Theodore Ziolkowski
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198746836
- eISBN:
- 9780191809187
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198746836.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Mythology and Folklore
This book traces the figure of the alchemist in Western literature from its first appearance in Dante down to the present. From the beginning alchemy has had two aspects: exoteric or operative (the ...
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This book traces the figure of the alchemist in Western literature from its first appearance in Dante down to the present. From the beginning alchemy has had two aspects: exoteric or operative (the transmutation of baser metals into gold) and esoteric or speculative (the spiritual transformation of the alchemist himself). From Dante to Ben Jonson, during the centuries when the belief in exoteric alchemy was still strong, writers in many literatures treated alchemists with ridicule. From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, as that belief weakened, the figure of the alchemist disappeared, even though Protestant poets in England and Germany were still fond of alchemical images. But when eighteenth-century science undermined alchemy, the figure of the alchemist began to emerge again in literature—now as a humanitarian hero or as a spirit striving for sublimation. As scholarly interest in alchemy intensified, writers were attracted to the figure of the alchemist and his quest for power. The fin de siècle witnessed a further transformation as some poets saw in the alchemist a symbol for the poet and others a manifestation of religious spirit. During the interwar years many writers turned to the figure of the alchemist as a spiritual model or as a national figurehead. This tendency, theorized by C. G. Jung, inspired after World War II a popularization of the figure in the novel. In sum: the figure of the alchemist in literature provides a seismograph for major shifts in intellectual and cultural history.Less
This book traces the figure of the alchemist in Western literature from its first appearance in Dante down to the present. From the beginning alchemy has had two aspects: exoteric or operative (the transmutation of baser metals into gold) and esoteric or speculative (the spiritual transformation of the alchemist himself). From Dante to Ben Jonson, during the centuries when the belief in exoteric alchemy was still strong, writers in many literatures treated alchemists with ridicule. From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, as that belief weakened, the figure of the alchemist disappeared, even though Protestant poets in England and Germany were still fond of alchemical images. But when eighteenth-century science undermined alchemy, the figure of the alchemist began to emerge again in literature—now as a humanitarian hero or as a spirit striving for sublimation. As scholarly interest in alchemy intensified, writers were attracted to the figure of the alchemist and his quest for power. The fin de siècle witnessed a further transformation as some poets saw in the alchemist a symbol for the poet and others a manifestation of religious spirit. During the interwar years many writers turned to the figure of the alchemist as a spiritual model or as a national figurehead. This tendency, theorized by C. G. Jung, inspired after World War II a popularization of the figure in the novel. In sum: the figure of the alchemist in literature provides a seismograph for major shifts in intellectual and cultural history.
George Steiner
- Published in print:
- 1986
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780192819345
- eISBN:
- 9780191670503
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192819345.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Mythology and Folklore
This book examines the far-reaching legacy of one of the great myths of classical antiquity. According to Greek legend, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, secretly buried her brother in defiance of the ...
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This book examines the far-reaching legacy of one of the great myths of classical antiquity. According to Greek legend, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, secretly buried her brother in defiance of the orders of Creon, King of Thebes. Creon sentenced Antigone to death, but, before the order could be executed, she committed suicide. The theme of the conflict between Antigone and Creon — between the state and the individual, between young and old, between men and women — has captured the Western imagination for more than 2,000 years. Antigone and Creon are as alive in the politics and poetics of our own day as they were in ancient Athens. Here, the book examines the treatment of the Antigone theme in Western art, literature and thought, leading us to look again at the unique influence Greek myths exercised on 20th-century culture.Less
This book examines the far-reaching legacy of one of the great myths of classical antiquity. According to Greek legend, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, secretly buried her brother in defiance of the orders of Creon, King of Thebes. Creon sentenced Antigone to death, but, before the order could be executed, she committed suicide. The theme of the conflict between Antigone and Creon — between the state and the individual, between young and old, between men and women — has captured the Western imagination for more than 2,000 years. Antigone and Creon are as alive in the politics and poetics of our own day as they were in ancient Athens. Here, the book examines the treatment of the Antigone theme in Western art, literature and thought, leading us to look again at the unique influence Greek myths exercised on 20th-century culture.
