Published in 2003 and containing discussions of literary works up to 2002, this is a unique venture in the area of literary history. The book attempts to render more accessible the vast jungle of literary works normally discussed under the headings 'British”, 'Irish” and 'American”. Discussing outstanding writings in prose, poetry, drama and nonfiction, this literary history covers the time from the Anglo-Saxon period to the postmodernism of the 21st century while giving the reader a sense of what is still worth reading. Special attention has been given to literary works published after 1900 and featuring on today’s academic syllabus.
The major innovative feature, however, is the integration of visual material in this book. In addition to the 160 pictures complementing the text, the CD-ROM attached to each copy contains, besides the entire text stored electronically, 460 illustrations, including the pictures printed in the book (here many in colour). This feature gives the reader an excellent idea of the symbiosis between visual and verbal representations and the undeniable debt of literature to art in all the periods discussed in this book.
Presenting brief discussions of both the great works of highbrow literature and representative writings of the popular canon, this literary history thus provides surveys of what students are told to read by academic critics and of what the post-capitalist market offers by way of entertainment in an alternative canon.
Innovative features include the following:
- in addition to the major genres, discussions of non-fictional works (literary criticism, theory, travel writing, historiography, social sciences) and contemporary popular genres (crime fiction, science fiction, fantasy, children's literature, the Western, horror fiction);
- an appendix with a detailed bibliography containing suggestions for further reading, a glossary of literary terms, chronological tables for British/Anglo-Irish and American literatures, and an index;
- a CD-ROM with the entire text and 460 illustrations.
The major innovative feature, however, is the integration of visual material in this book. In addition to the 160 pictures complementing the text, the CD-ROM attached to each copy contains, besides the entire text stored electronically, 460 illustrations, including the pictures printed in the book (here many in colour). This feature gives the reader an excellent idea of the symbiosis between visual and verbal representations and the undeniable debt of literature to art in all the periods discussed in this book.
Presenting brief discussions of both the great works of highbrow literature and representative writings of the popular canon, this literary history thus provides surveys of what students are told to read by academic critics and of what the post-capitalist market offers by way of entertainment in an alternative canon.
Innovative features include the following:
- in addition to the major genres, discussions of non-fictional works (literary criticism, theory, travel writing, historiography, social sciences) and contemporary popular genres (crime fiction, science fiction, fantasy, children's literature, the Western, horror fiction);
- an appendix with a detailed bibliography containing suggestions for further reading, a glossary of literary terms, chronological tables for British/Anglo-Irish and American literatures, and an index;
- a CD-ROM with the entire text and 460 illustrations.