Literature, Politics and National Identity: Reformation to Renaissance - Hardcover

Hadfield, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521442079 ISBN 13: 9780521442077

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1994

Synopsis

For many years C. S. Lewis's dismissal of the sixteenth century as a 'drab age' influenced literary scholars. Andrew Hadfield offers a challenging reinterpretation, through study of the work of some of the century's most important writers, including Skelton, Bale, Sidney, Spenser, Baldwin and the Earl of Surrey. He argues that all were involved in the establishment of a vernacular literary tradition as a crucial component of English identity, yet also wished to use the category of 'literature' to create a public space for critical political debate. Conventional assumptions - that pre-modern and modern history are neatly separated by the Renaissance, and that literary history is best studied as an autonomous narrative - are called into question: this book is a study of literary texts, but also a contribution to theories and histories of politics, national identity and culture.

About this title

Book Description

Andrew Hadfield offers a challenging reinterpretation of the sixteenth century through the work of major writers of the time, their involvement in the establishment of a vernacular literary tradition as a crucial component of English identity, and the development of 'literature' as a site of critical and political debate.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0521442079
• ISBN 13: 9780521442077
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 283