TIM FARRANT
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198151975
- eISBN:
- 9780191710247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151975.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the purpose of this book, which is to explore Balzac's short stories in the light of their genesis, as individual fictional entities, in relation ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the purpose of this book, which is to explore Balzac's short stories in the light of their genesis, as individual fictional entities, in relation to others, and in the context of his work's overall development. Short stories make up over half La Comédie humaine, in addition to the thirty published Contes drolatiques, and scores of other narratives and newspaper articles. Balzac's writing career began with short fiction — the first trace of narrative in his work is an anecdote — and ended with it, to all intents and purposes, in what are vastly expanded stories, Le Cousin Pons and La Cousine Bette.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the purpose of this book, which is to explore Balzac's short stories in the light of their genesis, as individual fictional entities, in relation to others, and in the context of his work's overall development. Short stories make up over half La Comédie humaine, in addition to the thirty published Contes drolatiques, and scores of other narratives and newspaper articles. Balzac's writing career began with short fiction — the first trace of narrative in his work is an anecdote — and ended with it, to all intents and purposes, in what are vastly expanded stories, Le Cousin Pons and La Cousine Bette.
Tim Farrant
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198151975
- eISBN:
- 9780191710247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151975.003.0016
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. The first half of Balzac's career was a general movement from conte to novel; the remainder, a development of the conte alongside and within the novel. ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. The first half of Balzac's career was a general movement from conte to novel; the remainder, a development of the conte alongside and within the novel. But, in absolute terms, there is no end to Balzac's brevities. They are present in the contes and nouvelles of the Comédie; in innumerable articles and scenes; and in the bite-sized units of even his longest works. The relation between petit and grand, between shorter and longer fiction, lies at the heart of his opus. Short fiction, far from being a transient phenomenon, is the cradle and crucible of Balzac's enterprise: it is the Urform of his creation as a whole.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. The first half of Balzac's career was a general movement from conte to novel; the remainder, a development of the conte alongside and within the novel. But, in absolute terms, there is no end to Balzac's brevities. They are present in the contes and nouvelles of the Comédie; in innumerable articles and scenes; and in the bite-sized units of even his longest works. The relation between petit and grand, between shorter and longer fiction, lies at the heart of his opus. Short fiction, far from being a transient phenomenon, is the cradle and crucible of Balzac's enterprise: it is the Urform of his creation as a whole.
Andrew Bennett
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074875
- eISBN:
- 9781781702420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074875.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter considers the problem of literary ignorance using the perspective of the nature of narrative form. It studies the narrative form of Joseph Conrad's short stories, and suggests that a ...
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This chapter considers the problem of literary ignorance using the perspective of the nature of narrative form. It studies the narrative form of Joseph Conrad's short stories, and suggests that a literary agnoiology would be partly able to account for the problem of Conrad's fiction and its relation to his life. The chapter notes that the inability to see – which is, in this sense, nescience – is natural not only to the thematics of Conrad's ‘short’ fiction and to his life, but also to the process of composition, the nature of short-story writing and to Conrad's poetics of the short and long story.Less
This chapter considers the problem of literary ignorance using the perspective of the nature of narrative form. It studies the narrative form of Joseph Conrad's short stories, and suggests that a literary agnoiology would be partly able to account for the problem of Conrad's fiction and its relation to his life. The chapter notes that the inability to see – which is, in this sense, nescience – is natural not only to the thematics of Conrad's ‘short’ fiction and to his life, but also to the process of composition, the nature of short-story writing and to Conrad's poetics of the short and long story.
Catherine Clay
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474412537
- eISBN:
- 9781474445054
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474412537.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
This chapter examines the short fiction content of the feminist weekly Time and Tide alongside readers’ letters printed in the periodical’s correspondence columns. A basic unit of magazine production ...