Kelsey Jackson Williams
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198784296
- eISBN:
- 9780191827808
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198784296.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, Mythology and Folklore
John Aubrey (1626–1697), antiquary, natural philosopher, and virtuoso, is best remembered today for his Brief Lives, biographies of his contemporaries filled with luminous detail which have been ...
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John Aubrey (1626–1697), antiquary, natural philosopher, and virtuoso, is best remembered today for his Brief Lives, biographies of his contemporaries filled with luminous detail which have been mined for anecdotes by generations of scholars. However, Aubrey was much more than merely the hand behind an invaluable source of biographical material; he was also the author of thousands of pages of manuscript notebooks covering everything from the origins of Stonehenge to the evolution of folklore. This work studies these manuscripts in full for the first time and, in doing so, explores the intellectual history of Aubrey’s investigations into Britain’s past. As such, the present volume is both a major new study of an important early modern writer and a significant intervention in the developing historiography of antiquarianism. It discusses the key aspects of Aubrey’s work in a series of linked chapters on archaeology, architecture, biography, folklore, and philology, concluding with a revisionist interpretation of Aubrey’s antiquarian writings. While covering a wide variety of scholarly territory, it remains rooted in the common thread of Aubrey’s own intellectual development and the continual interaction between his texts as he studied, discovered, revised, and rewrote them across four decades. Its conclusions not only substantially reshape our understanding of Aubrey and his writings, but also provide new understandings of the methodologies, ambitions, and achievements of antiquarianism across early modern Europe.Less
John Aubrey (1626–1697), antiquary, natural philosopher, and virtuoso, is best remembered today for his Brief Lives, biographies of his contemporaries filled with luminous detail which have been mined for anecdotes by generations of scholars. However, Aubrey was much more than merely the hand behind an invaluable source of biographical material; he was also the author of thousands of pages of manuscript notebooks covering everything from the origins of Stonehenge to the evolution of folklore. This work studies these manuscripts in full for the first time and, in doing so, explores the intellectual history of Aubrey’s investigations into Britain’s past. As such, the present volume is both a major new study of an important early modern writer and a significant intervention in the developing historiography of antiquarianism. It discusses the key aspects of Aubrey’s work in a series of linked chapters on archaeology, architecture, biography, folklore, and philology, concluding with a revisionist interpretation of Aubrey’s antiquarian writings. While covering a wide variety of scholarly territory, it remains rooted in the common thread of Aubrey’s own intellectual development and the continual interaction between his texts as he studied, discovered, revised, and rewrote them across four decades. Its conclusions not only substantially reshape our understanding of Aubrey and his writings, but also provide new understandings of the methodologies, ambitions, and achievements of antiquarianism across early modern Europe.
Deborah Christie and Sarah Juliet Lauro (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823234462
- eISBN:
- 9780823241255
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823234462.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Mythology and Folklore
The zombie is ubiquitous in popular culture: from comic books to video games, to internet applications and homemade films, zombies are all around us. Investigating the zombie from an ...
