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This volume examines the literature and culture of nineteenth-century America, covering genres such as the early American novel, realist fiction and historical romance, short stories and poetry, as well as key debates such as the American landscape, global identity, women's writing and the city, all set against the backdrop of revolution, independence, civil war and consolidation. Texts discussed include: The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Leaves of Graves, The White Heron and selected slave narratives. Author: Rowland Hughes. (376 pages) Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

Exploring the range and diversity of twentieth-century American literature, this volume discusses classic works of drama, prose and poetry, as well as key topics such as the American city, masculinities, race and the American home. Key texts include: Tender is the Night, Light in August, A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island and Long Day's Journey into Night. Author: Andrew Blades. (320 pages) Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

• Analysis of key texts and debates
• Extended commentaries provide further in-depth analysis of individual texts
• Notes contain extra context and explanations of literary terms
• Historical, social and cultural contexts explored in introductory chapters and alongside discussions
• Modern critical theory and perspectives in practice
• Timelines and annotated further reading

The Beat Generation were a revolutionary group of poets, drifters, musicians, and visionaries whose gritty spontaneous prose explored alienation, repression, and what it meant to be a member of the human race in post-WWII American society. Through the iconic personalities of Ginsberg, Kerouac, Corso, and Burroughs, along with women writers, musicians, and artists, this book charts the true significance of the group, revealing how their fresh approach to literature and a bohemian lifestyle created one of the most exciting and important movements in American literature. Half a century after the publication of On the Road, the movement continues to attract new readers. Author: Christopher Gair
Level: Library/Depot/SRP

Contents: 1. Challenging America: Reinventing the arts in the 1940s; 2. The birth of Beat; 3. Beat and the San Francisco renaissance; 4. Jack Kerouac: ‘King of the Beasts’; 5. Other voices; Conclusion: Legacy of the Beat Generation; Bibliography; Index.

Children's literature takes many forms and now includes the latest online games and eBooks. It is related to other areas of literary investigation but also has its own set of concerns. From familiar authors including Beatrix Potter and Roald Dahl, classic books such as Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, and The Secret Garden, to modern works including Harry Potter and the Twilight series, thisVery Short Introduction provides an overview of the history of children's literature as it has developed in English, whilst at the same time introducing key debates, developments, and figures in the field. Raising questions about what shape the future of literature for children should take, it shows that writing for children — whether on page or screen — has shaped ideas about culture, society and childhood. Author: Kimberley Reynolds. (160 pages)
Level: Library/Depot/Interdisciplinary projects etc.

Contents: Introduction: What is children's literature?; 1: An outline history of publishing for children; 2: Why and how are children's books studied?; 3: Transforming the texts of childhood; 4: Genres and generations — and the case of the family story; 5: Visions of the future; 6: Ethical debates in children's literature; Afterword; References; Further Reading

This volume discusses the many ages of Children's Literature, from fairy tales and early didactic literature through to the classics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the modern day. Genres such as realism, fantasy, young adult literature and picture books are examined alongside debates on race, ideology, criticism and the future of Children's Literature. Featuring discussions of key texts such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Swallows and Amazons, The Illustrated Mum, Where the Wild Things Are and The Cat in the Hat. Author: Lucy Pearson. (344 pages) Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

• Analysis of key texts and debates
• Extended commentaries provide further in-depth analysis of individual texts
• Notes contain extra context and explanations of literary terms
• Historical, social and cultural contexts explored in introductory chapters and alongside discussions
• Modern critical theory and perspectives in practice
• Timelines and annotated further reading

An introduction to key critical approaches to literary texts and a practical guide for students developing their own critical and close-reading skills:
This book aims to improve students' understanding of critical concepts and approaches and give them practice in reading critically. It introduces key critical approaches to literary texts, explaining, without jargon, approaches such as: the role of history and context; the links between creativity and criticism; and, the relationship between author, reader and text. There are practical examples, readings, exercises and 'checkpoints' to help students to work on their own readings. A great guide for students who need to develop their reading of literary and critical texts. Author: Neil McCaw. Click on “Flere oplysninger” to see the Table of Contents. (163 pages)
Level: Gymnasiet/A resource for teachers

What is Literary Theory? Is there a relationship between literature and culture? In fact, what is literature, and does it matter? These are the sorts of questions addressed by Jonathan Culler in a book which steers a clear path through a subject which is often perceived to be impenetrable. It offers insights into theories about the nature of language and meaning, whether literature is a form of self-expression or a method of appeal to an audience, and outlines the ideas behind a number of different schools: deconstruction, feminist theory, semiotics, postcolonial theory, and structuralism amongst them.
This new edition takes a look at new material, including the 'death of theory', the links between the theory of narrative and cognitive science, trauma theory, ecocriticism, and includes a new chapter on 'Ethics and aesthetics'. (149 pages)
Level: Library/Depot/Inspiration for all teachers of English literature

