This book begins in a narrow territory, strictly Western, and extends with the passage of time to include the poetry, plays, novels, and works of speculation of the great authors of the past and present from Russia to Mexico. his objective is to tell the whole story of Western writing in languages other than English from the twelfth-century Chanson de Roland to Evtushenko's poetry of the 1960s. Cohen not only presents a factual account of historical growth. The book reflects the author's own judgments and valuations, arrived at in the course of almost forty years' reading in the main European languages. A work of original critism, A History of Western Literature immediately became a standard reference when first published. In this new edition, the author has included revisions covering the most important recent writers and their work. "Especially for American or British readers who want to explore under sensible guidance the main lines of Western letters, this carefully wrought handbook is indispensable."--Library Journal. "Considering Mr. Cohen's vast scope, his achievement is commendable. The information he presents is accurate. His style is surprisingly readable...."--Modern Language Journal. J. M. Cohen (1903-1989) was a widely known critic and a translator of French and Spanish literature. He was born in London and graduated from Cambridge University. His versions of Don Quixote, Gargantua and Pantagruel, and Rousseau's Confessions are recognized as among the finest modern translations.

Walter Cohen argues that the history of European literature and each of its standard periods can be illuminated by comparative consideration of the different literary languages within Europe and by the ties of European literature to world literature. World literature is marked by recurrent, systematic features, outcomes of the way that language and literature are at once the products of major change and its agents. Cohen tracks these features from ancient times to the present, distinguishing five main overlapping stages. Within that framework, he shows that European literatures ongoing internal and external relationships are most visible at the level of form rather than of thematic statement or mimetic representation. European literature emerges from world literature before the birth of Europe — during antiquity, whose Classical languages are the heirs to the complex heritage of Afro-Eurasia. This legacy is later transmitted by Latin to the various vernaculars. The uniqueness of the process lies in the gradual displacement of the learned language by the vernacular, long dominated by Romance literatures. That development subsequently informs the second crucial differentiating dimension of European literature: the multicontinental expansion of its languages and characteristic genres, especially the novel, beginning in the Renaissance. This expansion ultimately results in the reintegration of European literature into world literature and thus in the creation of todays global literary system. The distinctiveness of European literature is to be found in these interrelated trajectories.

"Many fictional works have real, historical authors as characters. Great national literary icons like Virgil and Shakespeare have been fictionalized in novels, plays, poems, movies, and operas. This fashion might seem typically postmodern, the reverse side of the contention that the Author is Dead; but this collection of essays shows that the representation of historical authors as characters can boast of a considerable history, and may well constitute a genre in its own right. This volume brings together a collection of articles on appropriations of historical authors, written by experts in a wide range of major Western literatures."--BOOK JACKET.

In works of Western literature ranging from Homer’s Odyssey to Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? the giving and taking of hospitality is sometimes pleasurable, but more often perilous. Heffernan traces this leitmotiv through the history of our greatest writings, including Christ’s Last Supper, Macbeth’s murder of his royal guest, and Camus’s short story on French colonialism in Arab Algeria. By means of such examples and many more, this book considers what literary hosts, hostesses, and guests do to as well as for each other. In doing so, it shows how often treachery rends the fabric of trust that hospitality weaves.

Important essays from one of the giants of literary criticism, including a dozen published here in English for the first time Erich Auerbach (1892-1957), best known for his classic literary study Mimesis, is celebrated today as a founder of comparative literature, a forerunner of secular criticism, and a prophet of global literary studies. Yet the true depth of Auerbach's thinking and writing remains unplumbed. Time, History, and Literature presents a wide selection of Auerbach's essays, many of which are little known outside the German-speaking world. Of the twenty essays culled for this volume from the full length of his career, twelve have never appeared in English before, and one is being published for the first time. Foregrounded in this major new collection are Auerbach's complex relationship to the Judaeo-Christian tradition, his philosophy of time and history, and his theory of human ethics and responsible action. Auerbach effectively charts out the difficult discovery, in the wake of Christianity, of the sensuous, the earthly, and the human and social worlds. A number of the essays reflect Auerbach's responses to an increasingly hostile National Socialist environment. These writings offer a challenging model of intellectual engagement, one that remains as compelling today as it was in Auerbach's own time.

