Routledge Library Editions: Modern Fiction – serie

Routledge Library Editions: Modern Fiction (26 volume set) contains titles, originally published between 1977 and 1997. It includes titles on the roles of women in literature, fantasy as a genre, a source guide to science fiction and many titles by renowned academics looking at specific novelists, the progression of their work and how it has been influential within modern fiction. Covering writers such as Iris Murdoch, John le Carré, Doris Lessing, Kurt Vonnegut and others, this collection will be of particular interest to students of literature and literary criticism.

Patrick White is a giant among the moderns. His massive novels, which chart the lonely paths to truth, challenge orthodox notions about fiction and reality. He has created a wholly new kind of prose to embody his prophetic visions of truth and his fierce denunciations of modern society.Originally published in 1984, John Colmer’s study of the Nobel Prize winning Australian novelist was the first to survey all his published works. It differs from earlier studies in using fresh autobiographical material, in revealing the links between the plays and the fiction and in stressing White’s vision of duality rather than his much praised affirmations of harmony. Where previous studies have been exegetical this one is also evaluative. It illustrates the process by which White has come to recognize the necessity for the reintegration of the alienated visionary into society.

Patrick White is a giant among the moderns. His massive novels, which chart the lonely paths to truth, challenge orthodox notions about fiction and reality. He has created a wholly new kind of prose to embody his prophetic visions of truth and his fierce denunciations of modern society.Originally published in 1984, John Colmer’s study of the Nobel Prize winning Australian novelist was the first to survey all his published works. It differs from earlier studies in using fresh autobiographical material, in revealing the links between the plays and the fiction and in stressing White’s vision of duality rather than his much praised affirmations of harmony. Where previous studies have been exegetical this one is also evaluative. It illustrates the process by which White has come to recognize the necessity for the reintegration of the alienated visionary into society.

Published in 1900, Conrad’s Lord Jim can in many ways be seen as the first ‘modern’ novel. This important full study of the book, originally published in 1988, emphasizes the outstanding historical and artistic significance of Conrad’s masterpiece.John Batchelor pursues the ways in which Conrad dramatizes with unprecedented fidelity a relationship between friends and also explores what for Conrad is clearly a central truth about the human condition, namely the inalienable loneliness of man. The book provides a full discussion of the biographical and literary contexts of the novel, making use of the original manuscript and tracing the literary influences and sources of Conrad’s writing. It also considers the novel’s technical innovations, including Conrad’s ‘impressionism’ and its method of dramatization. Further chapters are devoted to a detailed commentary on the text and the book concludes with a study of the novel’s critical reception since its first publication.This volume will be essential reading for all students of literature and particularly for those with an interest in Conrad’s place in the development of modern fiction.

Published in 1900, Conrad’s Lord Jim can in many ways be seen as the first ‘modern’ novel. This important full study of the book, originally published in 1988, emphasizes the outstanding historical and artistic significance of Conrad’s masterpiece.John Batchelor pursues the ways in which Conrad dramatizes with unprecedented fidelity a relationship between friends and also explores what for Conrad is clearly a central truth about the human condition, namely the inalienable loneliness of man. The book provides a full discussion of the biographical and literary contexts of the novel, making use of the original manuscript and tracing the literary influences and sources of Conrad’s writing. It also considers the novel’s technical innovations, including Conrad’s ‘impressionism’ and its method of dramatization. Further chapters are devoted to a detailed commentary on the text and the book concludes with a study of the novel’s critical reception since its first publication.This volume will be essential reading for all students of literature and particularly for those with an interest in Conrad’s place in the development of modern fiction.

Margaret Drabble is a writer who plays a lively role in both popular and literary culture. Widely read and studied throughout the world her novels attract both the general reader and the literary critic. Originally published in 1985, Joanne Creighton examines this phenomenon and places particular emphasis on her "Englishness", her role as a woman writing credibly about modern women and her ability to mediate between the traditional and the modern. She argues that the resonances of Drabble’s work grow put of her strong sense of the powers and resources of existing literary traditions coupled with her intelligent portrayal of the familiar problems of people in modern society, and that is precisely this mediating position which makes Drabble an important voice in contemporary fiction and links her with other writers of her generation. Challenging those critics who see Drabble as a fiction traditionalist. Creighton finds her work open-ended, inquiring, equivocal and unquestionably contemporary in spirit.

