Epic traditions in the contemporary world. The poetics of community
Editorial UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Mainland Spain
- Publisher UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
- ISBN13 9780520210387
- ISBN10 0520210387
- Type BOOK
- Pages 314
- Published 1998
- Bookbinding Rustic
Subjects
Literary TheoryEpic traditions in the contemporary world. The poetics of community
Editorial UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Mainland Spain
Book details
The epic tradition has been part of many different cultures throughout human history. This noteworthy collection of essays provides a comparative reassessment of epic and its role in the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds, as it explores the variety of contemporary approaches to the epic genre. Employing theoretical perspectives drawn from anthropology, literary studies, and gender studies, the authors examine familiar and less well known oral and literary traditionsancient Greek and Latin, Arabic, South Slavic, Indian, Native American, Italian, English, and Caribbeandemonstrating the continuing vitality of the epic tradition. Juxtaposing work on the traditional canon of western epics with scholarship on contemporary epics from various parts of the world, these essays cross the divide between oral and literary forms that has long marked the approach to the genre. With its focus on the links among narrative, politics, and performance, the collection creates a new dialogue illustrating the sociopolitical significance of the epic tradition. Taken together, the essays raise compelling new issues for the study of epic, as they examine concerns such as national identity, ger, pedagogy, and the creation of the canon.
Author Biography: Margaret Beissingender is Lecturer in Slavic Languages; Jane Tylus is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature; and Susanne Wofford is Associate Professor of English. All are affiliated with the University of Wisconsin, Madison.