Katie Halsey – författare

The History of Reading offers an engaging, accessible overview from the rise of literacy through to the current trend of ‘book clubs’. Divided into seven sections, each with a useful introduction, this Reader:summarises the main debates and perspectives shaping the field introduces key theorists such as Iser, Fish and Bakhtin surveys influential works and outlines important studies on mass reading focuses on specific communities such as Welsh miners, African American library users and Australian convicts looks at individual readers from a variety of countries, classes and historical periods considers current research in the history of reading. Providing both a clear introduction to the history of the field and a taster of the breadth, diversity and vitality of current debates, this Reader is an essential resource for undergraduates, graduates, and researchers.

The History of Reading offers an engaging, accessible overview from the rise of literacy through to the current trend of ‘book clubs’. Divided into seven sections, each with a useful introduction, this Reader:summarises the main debates and perspectives shaping the field introduces key theorists such as Iser, Fish and Bakhtin surveys influential works and outlines important studies on mass reading focuses on specific communities such as Welsh miners, African American library users and Australian convicts looks at individual readers from a variety of countries, classes and historical periods considers current research in the history of reading. Providing both a clear introduction to the history of the field and a taster of the breadth, diversity and vitality of current debates, this Reader is an essential resource for undergraduates, graduates, and researchers.

‘Jane Austen and her Readers, 1786–1945’ is a study of the history of reading Jane Austen’s novels. It discusses Austen’s own ideas about books and readers, the uses she makes of her reading, and the aspects of her style that are related to the ways in which she has been read. The volume considers the role of editions and criticism in directing readers’ responses, and presents and analyses a variety of source material related to the ordinary readers who read Austen’s works between 1786 and 1945.

This book examines conceptions of authority for and in Shakespeare, and the construction of Shakespeare as literary and cultural authority.

This book examines conceptions of authority for and in Shakespeare, and the construction of Shakespeare as literary and cultural authority. The first section, Defining and Redefining Authority, begins by re-defining the concept of Shakespeare’s sources, suggesting that ‘authorities’ and ‘resources’ are more appropriate terms. Building on this conceptual framework, the remainder of this section explores linguistic and discursive authority more broadly. The second section, Shakespearean Authority, considers the construction, performance and questioning of authority in Shakespeare’s plays. Essays here range from examinations of monarchical authority to discussions of household authority, literary authority and linguistic ownership. The final part, Shakespeare as Authority, then traces the increasing establishment of Shakespeare as an authority from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century in a series of essays that explore Shakespearean authority for editors, actors, critics, authors, readers and audiences. The volume concludes with two essays that reassess Shakespeare as an authority for visual culture – in the cinema and in contemporary art.

‘Jane Austen and her Readers, 1786–1945’ is a study of the history of reading Jane Austen’s novels. It discusses Austen’s own ideas about books and readers, the uses she makes of her reading, and the aspects of her style that are related to the ways in which she has been read. The volume considers the role of editions and criticism in directing readers’ responses, and presents and analyses a variety of source material related to the ordinary readers who read Austen’s works between 1786 and 1945.