Contents: 1. What is theory?; 2. What is Literature and Does it Matter?; 3. Literature and Cultural Studies; 4. Language, Meaning, and Interpretation; 5. Rhetoric, Poetics, and Poetry; 6. Narrative; 7. Performative Language; 8. Identity, Identification, and the Subject; Appendix: Theoretical Schools and Movements; References; Further Reading; Index

Frank Myszor’s excellent introduction to a field that is very important in everyday teaching. Read the whole book or just pick out the bits you need. Contents: 1. Putting Short Stories in their Place (The 19thCentury, Modernism, Contemporary and Post-modern — looks at the individual authors and trends); 2. Approaching the texts (Point of view, Plotting etc.); 3. Stories and extracts; 4. Critical approaches; 5. Resources
A volume in the Contexts in Literature series,
Level: Library/Depot

The period 1890 to 1950 is remarkable for radical innovation and literary development. This Companion looks back to the origins of Modernism and the traditions that shaped it, examining texts from France, America, England and Ireland to provide a stimulating and original take on this unique movement in literary history.

Combining textual analysis with key critical approaches, the book considers central texts such as Eliot’s The Waste Land, Joyce’s The Portrait of the Artist and Lawrence’s Women in Love alongside wider debates on Literature and War, Modernism, Music and the Visual Arts and Modernism and its Critics etc. Author: Gary Day. (339 pages) Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

Sample Pages: Click here (PDF)

York Notes Companions:

• Analysis of key texts and debates
• Extended commentaries provide further in-depth analysis of individual texts
• Notes contain extra context and explanations of literary terms
• Historical, social and cultural contexts explored in introductory chapters and alongside discussions
• Modern critical theory and perspectives in practice
• Timelines and annotated further reading

This Companion looks at the literature of our own times, shaped by recent experiences from millennial anxieties to the events of 9/11. Placing texts within a cultural and critical context, the book discusses emerging genres such as multicultural and post-colonial writing, contemporary theatre, autobiography and the neo-Victorian novel.

Established writers such as A. S. Byatt, Salman Rushdie, and Carol Ann Duffy are featured alongside the newer voices of Zadie Smith, Alan Hollinghurst and Sarah Waters in a volume which offers an overview of the contemporary literary scene in Britain and further afield. Author: Fiona Tolan. (330 pages)  Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

Sample Pages: Click here (PDF)

York Notes Companions:

• Analysis of key texts and debates
• Extended commentaries provide further in-depth analysis of individual texts
• Notes contain extra context and explanations of literary terms
• Historical, social and cultural contexts explored in introductory chapters and alongside discussions
• Modern critical theory and perspectives in practice
• Timelines and annotated further reading

This volume mines the diversity and richness of the literature and literary theory produced in the postcolonial era, discussing texts and ideas from all over the world such Heart of Darkness, Wide Sargasso Sea, The Mimic Men, Beloved and the poetry collection Born to Slow Horses. Topics such as race, gender and sexuality, globalisation and multiculturalism are featured alongside postcolonial reading practices and explorations of key concepts such as cross-cultural paradigms, hybridity and decolonisation. Author: Wendy Knepper. (368 pages) Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

The literature of the second half of the twentieth century is characterised by a tension between conservatism and innovation.

This Companion examines the key writers and genres that explore this idea, including the postmodern novels of Julian Barnes, Angela Carter and Graham Swift, the modern lyrics of Philip Larkin, Sylvia Plath and Stevie Smith, and the inventive dramas of Samuel Beckett, Caryl Churchill and Tom Stoppard. Chapters focussing on “Nostalgia and Nationality”, “Class and Education” and “Sex and Identity” etc. provide important historical and social context, and combine with a range of key critical approaches to provide an indispensable guide to the era. Author: William May. (299 pages)  Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

Sample Pages: Click here (PDF)

York Notes Companions:

• Analysis of key texts and debates
• Extended commentaries provide further in-depth analysis of individual texts
• Notes contain extra context and explanations of literary terms
• Historical, social and cultural contexts explored in introductory chapters and alongside discussions
• Modern critical theory and perspectives in practice
• Timelines and annotated further reading

The literature of the Romantic era is steeped in the politics of revolution and reaction. This Companion looks at first and second generation poets such as Wordsworth, Blake, Byron and Shelley and explores their engagement with the turbulent history of their times.