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This chapter examines the short fiction content of the feminist weekly Time and Tide alongside readers’ letters printed in the periodical’s correspondence columns. A basic unit of magazine production the short story is also ‘definitional to modernism’ (Armstrong 2005: 52), and during the interwar period its status as commodity or art became the subject of increasing scrutiny and debate. Drawing on examples from amateur writers and well-known figures such as E. M. Delafield, the chapter explores how Time and Tide negotiated readers’ expectations for short fiction amongst its core target audience of women readers. Building on Fionnuala Dillane’s application of affect theory to periodical studies (2016), the chapter uses her concept of ‘discursive disruption’ to consider moments of conflict between Time and Tide and its readers over the short stories it published as moments of opportunity for the periodical to expand its scope, readership and brow, and renegotiate its position in the literary marketplace.Less
This chapter examines the short fiction content of the feminist weekly Time and Tide alongside readers’ letters printed in the periodical’s correspondence columns. A basic unit of magazine production the short story is also ‘definitional to modernism’ (Armstrong 2005: 52), and during the interwar period its status as commodity or art became the subject of increasing scrutiny and debate. Drawing on examples from amateur writers and well-known figures such as E. M. Delafield, the chapter explores how Time and Tide negotiated readers’ expectations for short fiction amongst its core target audience of women readers. Building on Fionnuala Dillane’s application of affect theory to periodical studies (2016), the chapter uses her concept of ‘discursive disruption’ to consider moments of conflict between Time and Tide and its readers over the short stories it published as moments of opportunity for the periodical to expand its scope, readership and brow, and renegotiate its position in the literary marketplace.
Jack Fennell
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781781381199
- eISBN:
- 9781781384879
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781381199.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This book revisits a critical paradigm that has often been overlooked or dismissed by science fiction scholars - namely, that science fiction can be understood in terms of myth. For the purposes of ...
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This book revisits a critical paradigm that has often been overlooked or dismissed by science fiction scholars - namely, that science fiction can be understood in terms of myth. For the purposes of this study, ‘myth’ is defined as an explanatory narrative, and this book builds upon the theory that myth is functionally similar to science: both are concerned with filling in ‘gaps’ in what is known, though the former fills those gaps with cultural logics (or ‘common sense’) while the latter uses testable hypotheses. Science fiction springs from pseudo-science rather than ‘proper’ science, because pseudo-science is more easily converted into narrative; in this book it is argued that different cultures produce distinct pseudo-sciences, and thus, unique science fiction traditions. This framework is used to examine Irish science fiction from the 1850s to the present day, covering material written both in Irish and in English. The author considers science fiction novels and short stories in their historical context, analysing a body of literature that has largely been ignored by Irish literature researchers. This is the first book to focus exclusively on Irish science fiction, and the first to consider Irish-language stories and novels alongside works published in English.Less
This book revisits a critical paradigm that has often been overlooked or dismissed by science fiction scholars - namely, that science fiction can be understood in terms of myth. For the purposes of this study, ‘myth’ is defined as an explanatory narrative, and this book builds upon the theory that myth is functionally similar to science: both are concerned with filling in ‘gaps’ in what is known, though the former fills those gaps with cultural logics (or ‘common sense’) while the latter uses testable hypotheses. Science fiction springs from pseudo-science rather than ‘proper’ science, because pseudo-science is more easily converted into narrative; in this book it is argued that different cultures produce distinct pseudo-sciences, and thus, unique science fiction traditions. This framework is used to examine Irish science fiction from the 1850s to the present day, covering material written both in Irish and in English. The author considers science fiction novels and short stories in their historical context, analysing a body of literature that has largely been ignored by Irish literature researchers. This is the first book to focus exclusively on Irish science fiction, and the first to consider Irish-language stories and novels alongside works published in English.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804768740
- eISBN:
- 9780804776233
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804768740.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
This chapter explores the impact of magazine publishing in the final decade of the nineteenth century on Henry James's short stories in terms of material appearance, content, and composition. It ...
