ENGL 1158.101: American Voices: Performing America (Spring 2023): Find Background

11th ed. "For clarity, concision and elegance Abrams has few peers and no superiors; plain spoken but not simplistic, his essays on critical methods are the best short treatments in the business." (Choice)

Contains signed, in-depth overviews of the major schools of literary theory Useful for understanding literary concepts, e.g., Postcolonial Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, Race and Ethnicity, etc.

Arranged in three volumes covering Literary Theory from 1900 to 1966, Literary Theory from 1966 to the present, and Cultural Theory, this encyclopedia provides accessible entries on the important concepts, theorists and trends in post-1900 literary and cultural theory.

Provides new, reconsidered definitions of more than 500 terms mindful of the "changing inflections surrounding their use in contemporary critical discourse." (intro) Ranges from the practical and specific (ottava rima, metyonymy) to the historical and conceptual (Russian formalism, interpretive communities). Indexed.

Illustrates the problems, the concepts, and the methodologies that arise when we discuss literary criticism. Around 180 full-length essays written by international experts discuss the theoretical categories and formal structures; the institutions that support the production, dissemination, interpretation, and valuation of literary texts; the identities of the real and textual persons who interact in the study of texts; and the systematic methodologies of literary interpretation and understanding.

The OED presents in alphabetical series the words that have formed the English vocabulary from the time of the earliest records down to the present day, with all the relevant facts concerning their form, sense-history, pronunciation, and etymology.

4 vols. Contains essays on US poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists. Figures such as Whitman, Melville, and Morrison are discussed in detail and examined in the context of his or her times, with an assessment of the writer's current reputation, a bibliography of major works, and a list of major critical and biographical works about the writer.

A guide to the American stage from its beginnings to the present, the volume includes playwrights, plays, actors, directors, producers, songwriters, famous playhouses, dramatic movements, etc. It covers classic works as well as commercially successful plays, plus entries on foreign figures that have influenced dramatic development in the US. New entries include relevant developments and issues including AIDS in American theatre, theatrical producing by Disney, and the rise in solo performance. (Publisher's description, abridged)

Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on American literature and the American literary tradition over the past 500 years. Includes perspectives on postmodern theory, debates about the canon, slave narratives, comic books, and other topics while inviting trans-disciplinary collaboration with fields as varied as history, cultural studies, politics, and women’s studies. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable.

A revised and updated version of the major reference work for poetry. Compiled by an entirely new team of editors, this first new edition in almost twenty years reflects recent changes in literary and cultural studies, providing up-to-date coverage and giving greater attention to the international aspects of poetry, all while preserving the best of the previous volumes. [publisher]

Traces the development of women's literature in the U.S. from American Indian women's writing to the present day, including coverage of Asian-American, Jewish-American, Latina, and LGBT writers.