Josie Billington – författare

The Literary Agenda is a series of short polemical monographs about the importance of literature and of reading in the wider world and about the state of literary education inside schools and universities. The category of ''the literary'' has always been contentious. What is clear, however, is how increasingly it is dismissed or is unrecognised as a way of thinking or an arena for thought. It is sceptically challenged from within, for example, by the sometimes rival claims of cultural history, contextualized explanation, or media studies. It is shaken from without by even greater pressures: by economic exigency and the severe social attitudes that can follow from it; by technological change that may leave the traditional forms of serious human communication looking merely antiquated. For just these reasons this is the right time for renewal, to start reinvigorated work into the meaning and value of literary reading. Medical Humanities comprises disciplines as diverse as literature, the visual and performing arts, the history of medicine, bioethics. It claims a vast range of philosophical and political agendas, goals and purposes, including the education of medical students in areas of clinical empathy, critical thinking, ethical awareness, gender and race issues and cross-cultural medicine. Josie Billington argues that in so far as literature is offered as adding value to medical education in health training and practice, that defence tends to become instrumental in nature, whether consciously and explicitly, or otherwise. This book is interested, more widely, in the power of the arts as a remedial force. Following an introduction surveying the idea of the Medical Humanities, its history, and its development, the book''s four chapters will look at illness and health as defined in medical terms and as complicated within the field of imaginative literature; at narrative and storytelling within the therapeutic meeting of medical and literary approaches; at reading groups and private reading, considering contemporary models of literary reading as a template for redefining literature''s place and power not only within the discipline of Medical Humanities but within the wider world in relation to concerns of mental wellbeing that affect us all.

The Literary Agenda is a series of short polemical monographs about the importance of literature and of reading in the wider world and about the state of literary education inside schools and universities. The category of ''the literary'' has always been contentious. What is clear, however, is how increasingly it is dismissed or is unrecognised as a way of thinking or an arena for thought. It is sceptically challenged from within, for example, by the sometimes rival claims of cultural history, contextualized explanation, or media studies. It is shaken from without by even greater pressures: by economic exigency and the severe social attitudes that can follow from it; by technological change that may leave the traditional forms of serious human communication looking merely antiquated. For just these reasons this is the right time for renewal, to start reinvigorated work into the meaning and value of literary reading. Medical Humanities comprises disciplines as diverse as literature, the visual and performing arts, the history of medicine, bioethics. It claims a vast range of philosophical and political agendas, goals and purposes, including the education of medical students in areas of clinical empathy, critical thinking, ethical awareness, gender and race issues and cross-cultural medicine. Josie Billington argues that in so far as literature is offered as adding value to medical education in health training and practice, that defence tends to become instrumental in nature, whether consciously and explicitly, or otherwise. This book is interested, more widely, in the power of the arts as a remedial force. Following an introduction surveying the idea of the Medical Humanities, its history, and its development, the book''s four chapters will look at illness and health as defined in medical terms and as complicated within the field of imaginative literature; at narrative and storytelling within the therapeutic meeting of medical and literary approaches; at reading groups and private reading, considering contemporary models of literary reading as a template for redefining literature''s place and power not only within the discipline of Medical Humanities but within the wider world in relation to concerns of mental wellbeing that affect us all.

This volume in the 21st Century Oxford Authors series offers students and readers a comprehensive selection of the work of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861). Accompanied by full scholarly apparatus, this authoritative edition enables students to study Barrett Browning''s work within the rich context of her life and writing career. The revaluation of Elizabeth Barrett Browning''s work by feminist scholars has made her an established author in university syllabuses in Britain and in America. Yet the reception of Barrett Browning as a writer within an explicitly female tradition has tended to limit the appreciation of her wider contribution to English literary culture in the nineteenth century, just as her popular image as a ringleted romantic heroine served sentimentally to eclipse her role as a literary pioneer. This edition complements or corrects these emphases by being the first edition dedicated to witnessing the progress and growth of the poet''s creative direction--from her juvenilia through to her major achievements and beyond. The selection of works presented here appear in the order in which they were originally published, enabling students and readers to experience the contours of Barrett Browning''s poetic career. Thus, following selections from published juvenilia, The Battle of Marathon (1820) and ''An Essay on Mind'' and Other Poems (1826) and from ''Prometheus Bound'' and Miscellaneous Poems (1833), there are more extensive selections from ''The Seraphim'' and Other Poems (1838), from Poems 1844 and from Poems 1850 including the full text of Sonnets from the Portuguese. Substantial excerpts from Casa Guidi Windows (1851) is followed by the full text of Aurora Leigh (1857) and by selections from the posthumous Last Poems (1862). These individual sections are supplemented by careful selections (also chronologically ordered) from the correspondence, including the courtship letters with Robert Browning, and, where applicable, from poetry unpublished in the nineteenth century.Explanatory notes and commentary are included, to enhance the study, understanding, and enjoyment of these works, and the edition includes an Introduction to the life and works of Barrett Browning, and a Chronology.