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This chapter explores the impact of magazine publishing in the final decade of the nineteenth century on Henry James's short stories in terms of material appearance, content, and composition. It looks at the scope of technological advances in print culture during the period by presenting a sampling of illustrations for James's short fiction from the late 1860s through the early 1890s. It then examines the hermeneutic implications of this “magazine revolution” for the analysis of James's short fiction by offering four case studies of his illustrated tales of the 1890s. The chapter discusses the ways in which magazines imagined their reader-spectators, along with the uneasy relationship of James's fiction with the editorial practices of the specialty venues and advertising-sponsored forums in which it appeared. Finally, it considers how these circumstances affected the subjects and structures of James's later stories about authors and artists.Less
This chapter explores the impact of magazine publishing in the final decade of the nineteenth century on Henry James's short stories in terms of material appearance, content, and composition. It looks at the scope of technological advances in print culture during the period by presenting a sampling of illustrations for James's short fiction from the late 1860s through the early 1890s. It then examines the hermeneutic implications of this “magazine revolution” for the analysis of James's short fiction by offering four case studies of his illustrated tales of the 1890s. The chapter discusses the ways in which magazines imagined their reader-spectators, along with the uneasy relationship of James's fiction with the editorial practices of the specialty venues and advertising-sponsored forums in which it appeared. Finally, it considers how these circumstances affected the subjects and structures of James's later stories about authors and artists.
TIM FARRANT
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198151975
- eISBN:
- 9780191710247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151975.003.0013
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter shows that Balzac’s shorter fictions in the period 1838–1841 embody manifold tensions: between the individual and the type, the centrifugal and the centripetal, between the cohesion and ...
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This chapter shows that Balzac’s shorter fictions in the period 1838–1841 embody manifold tensions: between the individual and the type, the centrifugal and the centripetal, between the cohesion and self-containedness of single narratives, and that of the creation as a whole. Such dichotomies, fostered by the modes of production and publication of Balzac’s creation post-1840, answer those between univocal morality, and plurivocal relativism brought by narrative fragmentation and prolongation in serialized works, and by the use of recurring characters. The year 1842 was to see the inauguration of La Comédie humaine: within its overarching and ostensibly single and unifying structure, these conflicting yet complementary characteristics were to be laid out. The mosaic was to become a monument. Or rather, a monumental mosaic.Less
This chapter shows that Balzac’s shorter fictions in the period 1838–1841 embody manifold tensions: between the individual and the type, the centrifugal and the centripetal, between the cohesion and self-containedness of single narratives, and that of the creation as a whole. Such dichotomies, fostered by the modes of production and publication of Balzac’s creation post-1840, answer those between univocal morality, and plurivocal relativism brought by narrative fragmentation and prolongation in serialized works, and by the use of recurring characters. The year 1842 was to see the inauguration of La Comédie humaine: within its overarching and ostensibly single and unifying structure, these conflicting yet complementary characteristics were to be laid out. The mosaic was to become a monument. Or rather, a monumental mosaic.
Gary Westfahl
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037801
- eISBN:
- 9780252095085
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037801.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter discusses William Gibson's short fiction. Among Gibson's early short stories are “Fragments of a Hologram Rose” (1977), which introduces the theme of virtual reality; “The Gernsback ...
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This chapter discusses William Gibson's short fiction. Among Gibson's early short stories are “Fragments of a Hologram Rose” (1977), which introduces the theme of virtual reality; “The Gernsback Continuum” (1981), his first metafictional consideration of science fiction and its effects; “Johnny Mnemonic” (1981), which first involves the underworld of the Sprawl, the vast megalopolis stretching down America's East Coast; and “Burning Chrome” (1982), which adds the ingredient of cyberspace. “The Gernsback Continuum” pays fond tribute to the prophecies of science fiction writers and futurists of the 1920s and 1930s, and ponders how their visions still influence residents of a future they failed to predict. This chapter examines other Gibson stories, including “The Belonging Kind” (1981, with John Shirley), “Hinterlands” (1981), “The Winter Market” (1985), “Doing Television” (1990), and “Thirteen Views of a Cardboard City” (1997).Less
This chapter discusses William Gibson's short fiction. Among Gibson's early short stories are “Fragments of a Hologram Rose” (1977), which introduces the theme of virtual reality; “The Gernsback Continuum” (1981), his first metafictional consideration of science fiction and its effects; “Johnny Mnemonic” (1981), which first involves the underworld of the Sprawl, the vast megalopolis stretching down America's East Coast; and “Burning Chrome” (1982), which adds the ingredient of cyberspace. “The Gernsback Continuum” pays fond tribute to the prophecies of science fiction writers and futurists of the 1920s and 1930s, and ponders how their visions still influence residents of a future they failed to predict. This chapter examines other Gibson stories, including “The Belonging Kind” (1981, with John Shirley), “Hinterlands” (1981), “The Winter Market” (1985), “Doing Television” (1990), and “Thirteen Views of a Cardboard City” (1997).