Margaret Drabble is a writer who plays a lively role in both popular and literary culture. Widely read and studied throughout the world her novels attract both the general reader and the literary critic. Originally published in 1985, Joanne Creighton examines this phenomenon and places particular emphasis on her "Englishness", her role as a woman writing credibly about modern women and her ability to mediate between the traditional and the modern. She argues that the resonances of Drabble’s work grow put of her strong sense of the powers and resources of existing literary traditions coupled with her intelligent portrayal of the familiar problems of people in modern society, and that is precisely this mediating position which makes Drabble an important voice in contemporary fiction and links her with other writers of her generation. Challenging those critics who see Drabble as a fiction traditionalist. Creighton finds her work open-ended, inquiring, equivocal and unquestionably contemporary in spirit.

What helps a child overcome extraordinary obstacles? Why do some children surmount many difficulties and go on to live fulfilling lives while other children who face similar difficulties end up living desperate, sad lives? What helps children beat the odds? What builds resilience in children?These are critically important questions, yet for too long social scientists, doctors, psychologists and teachers have studied children who failed and tried to figure out what caused the failure. Only relatively recently have they begun to focus on what creates success.Originally published in 1997, this book is an effort to understand better what contributes to a child’s "success" and "resilience". The source of information will be autobiographies of childhoods – autobiographical stories written by adults remembering their difficult childhoods. This is not a research study or case study, rather it is an attempt to read and listen to five stories about resilient children and see what they can tell us about supporting children and building resilience.

What helps a child overcome extraordinary obstacles? Why do some children surmount many difficulties and go on to live fulfilling lives while other children who face similar difficulties end up living desperate, sad lives? What helps children beat the odds? What builds resilience in children?These are critically important questions, yet for too long social scientists, doctors, psychologists and teachers have studied children who failed and tried to figure out what caused the failure. Only relatively recently have they begun to focus on what creates success.Originally published in 1997, this book is an effort to understand better what contributes to a child’s "success" and "resilience". The source of information will be autobiographies of childhoods – autobiographical stories written by adults remembering their difficult childhoods. This is not a research study or case study, rather it is an attempt to read and listen to five stories about resilient children and see what they can tell us about supporting children and building resilience.

Every reader of literature interprets the literary text on the basis of information they have acquired from previous reading, and according to norms they have established, either consciously or not, with regard to a work of literature. In this study, originally published in 1985, the author clarifies the concepts of magical realism and the fantastic, and establishes a series of guidelines that will allow us to distinguish between the two similar yet independent modes. The reader will thus be able to identify the implicit framework upon which the author of the fantastic and of magical realism bases their text.

Every reader of literature interprets the literary text on the basis of information they have acquired from previous reading, and according to norms they have established, either consciously or not, with regard to a work of literature. In this study, originally published in 1985, the author clarifies the concepts of magical realism and the fantastic, and establishes a series of guidelines that will allow us to distinguish between the two similar yet independent modes. The reader will thus be able to identify the implicit framework upon which the author of the fantastic and of magical realism bases their text.

This study, originally published in 1990, assesses a shift in the presentation of self-consciousness in two pairs of novels by Doris Lessing and Carmen Martín Gaite: 1) Lessing’s The Summer Before the Dark (1973) and Martín Gaite’s Retahílas (1974) and 2) Lessing’s The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974) and Martín Gaite’s The Back Room (1978). Three major structural divisions facilitate examining implications of the novels for 1) feminism 2) literary narrative and 3) the lives of people-at-large.

This study, originally published in 1990, assesses a shift in the presentation of self-consciousness in two pairs of novels by Doris Lessing and Carmen Martín Gaite: 1) Lessing’s The Summer Before the Dark (1973) and Martín Gaite’s Retahílas (1974) and 2) Lessing’s The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974) and Martín Gaite’s The Back Room (1978). Three major structural divisions facilitate examining implications of the novels for 1) feminism 2) literary narrative and 3) the lives of people-at-large.

Academic attention to science fiction and fantasy began in 1958, when the Modern Language Association scheduled its first seminar on science fiction at its New York meeting. Over the years science fiction emerged as a popular subject that achieved critical attention and acceptance as an academic discipline. A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies, originally published in 1977, is designed to provide the reader – whether they be scholar, teacher, librarian, or fan – with a comprehensive listing of the important research tools that have been published in the United States and England through 1976. The volume contains over 400 selected, annotated entries covering both general and specialized sources, including general surveys, histories, genre studies, author studies, bibliographies, and indices, which span the entire range of science fiction and fantasy scholarship.

Academic attention to science fiction and fantasy began in 1958, when the Modern Language Association scheduled its first seminar on science fiction at its New York meeting. Over the years science fiction emerged as a popular subject that achieved critical attention and acceptance as an academic discipline. A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies, originally published in 1977, is designed to provide the reader – whether they be scholar, teacher, librarian, or fan – with a comprehensive listing of the important research tools that have been published in the United States and England through 1976. The volume contains over 400 selected, annotated entries covering both general and specialized sources, including general surveys, histories, genre studies, author studies, bibliographies, and indices, which span the entire range of science fiction and fantasy scholarship.

