Romanticism and the Rise of English - Softcover

Elfenbein, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0804773629 ISBN 13: 9780804773621

Publisher: Stanford University Press, 2010

Synopsis

Named a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2009

Romanticism and the Rise of English addresses a peculiar development in contemporary literary criticism: the disappearance of the history of the English language as a relevant topic. Elfenbein argues for a return not to older modes of criticism, but to questions about the relation between literature and language that have vanished from contemporary investigation. His book is an example of a kind of work that has often been called for but rarely realized―a social philology that takes seriously the formal and institutional forces shaping the production of English. This results not only in a history of English, but also in a recovery of major events shaping English studies as a coherent discipline. This book points to new directions in literary criticism by arguing for the need to reconceptualize authorial agency in light of a broadened understanding of linguistic history.

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Elfenbein is Professor of English at the University of Minnesota, GLBT Scholar in the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and Affiliate Faculty in the Center for Cognitive Sciences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0804773629
• ISBN 13: 9780804773621
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288