John Robert Keller
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719063121
- eISBN:
- 9781781700297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719063121.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter discusses first-person short fiction. It studies the primal splits within the narrative-self in the direct fiction, as well as those in the ‘created’ tales of the narrator. It starts ...
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This chapter discusses first-person short fiction. It studies the primal splits within the narrative-self in the direct fiction, as well as those in the ‘created’ tales of the narrator. It starts with a section on the split of the primary nursing bond in the Nouvelles and in the Texts for Nothing. It is followed by a discussion of the central feeling-states found within the Nouvelles and how the narrator experiences aspects of the self as threatening or even hostile, as stated in Texts for Nothing. This chapter also aims to explain the hidden and unfulfilled sense of the narrative self. It also examines the use of projective identification and the splitting of the narrative-self in ‘The Lost Ones’.Less
This chapter discusses first-person short fiction. It studies the primal splits within the narrative-self in the direct fiction, as well as those in the ‘created’ tales of the narrator. It starts with a section on the split of the primary nursing bond in the Nouvelles and in the Texts for Nothing. It is followed by a discussion of the central feeling-states found within the Nouvelles and how the narrator experiences aspects of the self as threatening or even hostile, as stated in Texts for Nothing. This chapter also aims to explain the hidden and unfulfilled sense of the narrative self. It also examines the use of projective identification and the splitting of the narrative-self in ‘The Lost Ones’.
Dougal Mcneill
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199679775
- eISBN:
- 9780191869778
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199679775.003.0030
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature, Prose (inc. letters, diaries)
This chapter discusses the history of the short story in Aotearoa/New Zealand, arguing that the genre's cultural centrality is, from 1950, displaced at the very moment its literary viability becomes ...
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This chapter discusses the history of the short story in Aotearoa/New Zealand, arguing that the genre's cultural centrality is, from 1950, displaced at the very moment its literary viability becomes assured. It considers how shifts in publishing practices and audience consumption patterns allowed all manner of literary writing, short fiction included, to flourish. The chapter examines the development of Pākehā short fiction during the periods 1950–1968 and it traces the parallel development of Maōri short fiction after 1950, and how the journal Te Ao Hou (1952–1976) promoted Maōri writing in English which has flourished since the 1970s. Finally, it shows how the New Zealand short story has fared in the 1980s and beyond.Less
This chapter discusses the history of the short story in Aotearoa/New Zealand, arguing that the genre's cultural centrality is, from 1950, displaced at the very moment its literary viability becomes assured. It considers how shifts in publishing practices and audience consumption patterns allowed all manner of literary writing, short fiction included, to flourish. The chapter examines the development of Pākehā short fiction during the periods 1950–1968 and it traces the parallel development of Maōri short fiction after 1950, and how the journal Te Ao Hou (1952–1976) promoted Maōri writing in English which has flourished since the 1970s. Finally, it shows how the New Zealand short story has fared in the 1980s and beyond.
Adrian Hunter
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198749394
- eISBN:
- 9780191869754
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198749394.003.0018
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature, Prose (inc. letters, diaries)
This chapter considers shorter forms of fiction. It looks at some prominent arguments on the case for brevity and the modern subject. Some commentators such as Frank O’Connor, H. E. Bates, and ...
