About the Author

Andre Brink is Professor of English at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. His novels, including A Dry White Season, Instant in the Wind, An Act of Terror, and Imaginings of Sand, have been published in twenty-nine languages.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0333684095
• ISBN 13: 9780333684092
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384