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The zombie is ubiquitous in popular culture: from comic books to video games, to internet applications and homemade films, zombies are all around us. Investigating the zombie from an interdisciplinary perspective, with an emphasis on deep analytical engagement with diverse kinds of texts, this book addresses some of the more unlikely venues where zombies are found while providing the reader with a classic overview of the zombie's folkloric and cinematic history. What has the zombie metaphor meant in the past? Why does it continue to be so prevalent in our culture? Where others have looked at the zombie as an allegory for humanity's inner machinations or claimed the zombie as capitalist critique, this book seeks to provide an archaeology of the zombie-tracing its lineage from Haiti, mapping its various cultural transformations, and suggesting the post-humanist direction in which the zombie is ultimately heading. Approaching the zombie from many different points of view, the chapters here look across history and across media. Though they represent various theoretical perspectives, the whole makes a cohesive argument: The zombie has not just evolved within narratives; it has evolved in a way that transforms narrative. This book announces a new post-zombie, even before the boundaries of this rich and mysterious myth have been completely charted.Less
The zombie is ubiquitous in popular culture: from comic books to video games, to internet applications and homemade films, zombies are all around us. Investigating the zombie from an interdisciplinary perspective, with an emphasis on deep analytical engagement with diverse kinds of texts, this book addresses some of the more unlikely venues where zombies are found while providing the reader with a classic overview of the zombie's folkloric and cinematic history. What has the zombie metaphor meant in the past? Why does it continue to be so prevalent in our culture? Where others have looked at the zombie as an allegory for humanity's inner machinations or claimed the zombie as capitalist critique, this book seeks to provide an archaeology of the zombie-tracing its lineage from Haiti, mapping its various cultural transformations, and suggesting the post-humanist direction in which the zombie is ultimately heading. Approaching the zombie from many different points of view, the chapters here look across history and across media. Though they represent various theoretical perspectives, the whole makes a cohesive argument: The zombie has not just evolved within narratives; it has evolved in a way that transforms narrative. This book announces a new post-zombie, even before the boundaries of this rich and mysterious myth have been completely charted.
Trevor J. Blank and Andrea Kitta (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781496804259
- eISBN:
- 9781496804297
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496804259.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Mythology and Folklore
Diagnosing Folklore aspires to provide an inclusive forum for an expansive conversation on the sensitive, raw, and powerful processes that shape and imbue meaning in the lives of individuals and ...
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Diagnosing Folklore aspires to provide an inclusive forum for an expansive conversation on the sensitive, raw, and powerful processes that shape and imbue meaning in the lives of individuals and communities beleaguered by stigmatization, conflicting public perceptions, and contextual constraints. This volume aims to showcase current ideas and debates, as well as promote the larger study of disability, health, and trauma within folkloristics, and helping bridge the gaps between the folklore discipline and disability studies.Less
Diagnosing Folklore aspires to provide an inclusive forum for an expansive conversation on the sensitive, raw, and powerful processes that shape and imbue meaning in the lives of individuals and communities beleaguered by stigmatization, conflicting public perceptions, and contextual constraints. This volume aims to showcase current ideas and debates, as well as promote the larger study of disability, health, and trauma within folkloristics, and helping bridge the gaps between the folklore discipline and disability studies.
Mark Williams
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199571840
- eISBN:
- 9780191594434
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199571840.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, Mythology and Folklore
The presentation of the magical and mantic in Celtic literature has persistently been dogged by misunderstanding and over-romanticised readings. Among the misconceptions about the ancient and ...
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The presentation of the magical and mantic in Celtic literature has persistently been dogged by misunderstanding and over-romanticised readings. Among the misconceptions about the ancient and medieval Celtic peoples, the notion of a specifically ‘Celtic’ astrology remains widespread in the popular mind. This study aims to counter such myth-making, and to demonstrate how a number Irish and Welsh literary writers in the medieval and Early Modern period conceived of portents in the heavens — comets, blood-coloured moons, darkened suns — and what they knew of the complex art of astrology. The book examines the dissemination of concepts of portents and the science of the stars on the Celtic fringe from a literary perspective. A central concern is to provide an examination of the classes of people represented as expert in the interpretation of celestial portents: the early Irish annal-writer, the literary druid, the seer, the mythical prophet Merlin, and the learned Welsh poet of the late Middle Ages and beyond.Less
The presentation of the magical and mantic in Celtic literature has persistently been dogged by misunderstanding and over-romanticised readings. Among the misconceptions about the ancient and medieval Celtic peoples, the notion of a specifically ‘Celtic’ astrology remains widespread in the popular mind. This study aims to counter such myth-making, and to demonstrate how a number Irish and Welsh literary writers in the medieval and Early Modern period conceived of portents in the heavens — comets, blood-coloured moons, darkened suns — and what they knew of the complex art of astrology. The book examines the dissemination of concepts of portents and the science of the stars on the Celtic fringe from a literary perspective. A central concern is to provide an examination of the classes of people represented as expert in the interpretation of celestial portents: the early Irish annal-writer, the literary druid, the seer, the mythical prophet Merlin, and the learned Welsh poet of the late Middle Ages and beyond.
