CULTURE AND SACRIFICE. Ritual Death in Literature and Opera.

Hughes, Derek.

ISBN 10: 0521867339 / ISBN 13: 9780521867337

Published by C.U.P., 2007., 2007

About this Item

1st edition. Royal 8vo. xi + 313pp. B/w. illustrations. Original boards. Pictorial d/w. with blue spine lettered in white. Very good. ISBN 9780521867337 US$13.

Seller Inventory # 205317

Bibliographic Details

• Title: CULTURE AND SACRIFICE. Ritual Death in Literature and Opera.
• Publisher: C.U.P., 2007.
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521867339
• ISBN 13: 9780521867337
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • HISTORY, MILITARY & TRANSPORT

About this title

Synopsis

Human sacrifice has fascinated Western writers since the beginnings of European literature. It is prominent in Greek epic and tragedy, and returned to haunt writers after the discovery of the Aztec mass sacrifices. It has been treated by some of the greatest creative geniuses, including Shakespeare and Wagner, and was a major topic in the works of many Modernists, such as D. H. Lawrence and Stravinsky. In literature, human sacrifice is often used to express a writer's reaction to the residue of barbarism in his own culture. The meaning attached to the theme therefore changes profoundly from one period to another, yet it remains as timely an image of cultural collapse as it did over two thousand years ago. Drawing on sources from literature and music, in this 2007 book Derek Hughes examines the representation of human sacrifice in Western culture from The Iliad to the invasion of Iraq.

Book Description

Human sacrifice has fascinated Western writers since the beginnings of European literature. Drawing on sources from literature and music, in this 2007 book Derek Hughes examines the representation of human sacrifice in Western culture from The Iliad to the invasion of Iraq.