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Showing 1 - 5 of 5 items
This book investigates the relationship between the fascinating and misunderstood penny blood, early Victorian popular fiction for the working class,…
and Victorian anatomy. In 1832, the controversial Anatomy Act sanctioned the use of the body of the pauper for teaching dissection to medical students, deeply affecting the Victorian poor. The ensuing decade, such famous penny bloods as Manuscripts from the Diary of a Physician, Varney the Vampyre, Sweeney Todd, and The Mysteries of London addressed issues of medical ethics, social power, and bodily agency. Challenging traditional views of penny bloods as a lowlier, un-readable genre, this book rereads these four narratives in the light of the 1832 Anatomy Act, putting them in dialogue with different popular artistic forms and literary genres, as well as with the spaces of death and dissection in Victorian London, exploring their role as channels for circulating discourses about anatomy and ethics among the Victorian poor.By Nizar Zouidi. 2021
Performativity of Villainy and Evil in Anglophone Literature and Media studies the performative nature of evil characters, acts and emotions…
across intersecting genres, disciplines and historical eras. This collection brings together scholars and artists with different institutional standings, cultural backgrounds and (inter)disciplinary interests with the aim of energizing the ongoing discussion of the generic and thematic issues related to the representation of villainy and evil in literature and media. The volume covers medieval literature to contemporary literature and also examines important aspects of evil in literature such as social and political identity, the gothic and systemic evil practices. In addition to literature, the book considers examples of villainy in film, TV and media, revealing that performance, performative control and maneuverability are the common characteristics of villains across the different literary and filmic genres and eras studied in the volume.By Michael Cisco. 2021
Weird Fiction: A Genre Study presents a comprehensive, contemporary analysis of the genre of weird fiction by identifying the concepts…
that influence and produce it. Focusing on the sources of narrative content—how the content is produced and what makes something weird—Michael Cisco engages with theories from Deleuze and Guattari to explain how genres work and to understand the relationship between identity and the ordinary. Cisco also uses these theories to examine the supernatural not merely as a horde of tropes, but as a recognition of the infinity of experience in defiance of limiting norms. The book also traces the sociopolitical implications of weird fiction, studying the differentiation of major and minor literatures. Through an articulated theoretical model and close textual analysis, readers will learn not only what weird fiction is, but how and why it is produced.By Andrew C. Wenaus. 2022
This book offers an examination of Jeff Noon’s iconoclastic debut novel, Vurt (1993). In this first book-length study of the…
novel, which includes an extended interview with Noon, Wenaus considers how Vurt complicates the process of literary canonization, its constructivist relationship to genre, its violent and oneiric setting of Manchester, its use of the Orphic myth as an archetype for the practice of literary collage and musical remix, and how the structural paradoxes of chaos and fractal geometry inform the novel’s content, form, and theme. Finally, Wenaus makes the case for Vurt’s ongoing relevance in the 21st century, an era increasingly characterized by neuro-totalitarianism, psychopolitics, and digital surveillance. With Vurt, Noon begins his project of rupturing feedback loops of control by breaking narrative habits and embracing the contingent and unpredictable. An inventive, energetic, and heartbreaking novel, Vurt is also an optimistic and heartfelt call for artists to actively create open futures.By Carl Weber. 2011
New York Times bestselling author Carl Weber takes readers back to church, where preaching isn't always enough, nothing goes better…
with the Word than a song--and it's time for some hard-earned lessons in love, brotherhood, and betrayal. Bishop T. K. Wilson has done all he can to make First Jamaica Ministries a success. But with his last choir director getting caught in a scandal, attendance and cash flow are down. To fill the pews and collection plates, Bishop is counting on a new choir director, the charismatic Aaron Mackie, to revive the church. Aaron has been waiting his entire life to prove he has what it takes to be a big-time choir director. But his ways around women, past and present, could cost him more than his job. Simone Wilcox is smart, sexy--and a highly respected church trustee. She's got her eye on the new choir director, with the intention of having a lot more on him, and no one is getting in her way. First Lady Monique Wilson does and says what she wants, regardless of church politics. Despite her shortcomings and a past rumored to include a long list of men, she'll do just about anything to protect the Bishop. You'd think the Bishop was being tested enough, with choir in-fighting, romantic jealousies, and personal vendettas. But a final piece of the puzzle has yet to be revealed: Someone has been robbing the church blind. Someone whose connection to the Bishop is far too close for comfort. . . . Praise For The Church SeriesUp To No GoodThis page-turning drama keeps readers in suspense until the very last page. --Upscale MagazineThe First LadyWeber gives us a front-row pew seat to all the action going down. . . --Essence®So You Call Yourself A ManA delightful and entertaining book. --Black Issues Book ReviewThe Preacher's SonWeber spins a lively, revelation-packed tale deepened by genuine emotion, convincing detail and smart dialogue. --Publishers Weekly