Henry Miller, the Modern Rabelais: 8 (Studies in Comparative Literature S.) - Hardcover

Parkin, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0889466289 ISBN 13: 9780889466289

Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press Ltd, 1991

Synopsis

This text reassesses the literary relationship linking Henry Miller and Francois Rabelais in terms of readings, imitations, and analogies. It uses a Bakhtinian approach to explore how Miller, as a 20th-century anarchist and rebel, could realize his kinship with Rabelais, a 16th-century humanist and Christian. The various avenues explored include lexical richness, conviviality, laughter, the grotesque, scenes of carnival, and the notions of freedom and self-transcendence. Despite the negative side of Miller's work, thought, and artistic vision, of which obscenity, nihilism, and despair form clear elements, Miller's personality exudes a fundamentally positive spirit based on friendship, trust, and mutual respect, all of which can be seen as elements in the Rabelaisian philosophy of Pantagruelisme.

About this edition

• Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press Ltd
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0889466289
• ISBN 13: 9780889466289
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 292