Heather O'Donoghue
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117834
- eISBN:
- 9780191671074
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117834.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, Mythology and Folklore
The origins of many of the Icelandic sagas have long been the subject of critical speculation and controversy. This book demonstrates that an investigation into the relationship between verse and ...
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The origins of many of the Icelandic sagas have long been the subject of critical speculation and controversy. This book demonstrates that an investigation into the relationship between verse and prose in saga narrative can be used to reconstruct how Icelandic sagas were composed; to this end it provides a detailed analysis of the Kormáks saga, whose hero Kormákr is one of the most celebrated of Icelandic poets. Over 60 of his passionate, cryptic skaldic stanzas are quoted in the saga, and the way they and the saga prose are fitted together reveals that the Kormáks saga, far from being a seamless narrative of either pre-Christian oral tradition or later medieval fiction, is in fact a patchwork of different kinds of literary materials. This book offers a way of understanding not only the compositional method and distinctive aesthetic qualities of the Kormáks saga, but also the genesis of many other Icelandic saga narratives.Less
The origins of many of the Icelandic sagas have long been the subject of critical speculation and controversy. This book demonstrates that an investigation into the relationship between verse and prose in saga narrative can be used to reconstruct how Icelandic sagas were composed; to this end it provides a detailed analysis of the Kormáks saga, whose hero Kormákr is one of the most celebrated of Icelandic poets. Over 60 of his passionate, cryptic skaldic stanzas are quoted in the saga, and the way they and the saga prose are fitted together reveals that the Kormáks saga, far from being a seamless narrative of either pre-Christian oral tradition or later medieval fiction, is in fact a patchwork of different kinds of literary materials. This book offers a way of understanding not only the compositional method and distinctive aesthetic qualities of the Kormáks saga, but also the genesis of many other Icelandic saga narratives.
Fiona J. Stafford
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112228
- eISBN:
- 9780191670718
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112228.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, Mythology and Folklore
This book describes and analyses the enduring interest in the last of the race through investigation into different treatments by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century writers. The analysis is ...
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This book describes and analyses the enduring interest in the last of the race through investigation into different treatments by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century writers. The analysis is influenced by both literary expressions and extensive reading of the historical accounts, diaries, and newspaper reports of individuals who have represented the last of their kind. Fictional and real-life accounts of last men and women were compared and found to be enlightening. The biography of Pu Yi or the history of St Kilda may also help explain novels, such as The Last Man by Mary Shelley, and provide insights into the psychology of the sole survivor and the social significance of the unique symbols. More insights into a literary figure, such as James Macpherson's Ossian (the last of Fingal's race), could be derived from the Reminiscences of Michael O'Guiheen (the last poet of the Great Blasket Island) more so than from a lot of academic woks. This literature presents an excellent example of the now unclear boundaries between fact and fiction, since the author's recollections of the Great Blasket Island community are interspersed with literary allusions to the Oisin of Irish legend. The growth of the last of the race is traced in this book from the Restoration period, when traditional Christian views of human destiny started to diminish, to the late 19th century, when new racial ending patterns had arisen following evolutionary and thermodynamic theories.Less
This book describes and analyses the enduring interest in the last of the race through investigation into different treatments by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century writers. The analysis is influenced by both literary expressions and extensive reading of the historical accounts, diaries, and newspaper reports of individuals who have represented the last of their kind. Fictional and real-life accounts of last men and women were compared and found to be enlightening. The biography of Pu Yi or the history of St Kilda may also help explain novels, such as The Last Man by Mary Shelley, and provide insights into the psychology of the sole survivor and the social significance of the unique symbols. More insights into a literary figure, such as James Macpherson's Ossian (the last of Fingal's race), could be derived from the Reminiscences of Michael O'Guiheen (the last poet of the Great Blasket Island) more so than from a lot of academic woks. This literature presents an excellent example of the now unclear boundaries between fact and fiction, since the author's recollections of the Great Blasket Island community are interspersed with literary allusions to the Oisin of Irish legend. The growth of the last of the race is traced in this book from the Restoration period, when traditional Christian views of human destiny started to diminish, to the late 19th century, when new racial ending patterns had arisen following evolutionary and thermodynamic theories.
