Re-Humanising Shakespeare
Literary Humanism, Wisdom and Modernity
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Edinburgh University Press
Published:3rd Mar '15
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Can Shakespeare help us with the question of how to live? Re-Humanising Shakespeare argues that although Shakespeare strikingly dramatizes various kinds of uncertainty and scepticism, including scepticism about what it is to be human, his work can still serve as a rich source of existential wisdom and guidance. Revised throughout, this edition includes: a new introduction which focuses more attention on what is specific to literature’s treatment of the human (as epitomised by Shakespeare); a section drawing on new work on literary and dramatic genres as different ways of attending to human life; a revised chapter on the history plays; and a reading of King Lear. Blending theory and critical resources with close analysis of the plays, this book makes provocative reading for all those interested in Shakespeare, ethics, human being and questions of literary value. Key Features Revised throughout and includes a new section on genre, as well as discussion of King LearOffers new ways of understanding literature’s distinctive treatment of the human Shows through detailed readings of the plays how Shakespeare both unsettles and reclaims ideas about being human Provides a clear account of modernity which illuminates the relationship between critical theory, scepticism and literary humanismIncludes close readings of a number of plays including Hamlet, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, The Winter’s Tale, Coriolanus and Macbeth
The second edition of Re-Humanising Shakespeare in an updated form is good news for Shakespeare studies. Mousley puts his finger on central issues in the field -- Hugh Grady, Arcadia University
A thoroughly persuasive challenge to those who know the cost of everything but the value of nothing. The argument carefully recalibrates the debate launched in the First Edition, sharpening its focus, and insisting strenuously upon a radical humanist form of literary criticism that is committed to "the hopeful notion that literature can teach us how to live." This is one of the few books on Shakespeare that has shown itself capable of building judiciously on the advances of the past 40 years, and, in a just world, whose impact deserves to extend far beyond the groves of academe. A brave and confident venture into the terrain of an egalitarian, discriminating humanism that succeeds in fusing history, literary criticism, ethics and politics, that re-directs our attention away from the crass and philistine institutional vocabulary of "impact" and champions a timely alternative to the banal instrumentalism of an increasingly chaotic commercialism. We should all unite behind the banner of "literary humanism" especially in this winter of our discontent. -- John Drakakis, Stirling University
The publication of a second edition of Re-Humanising Shakespeare is a testament to the enduring importance of Andy Mousley's trailblazing book, which was ahead of its time when first published, and which remains compulsory reading for anyone who needs reminding why literature matters, and who is ready to have their view of Shakespeare transformed. -- Kiernan Ryan, Royal Holloway, University of London
ISBN: 9780748691234
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
240 pages
2nd edition