Literature as History represents a unique way to rethink history. Mario T. García, a leader in the field of Chicano history and one of the foremost historians of his generation, explores how Chicano historians can use Chicano and Latino literature as important historical sources.

Are you ready for a journey back in time? Let's discover the authors and writings from the foundation of Western Literature, as well as reading some great historical fiction and fairy tales. The foundations of Western Literature include Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and modern works. Starting with the Book of Genesis from the HOLY BIBLE, we will time travel through history by reading classic literature that has stood the test of time from Creation to the Middle Ages. Writing assignments help students to present ideas and information in an engaging way through sentences, paragraphs, paraphrases, thesis statements, essays, blog posts, paraphrases, and writing their own fairy tale. Use this course in a book club, family, or co-op setting. You will need to purchase the following books: The Book of Genesis from THE HOLY BIBLE (can be downloaded free online) Adam and His Kin by Ruth Beechick Hittite Warrior by Joann Williamson The Iliad for Boys & Girls by A.J. Church (both can be downloaded free online) The Odyssey for Boys & Girls by A.J. Church (both can be downloaded free online) Aesop's Fables by Aesop (can be downloaded free online) The Aeneid for Boys & Girls by A.J. Church (both can be downloaded free online) The Gospel of Matthew from THE HOLY BIBLE (can be downloaded free online) Lantern Bearer by Rosemary Sutcliff The Book of Acts from THE HOLY BIBLE (can be downloaded free online) Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Willard Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard City of God by St. Augustine (can be downloaded free online) The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (can be downloaded free online) Tales from the Arabian Nights (can be downloaded free online) Grimm's Fairy Tales compiled by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (can be downloaded free online) Collection Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen (can be downloaded free online) D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths by Ingri D'Aulaire & Edgar Parin D'aulaire The Following Writings are Included in this Foundations of Western Literature Book The Holy Bible: "David & Goliath," "Prodigal Son," & "The Sower and the Seed"

Professors, students, and anyone who loves to read will want this fascinating and attractive volume. Beginning with great works from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, this literary timeline gallops from Mesopotamian pictograms and Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic to Renaissance and Baroque masterworks by Machiavelli and Moli�re, and on to modernism. Along the way, it presents the birth of the novel, Gothic chills, Thomas Paine’s rabble-rousing, as well as landmark French and Russian authors, Emerson’s essays, and the first detective story by Poe. Victoriana, the Aesthetic Movement, Utopian Literature, and Naturalism make their appearance, all the way up to today’s Tom Stoppard and Tony Kushner. There’s a detailed introduction, plus color-coding to show whether a work is poetry, fiction, non-fiction, or drama.

In the continuing redefinition of the American West, few recent writers have left a mark as indelible as Cormac McCarthy. A favorite subject of critics and fans alike despite--or perhaps because of--his avoidance of public appearances, the man is known solely through his writing. Thanks to his early work, he is most often associated with a bleak vision of humanity grounded in a belief in man's primordial aggressiveness. McCarthy scholar Barcley Owens has written the first book to concentrate exclusively on McCarthy's acclaimed western novels: Blood Meridian, National Book Award winner All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain. In a thought-provoking analysis, he explores the differences between Blood Meridian and the Border Trilogy novels and shows how those differences reflect changing conditions in contemporary American culture. Owens captures both Blood Meridian's wanton violence and the Border Trilogy's fond remembrance of the Old West. He shows how this dramatic shift from atavistic brutality to nostalgic Americana suggests that McCarthy has finally given his readers what they most want--the stuff of their mythic dreams. Owens's study is both an incisive look at one of our most important and demanding authors and a penetrating analysis of violence and myth in American culture. Fans of McCarthy's work will find much to consider for ongoing discussions of this influential body of work.