Alain Robbe-Grillet had traditionally been seen as an austere experimentalist in fiction, addicted to arid and interminable descriptions of objects like coffee pots, erasers and pieces of string. His own rather bellicose theoretical pronouncements were partly to blame for this unattractive picture, belied by the immense popular success of the film Last Year at Marienbad (1961) (made by Alain Resnais from Robbe-Grillet’s script) and the high critical esteem in which novels like Jealousy and The Voyeur are held. In his original study, first published in 1983, John Fletcher attempts to resolve this paradox by offering a new interpretation of Robbe-Grillet’s work which stresses the subversive qualities of his imagination and the disturbing power of his vision of a world of labyrinths and bizarre sexual stereotypes, haunted by images of love and loss.

Alain Robbe-Grillet had traditionally been seen as an austere experimentalist in fiction, addicted to arid and interminable descriptions of objects like coffee pots, erasers and pieces of string. His own rather bellicose theoretical pronouncements were partly to blame for this unattractive picture, belied by the immense popular success of the film Last Year at Marienbad (1961) (made by Alain Resnais from Robbe-Grillet’s script) and the high critical esteem in which novels like Jealousy and The Voyeur are held. In his original study, first published in 1983, John Fletcher attempts to resolve this paradox by offering a new interpretation of Robbe-Grillet’s work which stresses the subversive qualities of his imagination and the disturbing power of his vision of a world of labyrinths and bizarre sexual stereotypes, haunted by images of love and loss.

Doris Lessing was one of the most impressive, prolific and vital of twentieth century writers. Her fiction is obsessed with the workings of cultural change and she radically extended the novel’s scope – most famously and influentially in The Golden Notebook – by questioning the realist tradition she inherited and the wider social beliefs about self, sexuality and authority which that tradition symbolized.This study, originally published in 1983, surveys her epic output from her early, African writings to her later experiments with space fiction. It traces her struggles to decentre imaginative life and to erase and to redraw the boundaries of our mental maps in favour of values on the margins of the official culture.

Doris Lessing was one of the most impressive, prolific and vital of twentieth century writers. Her fiction is obsessed with the workings of cultural change and she radically extended the novel’s scope – most famously and influentially in The Golden Notebook – by questioning the realist tradition she inherited and the wider social beliefs about self, sexuality and authority which that tradition symbolized.This study, originally published in 1983, surveys her epic output from her early, African writings to her later experiments with space fiction. It traces her struggles to decentre imaginative life and to erase and to redraw the boundaries of our mental maps in favour of values on the margins of the official culture.

Originally published in 1985, fourteen foremost writers of fiction give detailed accounts of their writings in this absorbing collection by John Haffenden, whom The Sunday Times has applauded for having ‘perfected’ the art of the literary interview. Bringing together discussions with a wide range of authors in Britain at the time, the volume contains interviews with Martin Amis, Malcolm Bradbury, Anita Brookner, Angela Carter, William Golding, Russell Hoban, David Lodge, Ian McEwan, Iris Murdoch, V.S. Pritchett, Salman Rushdie, David Storey, Emma Tennant and Fay Weldon.John Haffenden questions them about the creative process, about specific works – including Golding’s Rites of Passage, Hoban’s Riddley Walker, Murdoch’s The Philosopher’s Pupil and Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and Shame – and about the ideas and visions which inform those works. The writers provide lively, fascinating and often definitive responses which offer many insights into the value and function of fiction. The volume also includes discussions of cultural context and of narrative techniques and kinds – realist, postmodernist, fabulous – offering immediate material for critical debate. For all who are interested in twentieth century fiction it is essential reading.

Originally published in 1985, fourteen foremost writers of fiction give detailed accounts of their writings in this absorbing collection by John Haffenden, whom The Sunday Times has applauded for having ‘perfected’ the art of the literary interview. Bringing together discussions with a wide range of authors in Britain at the time, the volume contains interviews with Martin Amis, Malcolm Bradbury, Anita Brookner, Angela Carter, William Golding, Russell Hoban, David Lodge, Ian McEwan, Iris Murdoch, V.S. Pritchett, Salman Rushdie, David Storey, Emma Tennant and Fay Weldon.John Haffenden questions them about the creative process, about specific works – including Golding’s Rites of Passage, Hoban’s Riddley Walker, Murdoch’s The Philosopher’s Pupil and Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and Shame – and about the ideas and visions which inform those works. The writers provide lively, fascinating and often definitive responses which offer many insights into the value and function of fiction. The volume also includes discussions of cultural context and of narrative techniques and kinds – realist, postmodernist, fabulous – offering immediate material for critical debate. For all who are interested in twentieth century fiction it is essential reading.

