Transatlantic Literary Studies

The first volume of critical texts to define the field of Transatlantic Literary Studies This Reader provides 42 exemplary readings that map the theoretical and literary aspects of this growing cross-disciplinary subject area. In a substantial Introduction to the volume, leading experts Susan Manning and Andrew Taylor suggest ways in which the transatlantic model can be most effectively used within literary studies. The readings that follow are organised around key ideas - the nation and cosmopolitanism, theories and practice of comparative literature, postcolonialism/imperialism, translation, style and genre, and travel - and provide accessible, annotated examples that demonstrate the different possibilities of comparative analysis. The book represents and promotes an understanding of British, European and American literary culture within a broader framework of transatlantic activity. Key Features *Defines the field of Transatlantic Literary Studies as taught in English and American Studies departments. *Includes important readings from key critics including J. Hillis Miller, Paul Giles, Edward Said and Paul Gilroy.*Provides a full Introduction and section headnotes that contextualise the field. *Presents material that explores transatlantic encounters from the early modern period to the present day.

Here is a Reader that culls the most important, brilliant and groundbreaking pieces of literary criticism on a comparatist approach to American Studies and offers them to readers in one binding. It is a significant, timely critical achievement, and is certain to be praised by students and scholars alike. -- Joel Pace, University of Wisconsin Recent events in the global political arena have led to a revaluation in the study of the Atlantic literatures and cultures. Manning and Taylor's Reader brings together a wide range of criticism, from Rene Wellek to Wai Chee Dimock, to show that our understanding of those literatures and cultures is freshly derived yet firmly rooted. The book has a substantial introductory chapter, and is shrewdly organised into six theoretical and thematic groups, each given a perceptive prologue. It will be required reading for years to come. -- Robert Lawson-Peebles, University of Exeter A timely and invaluable resource for students and scholars researching in the broad field of Transatlantic Studies... this is far more than a simple compendium: it is a book which aims actively to participate in contemporary debates. American Studies Today Here is a Reader that culls the most important, brilliant and groundbreaking pieces of literary criticism on a comparatist approach to American Studies and offers them to readers in one binding. It is a significant, timely critical achievement, and is certain to be praised by students and scholars alike. Recent events in the global political arena have led to a revaluation in the study of the Atlantic literatures and cultures. Manning and Taylor's Reader brings together a wide range of criticism, from Rene Wellek to Wai Chee Dimock, to show that our understanding of those literatures and cultures is freshly derived yet firmly rooted. The book has a substantial introductory chapter, and is shrewdly organised into six theoretical and thematic groups, each given a perceptive prologue. It will be required reading for years to come. A timely and invaluable resource for students and scholars researching in the broad field of Transatlantic Studies... this is far more than a simple compendium: it is a book which aims actively to participate in contemporary debates.

Susan Manning is Grierson Professor of English Literature, and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Fragments of Union: Making Connections in Scottish and American Writing (2002) and The Puritan-Provincial Vision: Scottish and American Literature in the Nineteenth Century (1990). Andrew Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. He is author of Henry James and the Father Question (Cambridge University Press, 2002).