Hans Peter Wagner Libri

The essays in this collection focus on the relations between erotic, discourse and ideologies or «mentalités» in the Enlightenment. Although the contributors - literary historians, historians, and art historians - differ in approach and methodology, their common ground is the analysis of various genres of Enlightenment discourse on sex. There is a particular stress on popular writings (sex guides; obscene satire; graphic erotica), which have been neglected by literary historians, as well as on the iconographic discourse in works of art. Approaching eighteenth-century culture on such a broad basis, the essays try to retrieve parts of a «lost world», i.e. the complicated relations between the literary and popular discourse, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the ideologies and «mentalités» contained in or opposed to this discourse. The contributions thus shed light on important aspects of an age which determined the modern period.

This revised and enlarged edition features discussions of British, Irish, and American literary works up to 2010, focusing on significant prose, poetry, drama, and non-fiction from the Anglo-Saxon period to the 21st century. It highlights what remains essential reading today. A key innovation is the integration of visual material, with over 160 pictures enhancing the text, and a CD-ROM included that contains the full text and 460 illustrations. This visual component, along with introductory sections on art for each century, illustrates the connection between visual and verbal representations, emphasizing literature's debt to art. Additional features include discussions on non-fiction works in literary criticism, travel writing, historiography, and the social sciences, as well as analyses of popular genres like crime fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and children's literature. The book also offers footnotes clarifying technical and historical terms, a detailed glossary of literary terms, chronological tables for British/Anglo-Irish and American literatures, an updated bibliography with further reading suggestions, and an extensive index covering names, important topics in literary history and criticism, and cultural history terms.

Based on an international conference held in Saarbrücken in June 2017 that was attended by scholars from France, Germany, England and Ireland, the articles gathered in this volume constitute volume 6 of the LAPASEC series (Landau-Paris Studies on the Eighteenth Century). Concerned with intermediality and the circulation of knowledge in the age of Enlightenment, the twelve pieces, divided into four sections, address aspects of theory, discursive intermediality, generic intermediality and the intermediality of objects. In doing so, they take cognizance of what is amiss in the field of intertextual/intermedial studies, i.e. the discussion of its relevance outside narratology as well as a true and interdisciplinary interest in the essentially rhizomatic nature of cultural representations (texts, images, musical pieces and material objects). The ensemble of articles also takes scholarly analysis beyond the dominating fields of literature and art by providing discussions of such neglected genres as travel literature, (para)medical writing and operatic performance. Instead of insisting on the generic separation of cultural representations, this collection demonstrates the advantages of interdisciplinary approaches while laying bare the fascinating if problematic construction of the aesthetics and ideologies shaping principles of cultural representation in the age of Enlightenment

This coursebook is designed for students who have completed an introductory literature course, providing a survey of British literature from the 16th century to around 1800. It caters to the practical needs of students in a modular literature course, offering hands-on material for a semester's study. The book covers selected texts by major writers from the early Renaissance to the late 18th century, leading into Romanticism. Students will engage with literary texts for class discussions, learn to navigate critical literature independently or collaboratively, prepare presentations and handouts, and write short or term papers. They will also analyze texts concerning genre and cultural context while deepening their understanding of literary theory. The book's structure supports daily classroom use: Part A includes course materials with suggestions for text engagement, critical literature lists, and paper topics; Part B provides bibliographical resources and academic websites; Part C features three modular exams for knowledge assessment; and Part D contains a glossary of literary terms, including rhetorical figures and key concepts for analyzing poetry, prose, and drama. A brief overview of the accepted periods of British literature concludes the book.

The fourth volume in the LAPASEC series features essays from an international conference held in Landau in June 2014, bringing together scholars from the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, and Spain. The collection highlights significant papers from the event, supplemented by additional contributions that explore the (landscape) garden in the long eighteenth century. It addresses overlooked aspects of garden discourse during the Enlightenment and early Romanticism, revealing the richness of European garden culture from a comparative perspective. The book emphasizes the interplay between theory, practice, and both metaphorical and concrete appropriations of gardens, leading to its division into three parts: the theory of gardens, the garden as utopos and eutopos, and the influence of exotic (non-European) gardens on the Old World. Each section examines the interconnectedness of these discourses, employing the concept of the rhizome—originating from botany and further developed by Deleuze and Guattari—as a framework. Through this collection of scholarly essays, the editors aim to present vital contemporary research on gardens, echoing Voltaire's call to "cultivate our garden." The work not only engages with this idea but also illustrates how garden discourse shaped the aesthetics and thought of Voltaire's era.

This book explores the evolution of fiction, particularly prose satire and the novel, in Britain and Ireland during the eighteenth century. It examines how fiction is interwoven with the cultural discourse of the time, tracing connections between fictional forms and visual representation. Artists like William Hogarth and satirists such as James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson are prominently featured. By analyzing selected passages from canonical authors, including Defoe and Swift, alongside gothic novels, the study incorporates a wealth of visual material. This imagery is not merely illustrative; it highlights how visual representations engaged with social issues and influenced writers. The book also addresses the often-overlooked aspects of visual culture in books, such as frontispieces, title pages, and illustrations, arguing that these paratexts acted as enticing invitations for readers. It posits that the material form of the printed book was as significant as its narrative content during the novel's development. The concept of the "rise of the novel" is critically reassessed, revealing how the interplay between visual art and major discursive forms, like engraving and painting, enriched our understanding of the proliferation of fiction in the eighteenth century.