Living in language : the literary word at work in the world /

In Living in Language, David Bosworth makes a compelling case for the power and relevance of the literary imagination throughout history. In a series of essays both lyrical and analytical, he examines how certain works have engaged the most pressing problems of their authors' ages even as they...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bosworth, David, 1947- (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Eugene, Oregon : Front Porch Republic Books, an imprint of Wipf & Stock Publishers [2024].
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Summary:In Living in Language, David Bosworth makes a compelling case for the power and relevance of the literary imagination throughout history. In a series of essays both lyrical and analytical, he examines how certain works have engaged the most pressing problems of their authors' ages even as they illuminate challenges that still haunt the world. The topics addressed are rich and various, such as the evolutionary significance of metaphorical reasoning, how Hitler's infatuation with an opera's plot predicated the arc of his horrific reign, even as his victims employed the power of narrative to endure his crimes, the ways in which Melville's late fiction foresaw the sources driving America's current cultural crisis and how, in probing his era's political turmoil, Shakespeare's plays supply clues to resolving the current era's. From the spiritual quest of a musical prose to the cinematic craft of amending America's foundational story, from the myth of the Fall to novels that probe the Internet's impact on our lives today, Bosworth reveals how the literary imagination honors the 'living' prescribed by the human predicament, evoking its beauty while never stinting on its uncertainties, cruelties and pain.
Physical Description:ix, 200 pages ; 24 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN:9781666774504
1666774502
9781666774498
1666774499