The modern fantasy novel might hardly seem to need a defence, but its position in contemporary literature in the 1980s was still rather ambivalent. Many post-war writers had produced highly successful fantasy novels, some phenomenal publishing successes had occurred in the field, and an increasing number of universities throughout the English-speaking world now included the literary criticism of fantasy as part of their English Literature courses. None the less some critics and academics condemned the whole genre with a passion that seemed less than objectively critical.In this book, originally published in 1984, Dr Ann Swinfen presents a wide-ranging and comprehensive view of fantasy: what it is, what it tries to achieve, what fundamental differences distinguish it from mainstream realist fiction. She concentrates on the three decades from 1945, when a new generation of writers found that Tolkein had made fantasy ‘respectable’. Her approach is thematic, rather than by individual author, and she brings out the profound moral purpose that underlies much modern fantasy, in a wide range of works, both British and American, such as Russell Hoban’s The Mouse and His Child, C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Trilogy.

The modern fantasy novel might hardly seem to need a defence, but its position in contemporary literature in the 1980s was still rather ambivalent. Many post-war writers had produced highly successful fantasy novels, some phenomenal publishing successes had occurred in the field, and an increasing number of universities throughout the English-speaking world now included the literary criticism of fantasy as part of their English Literature courses. None the less some critics and academics condemned the whole genre with a passion that seemed less than objectively critical.In this book, originally published in 1984, Dr Ann Swinfen presents a wide-ranging and comprehensive view of fantasy: what it is, what it tries to achieve, what fundamental differences distinguish it from mainstream realist fiction. She concentrates on the three decades from 1945, when a new generation of writers found that Tolkein had made fantasy ‘respectable’. Her approach is thematic, rather than by individual author, and she brings out the profound moral purpose that underlies much modern fantasy, in a wide range of works, both British and American, such as Russell Hoban’s The Mouse and His Child, C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Trilogy.

A woman is incomplete without a man, motherhood is a woman’s destiny, and a woman’s place is in the home. These conservative political themes are woven throughout teen romance fiction’s sagas of hearts and flowers. Using the theory and interpretive methods of feminism and cultural studies, Christian-Smith explores the contradictory role that popular culture plays in constructing gender, class, race, age and sexual meanings. Originally published in 1990, Becoming a Woman through Romance combines close textual analyses of thirty-four teen romance novels (written in the United States from 1942-1982) with a school study in three midwestern American schools. Christian-Smith situates teen romance fiction within the rapidly changing publishing industry and the important political and economic changes in the United States surrounding the rise of the New Right. By analysing the structure of the novels in terms of the themes of romance, sexuality and beautification, and the Good/Bad and Strong/Weak dichotomies, she demonstrates how each has shaped the novels’ versions of femininity over forty years. She also shows that although romance fiction is presented as a universal model, it is actually an expression of white middle class gender ideology and tension within this class.This high readable, comprehensive and coherent work was the first to combine in one volume three vital areas of cultural studies research: the political economy of publishing, textual analysis, and a study of readers. The first full-scale study of teen romance fiction, Becoming a Woman through Romance establishes the importance of the study of popular culture forms found in school for understanding the process of school materials in identity formation.

A woman is incomplete without a man, motherhood is a woman’s destiny, and a woman’s place is in the home. These conservative political themes are woven throughout teen romance fiction’s sagas of hearts and flowers. Using the theory and interpretive methods of feminism and cultural studies, Christian-Smith explores the contradictory role that popular culture plays in constructing gender, class, race, age and sexual meanings. Originally published in 1990, Becoming a Woman through Romance combines close textual analyses of thirty-four teen romance novels (written in the United States from 1942-1982) with a school study in three midwestern American schools. Christian-Smith situates teen romance fiction within the rapidly changing publishing industry and the important political and economic changes in the United States surrounding the rise of the New Right. By analysing the structure of the novels in terms of the themes of romance, sexuality and beautification, and the Good/Bad and Strong/Weak dichotomies, she demonstrates how each has shaped the novels’ versions of femininity over forty years. She also shows that although romance fiction is presented as a universal model, it is actually an expression of white middle class gender ideology and tension within this class.This high readable, comprehensive and coherent work was the first to combine in one volume three vital areas of cultural studies research: the political economy of publishing, textual analysis, and a study of readers. The first full-scale study of teen romance fiction, Becoming a Woman through Romance establishes the importance of the study of popular culture forms found in school for understanding the process of school materials in identity formation.

