Gender and Language in British Literary Criticism, 1660-1790

by Laura L. Runge

Overview

During the eighteenth century British critics believed that masculine values represented the best literature while feminine terms signified less important works or authors. Laura Runge argues that an understanding of the language of eighteenth-century criticism requires careful analysis of the gendered language of the era. Her exploration of why, for example, the heroic and the sublime were seen as masculine modes while the novel was viewed as a feminine genre addresses issues central to eighteenth-century studies that are still relevant today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521021456
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/20/2005
Pages:	244
Sales rank:	869,338
Product dimensions:	5.91(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.55(d)

Table of Contents

1. Many words on Mount Parnassus; 2. Dryden's gendered balance and the Augustan ideal; 3. Paternity and regulation in the feminine novel; 4. Aristotle's sisters: Behn, Lennox, Fielding and Reeve; 5. Returning to the beautiful; Polemical postscript; Bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

"Runge's study is informative and accomplished and will serve a wide range of interests." Times Literary Supplement

"...feminists may wish to read also Laura L. Runge's Gender and Language in British Literary Criticism 1660-1790...." Bibliotheque D'Humanisme

"Runge's work if admirable in its focus on the gendered language of criticism and its ramifications in the long eighteenth century. i read Gender and Language with great interest, and found the various chapters satisfying on their own. Overall, Runge's book poses questions that are of interest to both scholars of gender studies and history of criticism. It demonstrates that an examination of the critical texts of the period is essential to an understanding of the construction of literary value and authority in the eighteenth century and points to the need for a thorough study of this genre from a fresh perspective." Zeynep Tenger, South Atlantic Review

From the Publisher