First published in 1932, the "Oxford Companion to English Literature" has served as a source of reference for general readers, as well as a guide for students and specialists, on all aspects of English literature and English literary culture. In 1985, under the editorship of Margaret Drabble, the text was completely revised while retaining the essential characteristics of Sir Paul Harvey's original volume. The 1995 revision contained 60 new entries on emerging contemporary voices, and this revision continues in that tradition, adding 16 survey articles on literary concepts. The volume offers extensive coverage of the classical roots of English literature and of European authors and works that have influenced the development of English literature. The articles cover authors and their works, allusion and references, fictional characters, plot summaries, composers and artists, literary and artistic movements, historians, philosophers, scholars and editors, publishing history, literary societies, newspapers and periodicals, and critical terms and theory.
First published in 1932, the "Oxford Companion to English Literature" has served as a source of reference for general readers, as well as a guide for students and specialists, on all aspects of English literature and English literary culture. In 1985, under the editorship of Margaret Drabble, the text was completely revised while retaining the essential characteristics of Sir Paul Harvey's original volume. The 1995 revision contained 60 new entries on emerging contemporary voices, and this revision continues in that tradition, adding 16 survey articles on literary concepts. The volume offers extensive coverage of the classical roots of English literature and of European authors and works that have influenced the development of English literature. The articles cover authors and their works, allusion and references, fictional characters, plot summaries, composers and artists, literary and artistic movements, historians, philosophers, scholars and editors, publishing history, literary societies, newspapers and periodicals, and critical terms and theory.
Preface by Margaret Drabble. List of Contributors. List of abbreviations. Note to the Reader. Text: over 7000 A-Z entries.. [The new entries are:. Biography. British Black Literature. Children's Literature. Detective Fiction. Fantasy Fiction. Ghost Stories. Gothic Fiction. Historical Fiction. Modernism. Post-Colonial Literature. Romaticism. Romantic Fiction. Science Fiction. Spy Fiction. Structuralism]. Appendix 1: Chronology. Appendix 2: Poets Laureate. Appendix 3: Literary Awards
About the Editor:
Margaret Drabble is one of Britain's leading
novelists, the author of numerous works, including Jerusalem the
Golden, The Needle's Eye, The Middle Ground, and the trilogy of
novels The Radiant Way, A Natural Curiosity, and The Gates of Ivory
The esteemed, 75-year-old Oxford Companion to English Literature (OCEL), long a reference classic, forms the cornerstone of the foundation on which the ever-expanding edifice of the "Oxford Companion" series rests. Like its predecessors, this revised sixth edition, first published in 2000, contains accurate, up-to-date entries-8500 in all, approximately 200 of them new. These entries, unsigned and ranging in length from a few to more than 2000 words each, cover authors, literary movements and terms, critical theories, genres, publishers, plot summaries, and characters. Drabble's new revision includes numerous additions and deletions, ensuring the standing of OCEL into the 21st century. The additions come from a continuing effort to update the content by including more entries on women and postcolonial writers and on critical theory. To make room for the newer content, some material has been cut: the "general knowledge" entries, coverage of artists and musicians, some entries on characters, entries for individual works of prolific classical authors, and some cross references. What remains is the best available one-volume reference on English literature, not literature in English (though many literatures and authors in languages other than English are treated in the context of English literature). The appendixes include a detailed chronology of English literature from 1000 to 2005 and a historical list of poets laureate and literary awards. Bottom Line Careful selection is so obvious here that citing some of the unavoidable absences seems churlish. The writing is good, even stylish. While still aimed primarily at general readers, this volume offers comprehensive scope and rigorous treatment, making it useful to scholars, students, and journalists as well as to the libraries-large and small, academic and public-serving them. Only libraries on tight budgets holding the fifth or original sixth edition might want to wait for the arrival of a seventh. Highly recommended.-Paul D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., ME Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Gr 8 Up-This revision of the sixth edition adds material but not pages. The chronology, awards lists, and entries include works published through 2005, but entries from the previous edition have not been revised; the last case of Internet censorship cited is from 1999. Of the 16 two-page essays on various genres, only 2 have been given slight alterations ("Children's Literature" has lost its condescending conclusion). This edition contains more information on female and ethnically diverse writers. There are some omissions; for example, Alan Furst is left out of the "Spy Fiction" essay, and Martin McDonagh (The Beauty Queen of Leenane) earns only one sentence, in "Irish playwrights, new." "Gay and lesbian literature," which is no longer a separate essay, fails to mention several significant works, though they are treated elsewhere. Altogether absent from the book are authors such as W. G. Sebald, David Mitchell, and Ismail Kadare. Some choices are puzzling: Denise Levertov has twice Richard Wilbur's space; readers are told how to pronounce "Carew," but not "Bewick" (or Coetzee, Milosz, etc.). Flashes of wit-on "horror": "for every King there are a dozen or more knaves"-and verve ("Lads' literature"), leaven the learning. This is still the title to heft if you need elegant plot summaries, or help with anaphora, isocolon, and their ilk. However, for most purposes the previous edition still suffices.-Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
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