1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910828005503321

Autore

Matz Robert

Titolo

Defending literature in early modern England : Renaissance literary theory in social context / / Robert Matz

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge ; ; New York, : Cambridge University Press, 2000

ISBN

1-107-11794-1

0-521-03518-X

0-511-31035-8

0-511-48377-5

1-280-16206-6

0-511-04862-9

0-511-11794-9

0-511-15084-9

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xi, 188 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Cambridge studies in Renaissance literature and culture ; ; 37

Disciplina

801/.95/094209031

Soggetti

English literature - Early modern, 1500-1700 - History and criticism - Theory, etc

Literature and society - England - History - 16th century

Social change - England - History - 16th century

Criticism - England - History - 16th century

Social change in literature

Renaissance - England

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-181) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction : "aut prodesse ... aut delectare" -- Recreating reading : Elyot's Boke named the governour -- Heroic diversions : Sidney's Defence of poetry -- A "gentle discipline" : Spenser's Faerie Queene -- Epilogue : from text to work?

Sommario/riassunto

Why was literature so often defended and defined in early modern England in terms of its ability to provide the Horatian ideal of both profit and pleasure? This book, first published in 2000, analyses Renaissance literary theory in the context of social transformations of the period, focusing on conflicting ideas about gentility that emerged



as the English aristocracy evolved from a feudal warrior class to a civil elite. Through close readings centered on works by Thomas Elyot, Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser, Matz argues that literature attempted to mediate a complex set of contradictory social expectations. His original study engages with important theoretical work such as Pierre Bourdieu's and offers a substantial critique of New Historicist theory. It challenges recent accounts of the power of Renaissance authorship, emphasizing the uncertain status of literature during this time of cultural change, and sheds light on why and how canonical works became canonical.