Richard North
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199206612
- eISBN:
- 9780191709807
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206612.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Anglo-Saxon / Old English Literature, Mythology and Folklore
This book suggests that the Old English poem Beowulf was composed between the reigns of Kings Beornwulf (823-6) and Wiglaf (827-9 and 830-39) of Mercia, in the winter of 826-7, in the monastery of ...
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This book suggests that the Old English poem Beowulf was composed between the reigns of Kings Beornwulf (823-6) and Wiglaf (827-9 and 830-39) of Mercia, in the winter of 826-7, in the monastery of Breedon on the Hill in NW Leicestershire, by Abbot Eanmund (ruled 814x816-c.848). The premise seems clear enough in the Beowulf–Wiglaf sequence in the last fifth of Beowulf. With Old Norse analogues, Beowulf's kinship with Hygelac, friendship with Hrothgar, interest in Freawaru, later role as king and kinship with ‘Wiglaf’ are all argued to be the poet's invention, one fashioned partly on the model of Vergil's Aeneid, while the sequence of big names in the Geatish part of Beowulf, Offa of Angeln – Hygelac – Beowulf – Wiglaf, is taken to be a reference to leaders of Mercia: Offa – Cenwulf – Beornwulf – Wiglaf. Three tales from Viking mythology are presented as sources for morally defining moments in the poem. Beowulf's death and Wiglaf's uncrowned status at the end are used to date Beowulf to between 826, when Beornwulf died in battle, and 827, when the historical Wiglaf took over from an intermediary named Ludeca. It is concluded that Beowulf was Wiglaf's propaganda for succession, a requiem for Beornwulf from the man who wished to rule after him; that Wiglaf cast himself as his own ancestor; and that, in the words Eanmundes laf (‘Eanmund's legacy’, line 2611), nine lines after introducing Wiglaf (line 2602, head of Fitt XXXVI), the poet leaves us his signature.Less
This book suggests that the Old English poem Beowulf was composed between the reigns of Kings Beornwulf (823-6) and Wiglaf (827-9 and 830-39) of Mercia, in the winter of 826-7, in the monastery of Breedon on the Hill in NW Leicestershire, by Abbot Eanmund (ruled 814x816-c.848). The premise seems clear enough in the Beowulf–Wiglaf sequence in the last fifth of Beowulf. With Old Norse analogues, Beowulf's kinship with Hygelac, friendship with Hrothgar, interest in Freawaru, later role as king and kinship with ‘Wiglaf’ are all argued to be the poet's invention, one fashioned partly on the model of Vergil's Aeneid, while the sequence of big names in the Geatish part of Beowulf, Offa of Angeln – Hygelac – Beowulf – Wiglaf, is taken to be a reference to leaders of Mercia: Offa – Cenwulf – Beornwulf – Wiglaf. Three tales from Viking mythology are presented as sources for morally defining moments in the poem. Beowulf's death and Wiglaf's uncrowned status at the end are used to date Beowulf to between 826, when Beornwulf died in battle, and 827, when the historical Wiglaf took over from an intermediary named Ludeca. It is concluded that Beowulf was Wiglaf's propaganda for succession, a requiem for Beornwulf from the man who wished to rule after him; that Wiglaf cast himself as his own ancestor; and that, in the words Eanmundes laf (‘Eanmund's legacy’, line 2611), nine lines after introducing Wiglaf (line 2602, head of Fitt XXXVI), the poet leaves us his signature.