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This chapter considers shorter forms of fiction. It looks at some prominent arguments on the case for brevity and the modern subject. Some commentators such as Frank O’Connor, H. E. Bates, and Elizabeth Bowen — all fine practitioners of the short story and its most astute critics at mid-century — suggested that short forms, by dint of their shortness, had a unique capacity to represent the lived condition of modernity. All these commentators appear to argue the same thing: that short stories are better adapted to the cultural moment of technological modernity than are long ones. They also predict great things for them.Less
This chapter considers shorter forms of fiction. It looks at some prominent arguments on the case for brevity and the modern subject. Some commentators such as Frank O’Connor, H. E. Bates, and Elizabeth Bowen — all fine practitioners of the short story and its most astute critics at mid-century — suggested that short forms, by dint of their shortness, had a unique capacity to represent the lived condition of modernity. All these commentators appear to argue the same thing: that short stories are better adapted to the cultural moment of technological modernity than are long ones. They also predict great things for them.
Kelley Conway
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039720
- eISBN:
- 9780252097829
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039720.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Both a precursor to and a critical member of the French New Wave, Agnès Varda weaves documentary and fiction into tapestries that portray distinctive places and complex human beings. Critics and ...
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Both a precursor to and a critical member of the French New Wave, Agnès Varda weaves documentary and fiction into tapestries that portray distinctive places and complex human beings. Critics and aficionados have celebrated Varda's independence and originality since the New Wave touchstone Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) brought her a level of international acclaim she has yet to relinquish. The book traces Varda's works from her 1954 debut La Pointe Courte through a varied career that includes nonfiction and fiction shorts and features, installation art, and the triumphant 2008 documentary The Beaches of Agnès. Drawing on Varda's archives and conversations with the filmmaker, the book focuses on the concrete details of how Varda makes films: a project's emergence, its development and the shifting forms of its screenplay, the search for financing, and the execution from casting through editing and exhibition. In the process, it explores the artistic consistencies and bold changes in Varda's career and reveals how one woman charted a nontraditional trajectory through independent filmmaking. The result is a book that reveals the artistic consistencies and bold changes in the career of one of the world's most exuberant and intriguing directors.Less
Both a precursor to and a critical member of the French New Wave, Agnès Varda weaves documentary and fiction into tapestries that portray distinctive places and complex human beings. Critics and aficionados have celebrated Varda's independence and originality since the New Wave touchstone Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) brought her a level of international acclaim she has yet to relinquish. The book traces Varda's works from her 1954 debut La Pointe Courte through a varied career that includes nonfiction and fiction shorts and features, installation art, and the triumphant 2008 documentary The Beaches of Agnès. Drawing on Varda's archives and conversations with the filmmaker, the book focuses on the concrete details of how Varda makes films: a project's emergence, its development and the shifting forms of its screenplay, the search for financing, and the execution from casting through editing and exhibition. In the process, it explores the artistic consistencies and bold changes in Varda's career and reveals how one woman charted a nontraditional trajectory through independent filmmaking. The result is a book that reveals the artistic consistencies and bold changes in the career of one of the world's most exuberant and intriguing directors.
W. H. New
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199679775
- eISBN:
- 9780191869778
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199679775.003.0025
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature, Prose (inc. letters, diaries)
This chapter discusses the history of short fiction in Canada. The first decade of the twenty-first century witnessed several social changes that affected the publication of short stories in Canada. ...
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This chapter discusses the history of short fiction in Canada. The first decade of the twenty-first century witnessed several social changes that affected the publication of short stories in Canada. Electronic media began to impinge on print media, and bookstores, especially the small independents, were forced to shut down due to competition from big box stores, online companies, and electronic downloading practices. The chapter examines important developments that contributed to the growth of the Canadian short story, including the establishment in 1970-71 of the Montreal Storytellers Fiction Performance Group and the publication in 1985 of the first collection of contemporary Canadian speculative fiction, Tesseracts, edited by Judith Merril. It also considers works by late twentieth-century writers, who focused on post-nationalism, third-wave feminism, post-realism, and post-temporality.Less
This chapter discusses the history of short fiction in Canada. The first decade of the twenty-first century witnessed several social changes that affected the publication of short stories in Canada. Electronic media began to impinge on print media, and bookstores, especially the small independents, were forced to shut down due to competition from big box stores, online companies, and electronic downloading practices. The chapter examines important developments that contributed to the growth of the Canadian short story, including the establishment in 1970-71 of the Montreal Storytellers Fiction Performance Group and the publication in 1985 of the first collection of contemporary Canadian speculative fiction, Tesseracts, edited by Judith Merril. It also considers works by late twentieth-century writers, who focused on post-nationalism, third-wave feminism, post-realism, and post-temporality.