The Literary Agenda is a series of short polemical monographs about the importance of literature and of reading in the wider world and about the state of literary education inside schools and universities. The category of 'the literary' has always been contentious. What is clear, however, is how increasingly it is dismissed or is unrecognised as a way of thinking or an arena for thought. It is sceptically challenged from within, for example, by the sometimes rival claims of cultural history, contextualized explanation, or media studies. It is shaken from without by even greater pressures: by economic exigency and the severe social attitudes that can follow from it; by technological change that may leave the traditional forms of serious human communication looking merely antiquated. For just these reasons this is the right time for renewal, to start reinvigorated work into the meaning and value of literary reading. Medical Humanities comprises disciplines as diverse as literature, the visual and performing arts, the history of medicine, bioethics. It claims a vast range of philosophical and political agendas, goals and purposes, including the education of medical students in areas of clinical empathy, critical thinking, ethical awareness, gender and race issues and cross-cultural medicine. Josie Billington argues that in so far as literature is offered as adding value to medical education in health training and practice, that defence tends to become instrumental in nature, whether consciously and explicitly, or otherwise. This book is interested, more widely, in the power of the arts as a remedial force. Following an introduction surveying the idea of the Medical Humanities, its history, and its development, the book's four chapters will look at illness and health as defined in medical terms and as complicated within the field of imaginative literature; at narrative and storytelling within the therapeutic meeting of medical and literary approaches; at reading groups and private reading, considering contemporary models of literary reading as a template for redefining literature's place and power not only within the discipline of Medical Humanities but within the wider world in relation to concerns of mental wellbeing that affect us all.

This volume in the 21st Century Oxford Authors series offers students and readers a comprehensive selection of the work of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861). Accompanied by full scholarly apparatus, this authoritative edition enables students to study Barrett Browning's work within the rich context of her life and writing career. The revaluation of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's work by feminist scholars has made her an established author in university syllabuses in Britain and in America. Yet the reception of Barrett Browning as a writer within an explicitly female tradition has tended to limit the appreciation of her wider contribution to English literary culture in the nineteenth century, just as her popular image as a ringleted romantic heroine served sentimentally to eclipse her role as a literary pioneer. This edition complements or corrects these emphases by being the first edition dedicated to witnessing the progress and growth of the poet's creative direction--from her juvenilia through to her major achievements and beyond. The selection of works presented here appear in the order in which they were originally published, enabling students and readers to experience the contours of Barrett Browning's poetic career. Thus, following selections from published juvenilia, The Battle of Marathon (1820) and 'An Essay on Mind' and Other Poems (1826) and from 'Prometheus Bound' and Miscellaneous Poems (1833), there are more extensive selections from 'The Seraphim' and Other Poems (1838), from Poems 1844 and from Poems 1850 including the full text of Sonnets from the Portuguese. Substantial excerpts from Casa Guidi Windows (1851) is followed by the full text of Aurora Leigh (1857) and by selections from the posthumous Last Poems (1862). These individual sections are supplemented by careful selections (also chronologically ordered) from the correspondence, including the courtship letters with Robert Browning, and, where applicable, from poetry unpublished in the nineteenth century.Explanatory notes and commentary are included, to enhance the study, understanding, and enjoyment of these works, and the edition includes an Introduction to the life and works of Barrett Browning, and a Chronology.