Jonathan Strauss
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823251322
- eISBN:
- 9780823252954
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823251322.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Mythology and Folklore
In Private Lives/Public Deaths, Jonathan Strauss shows how Sophocles's tragedy Antigone crystalized the political, intellectual, and aesthetic forces of an entire historical moment – fifth-century ...
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In Private Lives/Public Deaths, Jonathan Strauss shows how Sophocles's tragedy Antigone crystalized the political, intellectual, and aesthetic forces of an entire historical moment – fifth-century Athens – into one idea: the value of a single, living person. That idea existed, however, only as a powerful but unconcious desire. Drawing on classical studies, Hegel, and contemporary philosophical interpretations of this pivotal drama, Strauss argues that Antigone's tragedy, and perhaps all classical tragedy, represents the failure to satisfy this desire. To the extent that the value of a living individual remains an open question, what Sophocles attempted to imagine still escapes our understanding. Antigone is, in this sense, a text not from the past, but from our future.Less
In Private Lives/Public Deaths, Jonathan Strauss shows how Sophocles's tragedy Antigone crystalized the political, intellectual, and aesthetic forces of an entire historical moment – fifth-century Athens – into one idea: the value of a single, living person. That idea existed, however, only as a powerful but unconcious desire. Drawing on classical studies, Hegel, and contemporary philosophical interpretations of this pivotal drama, Strauss argues that Antigone's tragedy, and perhaps all classical tragedy, represents the failure to satisfy this desire. To the extent that the value of a living individual remains an open question, what Sophocles attempted to imagine still escapes our understanding. Antigone is, in this sense, a text not from the past, but from our future.
Neil Rennie
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199679331
- eISBN:
- 9780191767272
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679331.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, Mythology and Folklore
The book is about factual and fictional pirates and is therefore a deliberate combination of history and literary history. Swashbuckling eighteenth-century pirates were the ideal pirates of all time ...
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The book is about factual and fictional pirates and is therefore a deliberate combination of history and literary history. Swashbuckling eighteenth-century pirates were the ideal pirates of all time and are still popular today. Most people have heard of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, for example, although they lived about three hundred years ago. But most people have also heard of other pirates, such as Long John Silver and Captain Hook, although those pirates never lived at all, except in literature. So there have been two kinds of pirates—real and imaginary—but the real, historical pirates are themselves somewhat legendary, somewhat fictional, belonging on the page and the stage rather than on the high seas. The book discriminates and describes the ascertainable facts of real eighteenth-century pirate lives and then investigates how such facts were subsequently transformed artistically, by British and American writers like Defoe, Poe and Stevenson, into realistic and fantastic fictions of various kinds: historical novels, popular melodramas, boyish adventures, Hollywood films. The aim is to watch, in other words, the long dissolve from Captain Kidd to Johnny Depp.Less
The book is about factual and fictional pirates and is therefore a deliberate combination of history and literary history. Swashbuckling eighteenth-century pirates were the ideal pirates of all time and are still popular today. Most people have heard of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, for example, although they lived about three hundred years ago. But most people have also heard of other pirates, such as Long John Silver and Captain Hook, although those pirates never lived at all, except in literature. So there have been two kinds of pirates—real and imaginary—but the real, historical pirates are themselves somewhat legendary, somewhat fictional, belonging on the page and the stage rather than on the high seas. The book discriminates and describes the ascertainable facts of real eighteenth-century pirate lives and then investigates how such facts were subsequently transformed artistically, by British and American writers like Defoe, Poe and Stevenson, into realistic and fantastic fictions of various kinds: historical novels, popular melodramas, boyish adventures, Hollywood films. The aim is to watch, in other words, the long dissolve from Captain Kidd to Johnny Depp.