The campus novel is one of the best loved forms of fiction in the post-war period. But what are its characteristic themes? What are its prejudices? And what does it take for granted?Originally published in 1990, this is the first study to connect literary, historical, and sociological aspects of modern British universities. It shows that the culture celebrated in British university fiction represents a particular view of humane education which has its origins in the values of Oxbridge. Threats are seen to come from the ‘redbrick’ and ‘new’ universities, from proletarians, scientists (including sociologists), women, and foreigners.This exhilarating book makes a nonsense of sociology’s reputation for turgid and plodding analysis. Sharp-witted, shrewd, and penetrating, it will be of interest to students of sociology, literature, and for the same wide audience that appears to have an insatiable appetite for stories about university life.

The campus novel is one of the best loved forms of fiction in the post-war period. But what are its characteristic themes? What are its prejudices? And what does it take for granted?Originally published in 1990, this is the first study to connect literary, historical, and sociological aspects of modern British universities. It shows that the culture celebrated in British university fiction represents a particular view of humane education which has its origins in the values of Oxbridge. Threats are seen to come from the ‘redbrick’ and ‘new’ universities, from proletarians, scientists (including sociologists), women, and foreigners.This exhilarating book makes a nonsense of sociology’s reputation for turgid and plodding analysis. Sharp-witted, shrewd, and penetrating, it will be of interest to students of sociology, literature, and for the same wide audience that appears to have an insatiable appetite for stories about university life.

Originally published in 1988, the last few decades had seen the appearance of some brilliant and complex new kinds of fiction. The ambitious experiments of writers such as Greene, Garcia Márquez, Borges, Nabakov, Calvino, Beckett, Eco, Spark, Hoban, Murdoch, Bellow, Ozick, and Lessing among others had all proved the vitality of contemporary fiction in discovering exciting new forms and styles. Yet because of the difficulty of many of the texts, contemporary fiction as a genre had acquired an undeservedly unpopular reputation among students and other readers. In a very real way, the reader had become nervous rather than confident in the face of a literature that in fact is more aware of and generous to that reader than earlier and more apparently accessible literature ever managed to be. And the new fiction’s seeming remoteness from the reader is exaggerated, in a sense, by the critical academic response at the time, which tended to obscure the texts themselves behind the many aesthetic and cultural theories which had sprung up in the study of fictionalizing or narrativity in general.Elizabeth Dipple is anxious to dispel readers’ fears about these texts. She has chosen an international list of major writers of the time and presents a detailed discussion of each. Beginning each chapter with a brief explanation of the context in which each fictionist is to be examined, she then concentrates on an analysis of key texts, aiming always to look beyond jargon and theory back to the sources themselves. Professor Dipple’s purpose was to convey to the reader some of her own admiration and enthusiasm for contemporary fiction and to persuade him or her to take a fresh look at a group of writers who were producing what she felt would surely be seen by future generations as among the most sophisticated and accomplished fiction of our time.

Originally published in 1988, the last few decades had seen the appearance of some brilliant and complex new kinds of fiction. The ambitious experiments of writers such as Greene, Garcia Márquez, Borges, Nabakov, Calvino, Beckett, Eco, Spark, Hoban, Murdoch, Bellow, Ozick, and Lessing among others had all proved the vitality of contemporary fiction in discovering exciting new forms and styles. Yet because of the difficulty of many of the texts, contemporary fiction as a genre had acquired an undeservedly unpopular reputation among students and other readers. In a very real way, the reader had become nervous rather than confident in the face of a literature that in fact is more aware of and generous to that reader than earlier and more apparently accessible literature ever managed to be. And the new fiction’s seeming remoteness from the reader is exaggerated, in a sense, by the critical academic response at the time, which tended to obscure the texts themselves behind the many aesthetic and cultural theories which had sprung up in the study of fictionalizing or narrativity in general.Elizabeth Dipple is anxious to dispel readers’ fears about these texts. She has chosen an international list of major writers of the time and presents a detailed discussion of each. Beginning each chapter with a brief explanation of the context in which each fictionist is to be examined, she then concentrates on an analysis of key texts, aiming always to look beyond jargon and theory back to the sources themselves. Professor Dipple’s purpose was to convey to the reader some of her own admiration and enthusiasm for contemporary fiction and to persuade him or her to take a fresh look at a group of writers who were producing what she felt would surely be seen by future generations as among the most sophisticated and accomplished fiction of our time.