Reconceiving the Renaissance

by Fernie, Ewan; Wray, Ramona; Thornton Burnett, Mark; McManus, Clare

• ISBN13: 9780199265572
• ISBN10: 0199265577
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-06-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The last two decades have transformed the field of Renaissance studies, and Reconceiving the Renaissance: A Critical Reader maps this difficult terrain. Attending to the breadth of fresh approaches, the volume offers a theoretical overview of current thinking about the period. Collecting in one volume the classic and cutting-edge statements which define early modern scholarship as it is now practised, this book is a one-stop indispensable resource for undergraduates and beginning postgraduates alike. Through a rich array of arguments by the world's leading experts, theRenaissance emerges wonderfully invigorated, while the suggestive shorter extracts, topical questions and engaged editorial introductions give students the wherewithal and encouragement to do some reconceiving themselves.

Author Biography

Ewan Fernie is Lecturer in English at Royal Holloway, University of London. Ramona Wray is Lecturer at the School of English, Queen's University, Belfast. Mark Thornton Burnett is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen's University, Belfast. Clare McManus is Lecturer at the School of English, Queen's University, Belfast.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	xi
General Introduction: Reconceiving the Renaissance	1	(12)
Ewan Fernie
Ramona Wray
Textuality	13	(72)
Ramona Wray
The book as material object	16	(16)
Understanding the meanings of `authorship' in the Renaissance	32	(9)
Rethinking the notion of a single, stable text	41	(11)
The politics of editing Shakespeare	52	(11)
New editorial strategies	63	(22)
Suggested further reading	71	(1)
Notes	71	(12)
References	83	(2)
Histories	85	(60)
Mark Thornton Burnett
Ramona Wray
Theorizing the relationship between text and history	87	(11)
Historicizing the Renaissance literary text	98	(14)
Historicizing beyond `literary' boundaries	112	(14)
Broadening the material perspective	126	(19)
Suggested further reading	133	(1)
Notes	134	(9)
References	143	(2)
Appropriation	145	(66)
Mark Thornton Burnett
The relationship between an `original' and appropriation	147	(8)
Shakespeare, the `Renaissance' and cultural value	155	(17)
The politics of appropriation	172	(18)
International appropriation	190	(12)
The impact of new media and the end of the `Shakesperean'	202	(9)
Suggested further reading	204	(1)
Notes	204	(5)
References	209	(2)
Identities	211	(67)
Clare McManus
Language, the self and identity	214	(11)
Theorizing the other	225	(27)
Centres and margins	252	(11)
The limits of the human	263	(15)
Suggested further reading	267	(1)
Notes	267	(9)
References	276	(2)
Materiality	278	(75)
Ewan Fernie
Clare McManus
Rematerializing the subject: the body in history	282	(12)
Theorizing the body: text and ideology	294	(16)
Theorizing the body: desire and transformation	310	(15)
Theorizing material culture	325	(28)
Suggested further reading	339	(1)
Notes	339	(13)
References	352	(1)
Values	353	(70)
Ewan Fernie
Reflections on literary value	356	(13)
Deconstructing literature and literary value	369	(8)
Reading the subversive potential of texts	377	(11)
A new aestheticism?	388	(8)
Ethics of the other	396	(8)
Qualifying recent theory	404	(19)
Suggested further reading	408	(1)
Notes	408	(10)
References	418	(5)
Acknowledgements of Sources	423	(6)
Index	429