Key Concepts in Renaissance Literature

by Hebron, Malcolm; Peck, John; Coyle, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780230507678
• ISBN10: 0230507670
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The volume provides readers with a clear introduction to English Renaissance literary texts. Concise but detailed entries are alphabetically arranged, providing a coherent overview of central issues in the study of writings of the Renaissance era. Cross-referencing and suggestions for further reading indicate connections between topics.

Author Biography

MALCOLM HEBRON teaches English Literature at Winchester College, UK. He is author of Mastering the Language of Literature, and The Medieval Siege (OUP), and writes articles on language and literature for various academic and educational journals.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
General Editor's Preface	p. viii
General Introduction	p. ix
Contexts: History, Politics, Culture	p. 1
Historical Introduction	p. 1
The Book Trade	p. 14
Catholicism	p. 17
Chain of Being	p. 20
The City	p. 25
Cosmos (1): The Old Cosmology (geocentric)	p. 27
Cosmos (2): The New Cosmology (heliocentric)	p. 32
The Court	p. 34
The Courtier	p. 40
Economy and Society	p. 44
The Elements	p. 48
English Reformation	p. 50
Golden Age	p. 55
Humanism	p. 58
Humours	p. 63
Magic (Alchemy, Astrology, Witchcraft)	p. 66
Manuscripts	p. 74
Medicine (Medical Profession, The Mind, Women)	p. 77
Patronage	p. 80
Platonism	p. 83
Printing	p. 87
Protestant Theology	p. 92
Race and Strangers	p. 95
Science, Knowledge and Philosophy	p. 99
The Self	p. 103
Sex and Sexuality	p. 106
Stoicism	p. 110
Travel and Colonialism	p. 112
Women	p. 118
Texts: Themes, Issues, Concepts	p. 124
Introduction	p. 124
Actors and Acting	p. 131
The Bible	p. 133
Conceit	p. 136
Decorum	p. 139
Epic	p. 142
Genre	p. 145
History and the Nation	p. 149
Imitation	p. 152
Logic	p. 156
Lyric	p. 159
Masque	p. 165
Metaphysical Poetry	p. 168
Metre	p. 172
Mimesis	p. 178
Non-Fictional Prose	p. 182
Pastoral	p. 189
Prose Style	p. 194
Rhetoric	p. 200
The Sonnet	p. 204
Theatres	p. 208
Theory of Poetry	p. 214
Criticism: Approaches, Theory, Practice	p. 218
Introduction	p. 218
Cultural Materialism	p. 223
Ecocriticism	p. 230
Feminism	p. 233
Language Criticism: Practical Criticism, Stylistics, Rhetoric	p. 238
New Historicism	p. 244
Textualism	p. 249
Chronology	p. 258
Bibliography	p. 270
Index	p. 278
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