The Barret Browning volume in the 21st Century Oxford Authors series offers a comprehensive selection of the works of one of the nineteenth-century's most famous poets. The revaluation of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's work by feminist scholars has made her an established (indeed standard) author in university syllabuses in Britain and in America. Yet the emphasis upon her contribution to a female tradition has tended to rigidify Barrett Browning's contribution to English literary culture in the nineteenth century, just as her popular image as ringleted-invalid-turned-romantic-heroine served sentimentally to eclipse her role as a literary pioneer. This edition complements or corrects these emphases by being the first edition dedicated to witnessing the progress and growth of the poet's creative direction - from her juvenilia through to her major achievements and beyond. In keeping with the aims of the series, the selection honours the original sequencing of the published works as the best means of indicating the contours of Barrett Browning's poetic career. Thus, following fairly limited selections from published juvenilia, The Battle of Marathon (1820) and 'An Essay on Mind' and Other Poems (1826) and from 'Prometheus Bound' and Miscellaneous Poems (1833), there are more extensive selections from 'The Seraphim' and Other Poems (1838), from Poems 1844 and from Poems 1850 including the full text of Sonnets from the Portuguese. Substantial excerpts from Casa Guidi Windows (1851) is followed by the full text of Aurora Leigh (1857) and by selections from the posthumous Last Poems (1862). These individual sections are supplemented by careful selections (also chronologically ordered) from the correspondence, including the courtship letters with Robert Browning, and, where applicable, from poetry unpublished in the nineteenth century. The edition comes with full scholarly apparatus (introduction, chronology, explanatory notes), though it follows the series policy of recording only significant variants between editions.

"Middlemarch" is one of the great classic novels of the Victorian age and has also been seen as a key turning point in the history of the genre. George Eliot's novel is widely studied and this guide will provide an introduction to its context, language, themes, criticism and afterlife, leading students to a more sophisticated understanding of the text.It is the ideal guide to reading and studying the novel, setting "Middlemarch" in its historical, intellectual and cultural contexts, offering analyses of its themes, style and structure, providing exemplary close readings, presenting an up-to-date account of its critical reception. It also discusses the cultural afterlife including film and TV adaptations. It includes points for discussion, suggestions for further study and an annotated guide to relevant reading."Continuum" Reader's Guides are clear, concise and accessible introductions to key texts in literature and philosophy. Each book explores the themes, context, criticism and influence of key works, providing a practical introduction to close reading, guiding students towards a thorough understanding of the text.They provide an essential, up-to-date resource, ideal for undergraduate students.

This is the ideal guide to reading and studying this complex and challenging novel."Middlemarch" is one of the great classic novels of the Victorian age and has also been seen as a key turning point in the history of the genre. George Eliot's novel is widely studied and this guide will provide an introduction to its context, language, themes, criticism and afterlife, leading students to a more sophisticated understanding of the text.It is the ideal guide to reading and studying the novel, setting "Middlemarch" in its historical, intellectual and cultural contexts, offering analyses of its themes, style and structure, providing exemplary close readings, presenting an up-to-date account of its critical reception. It also discusses the cultural afterlife including film and TV adaptations. It includes points for discussion, suggestions for further study and an annotated guide to relevant reading."Continuum" Reader's Guides are clear, concise and accessible introductions to key texts in literature and philosophy.Each book explores the themes, context, criticism and influence of key works, providing a practical introduction to close reading, guiding students towards a thorough understanding of the text. They provide an essential, up-to-date resource, ideal for undergraduate students.

For most of the twentieth century the exuberant fluency of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's art was not regarded as worthy of serious attention. Even the evidence for the swiftness of her wit, thought and composition remains more impressionistic

Margaret Oliphant (1828-97) had a prolific literary career that spanned almost fifty years. She wrote some 98 novels, fifty or more short stories, twenty-five works of non-fiction, including biographies and historic guides to European cities, and more than three hundred periodical articles. This is the most ambitious critical edition of her work.

Margaret Oliphant (1828-97) had a prolific literary career that spanned almost fifty years. She wrote some 98 novels, fifty or more short stories, twenty-five works of non-fiction, including biographies and historic guides to European cities, and more than three hundred periodical articles. This is the most ambitious critical edition of her work.

Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (1828-97) is one of the most important writers of the nineteenth century. She was both prolific and wide ranging in her career which spanned half a century. Primarily known as a novelist Mrs Oliphant is of interest to scholars today both for her wide popularity in her prime and her influential position as reviewer and journalist which saw her become an important critical voice for her generation. Her high profile in the literary world led to savage satirical portrayals in works by Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy and Henry James. This is the most ambitious and substantial scholarly edition of Margaret Oliphant''s writings ever undertaken. In six parts and twenty-five volumes all her important fiction plus substantial selections of her criticism and journalism are collected and edited by a prestigious editorial team. The novels contained in Parts V and VI represent some of Margaret Oliphant''s most significant work. Darker and more politically motivated than the more comic Chronicles of Carlingford, they show Oliphant at the height of her writing powers. Money, financial crises and social and sexual inequality all feature strongly in these works which find Oliphant sharply critical of materialistic, late-Victorian culture. They mirror her own experiences as a female professional writer having to support her family single-handedly. They also form some of her most popular and enduring works which gained a wide readership through serialization. The significance of Oliphant as a writer can only be fully appreciated by close study of these novels, which bring to completion this major twenty-five-volume scholarly edition.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

