Reinventing Allegory (Cambridge Studies in Romanticism, Series Number 22) - Hardcover

Kelley, Theresa M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521432073 ISBN 13: 9780521432078

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1997

Synopsis

Reinventing Allegory asks how and why allegory has survived as a literary mode from the late Renaissance to the postmodern present. Three chapters on Romanticism, including one on the painter J.M.W. Turner, present this era as the pivotal moment in allegory's modern survival, while other chapters describe larger historical and philosophical contexts, from classical rhetoric to recent theory and metafiction. Using a series of key historical moments to define the special character of modern allegory, this study assesses allegory's role in comtemporary literary culture.

About this title

Book Description

How and why has allegory survived, despite the influential Romantic critique of it as an outdated and artificial literary mode? In this wide-ranging study of allegory in theory and literary practice from the late Renaissance to the present day, Theresa M. Kelley argues that Romanticism represents the pivotal moment in allegory's survival. Once cut loose from its early theological basis, allegory has proved its strength against dominant modes of realism and empiricism, and is generating new interest in the context of contemporary literary culture and theory.

Review

"... a learned and ambitious study. It is a powerful achievement. Kelley's reinvention of allegory lies in her fresh and vital sense of the capacity for allegory to become a formidable agent of cultural critique and subversion on one hand, and of repression on the other. On every page, Kelley's meticulous subtle close readings engage in, rather than simply demonstrate, the demanding dialetical work of allegorical figuration. Of this allegorist of capability, one wants to ask: of what is Theresa Kelley not capable? This imposing, accomplished and valuable book gives no hints. For decades to come -- and for readers well beyond the field of Romanticism--it will be a touchstone for all critical discussion of allegory, modernity, and much else besides." Esther Schor for Romantic Circles Website

"Reinventing Allegory is an ambitious, wide-ranging book...Kelley's book is illuminating about the rich difficulties of allegory..." Andrew Elfenbein, Spenser Newsletter

"...a powerful achievement..." Esther Schor, Romantic Circles Reviews

"Theresa Kelley's study of allegory in modernity is firmly grounded in the Romantic period, even as it ventures back to the late sixteenth century and marches forward to the later twentieth." Walter Reed, European Romantic Review

"Kelley traces embattled allegory into the postmodern climate in her deeply researched book, creating a new benchmark for her subject that will endure beyond many changes in critical fortune." Douglas B. Wilson, Albion

"One of the joys of reading Reinventing Allegory is Kelley's lucid and witty prose style." South Central Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521432073
• ISBN 13: 9780521432078
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 364