Other genres such as drama, fiction and travel writing are also discussed, with close attention paid to texts by Walpole, Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft. Combining thematic analysis with modern critical perspectives, the volume also includes key contextual sections focusing on “Imagination, Truth and Reason”, “Heroes and Anti-heroes” and “Faith, Doubt and Myth”. Author: John Gilroy. (370 pages)  Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

Sample Pages: Click here (PDF)

York Notes Companions:

• Analysis of key texts and debates
• Extended commentaries provide further in-depth analysis of individual texts
• Notes contain extra context and explanations of literary terms
• Historical, social and cultural contexts explored in introductory chapters and alongside discussions
• Modern critical theory and perspectives in practice
• Timelines and annotated further reading

In this Very Short Introduction, Michael Ferber explores Romanticism during the period of its incubation, birth, and growth, covering the years roughly from 1760 to 1860. This is the only introduction to Romanticism that incorporates not only the English but the Continental movements, and not only literature but music, art, religion, and philosophy. It sheds light on such subjects as the Sensibility movement, which preceded Romanticism; the rising prestige of the poet as inspired prophet; the suffering and neglect of the poet; the rather different figure of the poetess; Romanticism as a religious trend; Romantic philosophy and science; and Romantic responses to the French Revolution, the Orient, gypsies, and the condition of women. Ferber offers a definition and several general propositions about this movement, as well as a discussion of the word "Romantic" and where it came from.

This Companion brings Renaissance drama to life by considering such classic plays as Hamlet, Othello and Dr Faustus from the perspective of contemporary theatre-goers.

Discussions of Shakespeare’s masterpieces are accompanied by examinations of the work of lesser known playwrights and commentators, while chapters on “Madness and Subjectivity”, “Rhetoric and Performance” and “Nation-Building” etc. provide a variety of key critical perspectives. Author: Hugh Mackay. (350 pages) Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

Sample Pages: Click here (PDF)

York Notes Companions:

• Analysis of key texts and debates
• Extended commentaries provide further in-depth analysis of individual texts
• Notes contain extra context and explanations of literary terms
• Historical, social and cultural contexts explored in introductory chapters and alongside discussions
• Modern critical theory and perspectives in practice
• Timelines and annotated further reading

The Stories: There are 85 stories by 76 writers varying from classic fiction by William Faulkner and Kate Chopin to acclaimed contemporary work by Daniyal Mueenuddin and Marjane Satrapi. There are 25 new stories in this edition.

Authors include: Chinua Achebe, Sherman Alexie, Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, James Baldwin, Toni Cade Bambara, Russell Banks, Ann Beattie, Alison Bechdel, Aimee Bender, Ambrose Bierce, Jorge Luis Borges, Ray Bradbury, Raymond Carver, Willa Cather, Lan Samantha Chang, John Cheever, Anton Chekhov, Kate Chopin, Kate Chopin, Sandra Cisneros, Joseph Conrad, Stephen Crane, Junot Díaz, Ralph Ellison, Louise Erdrich, William Faulkner, Gabriel García Márquez, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Nadine Gordimer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, Amy Hempel, A. M. Homes, Zora Neale Hurston, Shirley Jackson, Gish Jen, Sarah Orne Jewett, A Edward P. Jones, James Joyce, Jamaica Kincaid, Jhumpa Lahiri, Bobbie Ann Mason, Guy de Maupassant, Herman Melville, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Bharati Mukherjee, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, Tim O’Brien, Flannery O'Connor, Tillie Olsen, Cynthia Ozick, ZZ Packer, Grace Paley, Edgar Allan Poe, Katherine Anne Porter, Annie Proulx, Joe Sacco, Marjane Satrapi, Leslie Marmon Silko, Helen Simpson, Art Spiegelman, Amy Tan, John Updike, Helena Maria Viramontes, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Alice Walker, David Foster Wallace, Eudora Welty, Tobias Wolff, Richard Wright.

“Casebooks”: Multiple commentaries by and about the featured writer enable in-depth study Raymond Carver (essays by and about Raymond Carver); Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies”; Flannery O'Connor (essays by and about Flannery O'Connor); Graphic Storytelling.

Appendices: Reading Short Stories, The Elements of Fiction, A Brief History of the Short Story, Writing About Short Stories, Literary Theory and Critical Perspectives, Glossary of Literary Terms, Chronological Listing of Authors and Stories.

CD-Rom: Interactive Tutorials; Multimedia & Document Library; Research & Dcumentation Guide.

An accessible and wide-ranging introduction to the era, this Companion explores influential dramatic works by Ibsen, Shaw and Wilde; the poetry of mourning; novelistic genres, including social problem novels and sensation fiction; and the literature of the fin de siècle’s aesthetes and decadents. Cultural and historical debates – focussing on empire, national identity, science and evolution, print culture and gender – supply essential context alongside discussion of relevant critical theory. Author: Beth Palmer. (311 pages)  Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)

Sample pages: Click here (PDF)

York Notes Companions:

• Analysis of key texts and debates
• Extended commentaries provide further in-depth analysis of individual texts
• Notes contain extra context and explanations of literary terms
• Historical, social and cultural contexts explored in introductory chapters and alongside discussions
• Modern critical theory and perspectives in practice
• Timelines and annotated further reading