Defending Literature in Early Modern England: Renaissance Literary Theory in Social ContextWhy was literature so often defended and defined in early modern England in terms of its ability to provide the Horatian ideal of both profit and pleasure? This book, first published in 2000, analyses Renaissance literary theory in the context of social transformations of the period, focusing on conflicting ideas about gentility that emerged as the English aristocracy evolved from a feudal warrior class to a civil elite. Through close readings centered on works by Thomas Elyot, Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser, Matz argues that literature attempted to mediate a complex set of contradictory social expectations. His original study engages with important theoretical work such as Pierre Bourdieu's and offers a substantial critique of New Historicist theory. It challenges recent accounts of the power of Renaissance authorship, emphasizing the uncertain status of literature during this time of cultural change, and sheds light on why and how canonical works became canonical. |
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Page i
... Spenser , Matz argues that literature attempted to mediate a complex set of contradictory social expectations . His original study engages with important theoretical work such as Pierre Bourdieu's and offers a substantial critique of ...
... Spenser , Matz argues that literature attempted to mediate a complex set of contradictory social expectations . His original study engages with important theoretical work such as Pierre Bourdieu's and offers a substantial critique of ...
Page iv
... Spenser to Marvell 30. Celia R. Daileader Eroticism on the Renaissance stage: transcendance, desire, and the limits of the visible 31. Theodore B. Leinwand Theatre, finance and society in early modern England 32. Heather Dubrow ...
... Spenser to Marvell 30. Celia R. Daileader Eroticism on the Renaissance stage: transcendance, desire, and the limits of the visible 31. Theodore B. Leinwand Theatre, finance and society in early modern England 32. Heather Dubrow ...
Page ix
... “ gentle discipline " : Spenser's Faerie Queene 5 Epilogue : from text to work ? Notes Bibliography Index page xi 1 25 56 88 128 137 172 182 Acknowledgments A number of friends and colleagues at Johns Hopkins ix Contents.
... “ gentle discipline " : Spenser's Faerie Queene 5 Epilogue : from text to work ? Notes Bibliography Index page xi 1 25 56 88 128 137 172 182 Acknowledgments A number of friends and colleagues at Johns Hopkins ix Contents.
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Contents
1 | |
Elyots Boke Named the Governour | 25 |
Sidneys Defence of Poetry | 56 |
Spensers Faerie Queene | 88 |
from text to work? | 128 |
Notes | 137 |
172 | |
182 | |
Other editions - View all
Defending Literature in Early Modern England: Renaissance Literary Theory in ... Robert Matz No preview available - 2006 |
Defending Literature in Early Modern England: Renaissance Literary Theory in ... Robert Matz No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
Acrasia activist aesthetic argue aristocratic authority Bourdieu Bower of Bliss Cambridge chivalric claims conflict conspicuous consumption contemporary court courtier courtly aristocratic courtly culture courtly pleasure critique cultural capital Cultural Studies dance Defence delight describes desire discipline discourse distinction early modern England economic Edmund Spenser elite Elizabethan Elizabethan Subject Elyot emphases English example Faerie Queene feudal gentleman Gosson Governour Greenblatt Guyon Helgerson Henry VIII Historicism Historicist Historicist criticism Horatian humanism humanist ideology idleness implies Jonathan Goldberg knight knighthood labor leisure and consumption literary studies literature London Louis Montrose Mary Sidney material mediation Montrose moral nobility noble Oxford play poet poet's poetry poetry's political position profit and pleasure Protestant Protestant-humanist Protestantism provides Puttenham reading relationship Renaissance Reprint rhetoric romance sexual Sidney's Sir Philip Sidney sixteenth century social Spenser status Stephen Greenblatt suggests temperance texts Thomas tion traditional trans Tudor University Press virtue warrior service writing York