| The Medieval Presence in Modernist Literature Contributor(s): Ullyot, Jonathan (Author) |
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ISBN: 1107131480 ISBN-13: 9781107131484 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $114.00 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: November 2015 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | European - General - History | Europe - Medieval - Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh |
| Dewey: 809.933 |
| LCCN: 2015021267 |
| Physical Information: 0.78" H x 6.23" W x 9.38" (0.98 lbs) 275 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Medieval (500-1453) - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Jonathan Ullyot's The Medieval Presence in Modernist Literature rethinks the influence that early medieval studies and Grail narratives had on modernist literature. Through examining several canonical works, from Henry James' The Golden Bowl to Samuel Beckett's Molloy, Ullyot argues that these texts serve as a continuation of the Grail legend inspired by medieval scholarship of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Rather than adapt the story of the Grail, modernist writers intentionally failed to make the Grail myth cohere, thus critiquing the way a literary work establishes its authority by alluding to previous traditions. While the quest to fail is a modernist ethic often misconceived as a pessimistic response to the collapse of traditional humanism, the modernist writings of Eliot, Kafka, and C line posit that the possibility of redemption presents itself only when hope has finally been abandoned. |
Contributor Bio(s): Ullyot, Jonathan: - Jonathan Ullyot is a Lecturer in Humanities at the University of Chicago. His articles have appeared in such journals as Modern Philology, Comparative Literature, and German Quarterly. |