Margaret Oliphant (1828-97) had a prolific literary career that spanned almost fifty years. She wrote some 98 novels, fifty or more short stories, twenty-five works of non-fiction, including biographies and historic guides to European cities, and more than three hundred periodical articles. This is the most ambitious critical edition of her work.

Margaret Oliphant (1828-97) had a prolific literary career that spanned almost fifty years. She wrote some 98 novels, fifty or more short stories, twenty-five works of non-fiction, including biographies and historic guides to European cities, and more than three hundred periodical articles. This is the most ambitious critical edition of her work.This volume includes her 1883 novel The Ladies Lindores with editorial notes by Josie Billington including a new introduction and headnote, giving key information about the book and its publication history.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

A selection of texts by Elizabeth Gaskell, accompanied by annotations. It brings together Gaskell academics to provide readers with scholarship on her work and seeks to bring the crusading spirit and genius of the writer into the 21st century to take her place as a major Victorian writer.

This valuable and insightful study into chronic pain and its treatment advances a striking analysis of the complex phenomenon of chronic pain, also attesting to the importance of the medical humanities in addressing urgent questions that medical science alone cannot resolve.The primary purpose of this book is twofold. First, to demonstrate empirically – against a conceptual background drawn from multiple disciplines and knowledge bases (historical, medical, neurobiological, psychological, socio/anthropological) – how an apparently ‘soft’ intervention such as literary reading can effectively combat symptoms of a condition as intractable as chronic pain. Second, to explore what this evidence tells us about pain (as a lived experience as well as a condition in urgent need of new treatment options) and about literature and the reading of fiction and poetry as therapeutic influences in contemporary health and healthcare, most particularly in alleviating the (often severe) mental health difficulties with which chronic pain is almost universally associated.Based on unique empirical research with people who are living with chronic pain, this book is the first of its kind to demonstrate the value of literature and literary reading both as a discourse for understanding and 'finding' pain and as an intervention in its treatment.

This valuable and insightful study into chronic pain and its treatment advances a striking analysis of the complex phenomenon of chronic pain, also attesting to the importance of the medical humanities in addressing urgent questions that medical science alone cannot resolve. The primary purpose of this book is twofold. First, to demonstrate empirically – against a conceptual background drawn from multiple disciplines and knowledge bases (historical, medical, neurobiological, psychological, socio/anthropological) – how an apparently ''soft'' intervention such as literary reading can effectively combat symptoms of a condition as intractable as chronic pain. Second, to explore what this evidence tells us about pain (as a lived experience as well as a condition in urgent need of new treatment options) and about literature and the reading of fiction and poetry as therapeutic influences in contemporary health and healthcare, most particularly in alleviating the (often severe) mental health difficulties with which chronic pain is almost universally associated. Based on unique empirical research with people who are living with chronic pain, this book is the first of its kind to demonstrate the value of literature and literary reading both as a discourse for understanding and ''finding'' pain and as an intervention in its treatment.

This valuable and insightful study into chronic pain and its treatment advances a striking analysis of the complex phenomenon of chronic pain, also attesting to the importance of the medical humanities in addressing urgent questions that medical science alone cannot resolve. The primary purpose of this book is twofold. First, to demonstrate empirically – against a conceptual background drawn from multiple disciplines and knowledge bases (historical, medical, neurobiological, psychological, socio/anthropological) – how an apparently ''soft'' intervention such as literary reading can effectively combat symptoms of a condition as intractable as chronic pain. Second, to explore what this evidence tells us about pain (as a lived experience as well as a condition in urgent need of new treatment options) and about literature and the reading of fiction and poetry as therapeutic influences in contemporary health and healthcare, most particularly in alleviating the (often severe) mental health difficulties with which chronic pain is almost universally associated. Based on unique empirical research with people who are living with chronic pain, this book is the first of its kind to demonstrate the value of literature and literary reading both as a discourse for understanding and ''finding'' pain and as an intervention in its treatment.