George Slusser
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038228
- eISBN:
- 9780252096037
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038228.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter focuses on Gregory Benford's short fiction. The short story is widely considered the essential form for science fiction (SF). Indeed, many of the most esteemed SF novels began as an ...
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This chapter focuses on Gregory Benford's short fiction. The short story is widely considered the essential form for science fiction (SF). Indeed, many of the most esteemed SF novels began as an idea-packed short story, which the author subsequently elaborates (often with less success) into a larger narrative. Since his first published story “Stand In” appeared in 1965 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Benford has published a large number of short stories in magazines and in anthologies. He collected many of his best stories in two landmark volumes, In Alien Flesh (1986) and Matter's End, followed by three more recent anthologies: Worlds Vast and Various (1999), Immersion and Other Short Novels (2002), and Anomalies: Collected Stories (2012). This chapter examines two of Benford's short stories, “Exposures” (1981) and “Mozart on Morphine” (1989).Less
This chapter focuses on Gregory Benford's short fiction. The short story is widely considered the essential form for science fiction (SF). Indeed, many of the most esteemed SF novels began as an idea-packed short story, which the author subsequently elaborates (often with less success) into a larger narrative. Since his first published story “Stand In” appeared in 1965 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Benford has published a large number of short stories in magazines and in anthologies. He collected many of his best stories in two landmark volumes, In Alien Flesh (1986) and Matter's End, followed by three more recent anthologies: Worlds Vast and Various (1999), Immersion and Other Short Novels (2002), and Anomalies: Collected Stories (2012). This chapter examines two of Benford's short stories, “Exposures” (1981) and “Mozart on Morphine” (1989).
Lamed Shapiro
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300110692
- eISBN:
- 9780300134698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300110692.003.0013
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This chapter presents the text of Lamed Shapiro's short fiction titled Between the Fields. It explains that the story is about a locomotive that accidentally destroyed a cornfield after its rail was ...
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This chapter presents the text of Lamed Shapiro's short fiction titled Between the Fields. It explains that the story is about a locomotive that accidentally destroyed a cornfield after its rail was disconnected.Less
This chapter presents the text of Lamed Shapiro's short fiction titled Between the Fields. It explains that the story is about a locomotive that accidentally destroyed a cornfield after its rail was disconnected.
Elizabeth Webby
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199679775
- eISBN:
- 9780191869778
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199679775.003.0020
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature, Prose (inc. letters, diaries)
This chapter examines the history of the short story in Australia. Australia's tradition of short fiction writing dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. In the days when Australian novels were ...
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This chapter examines the history of the short story in Australia. Australia's tradition of short fiction writing dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. In the days when Australian novels were mainly published in England, the short story was a source of income for many authors. By the 1950s, the type of realist story favoured by Henry Lawson — using a colloquial, usually male, voice and featuring working-class characters and bush settings — had been established as the Australian tradition. The chapter first considers short stories written in the 1950s and 1960s, which reflect versions of realism and modernism, before discussing works published in the 1970s and 1980s that deal with postmodernism and feminism. It also looks at short stories published since the 1990s, such as Gail Jones' The House of Breathing, Tony Birch's Father's Day (2009), and Cate Kennedy's Like a House on Fire (2012).Less
This chapter examines the history of the short story in Australia. Australia's tradition of short fiction writing dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. In the days when Australian novels were mainly published in England, the short story was a source of income for many authors. By the 1950s, the type of realist story favoured by Henry Lawson — using a colloquial, usually male, voice and featuring working-class characters and bush settings — had been established as the Australian tradition. The chapter first considers short stories written in the 1950s and 1960s, which reflect versions of realism and modernism, before discussing works published in the 1970s and 1980s that deal with postmodernism and feminism. It also looks at short stories published since the 1990s, such as Gail Jones' The House of Breathing, Tony Birch's Father's Day (2009), and Cate Kennedy's Like a House on Fire (2012).
Lamed Shapiro
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300110692
- eISBN:
- 9780300134698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300110692.003.0012
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This chapter presents the text of Lamed Shapiro's short fiction titled The Man and His Servant. It explains that the story is about a man in a wheelchair being pushed by his young servant. It ...
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This chapter presents the text of Lamed Shapiro's short fiction titled The Man and His Servant. It explains that the story is about a man in a wheelchair being pushed by his young servant. It highlights the people's fear for this man and mentions that he never talks to his servant. It also discusses the servant's “fight for freedom”.Less
This chapter presents the text of Lamed Shapiro's short fiction titled The Man and His Servant. It explains that the story is about a man in a wheelchair being pushed by his young servant. It highlights the people's fear for this man and mentions that he never talks to his servant. It also discusses the servant's “fight for freedom”.
Gwyneth Jones
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780853237839
- eISBN:
- 9781786945389
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780853237839.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
‘Dreamer: An Exercise in Extrapolation 1989-2019’ was first commissioned by British Telecom Information Technology Systems Division in 1988. Writing in the late 80s, the essay analyses the ways in ...
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‘Dreamer: An Exercise in Extrapolation 1989-2019’ was first commissioned by British Telecom Information Technology Systems Division in 1988. Writing in the late 80s, the essay analyses the ways in which science fiction writing attempts to build a future based off what is known about the world from both the present and the past. To establish her argument, Jones references science fiction texts that discuss America’s imaginary future while drawing on it’s past, i.e. the Vietnam War. The essay concludes with the short story Dreamers.Less
‘Dreamer: An Exercise in Extrapolation 1989-2019’ was first commissioned by British Telecom Information Technology Systems Division in 1988. Writing in the late 80s, the essay analyses the ways in which science fiction writing attempts to build a future based off what is known about the world from both the present and the past. To establish her argument, Jones references science fiction texts that discuss America’s imaginary future while drawing on it’s past, i.e. the Vietnam War. The essay concludes with the short story Dreamers.
Lamed Shapiro
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300110692
- eISBN:
- 9780300134698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300110692.003.0014
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This chapter presents the text of Lamed Shapiro's short fiction titled Myrtle. It explains that the story is about answers to questions. It suggests that there can be a thousand replies to a thousand ...
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This chapter presents the text of Lamed Shapiro's short fiction titled Myrtle. It explains that the story is about answers to questions. It suggests that there can be a thousand replies to a thousand questions but only the correctly asked question carries an answer in itself.Less
This chapter presents the text of Lamed Shapiro's short fiction titled Myrtle. It explains that the story is about answers to questions. It suggests that there can be a thousand replies to a thousand questions but only the correctly asked question carries an answer in itself.
Leah Garrett
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300110692
- eISBN:
- 9780300134698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300110692.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the short fiction of American-Yiddish writer Lamed Shapiro. This volume presents some of Shapiro's works in a thematic ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the short fiction of American-Yiddish writer Lamed Shapiro. This volume presents some of Shapiro's works in a thematic passion. It suggests that Shapiro's theme of sexual violence may owe something to still another literary trend popular in the years when he was coming of age and that his writings graphically render the struggle of the modern Jew thrust into a desperate search for meaning at the very moment when the traditional community is decaying from within and threatened by destruction from without.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the short fiction of American-Yiddish writer Lamed Shapiro. This volume presents some of Shapiro's works in a thematic passion. It suggests that Shapiro's theme of sexual violence may owe something to still another literary trend popular in the years when he was coming of age and that his writings graphically render the struggle of the modern Jew thrust into a desperate search for meaning at the very moment when the traditional community is decaying from within and threatened by destruction from without.
