Welcome to the English Language & Literature Research Guide! Use the menu on the side for links to books, articles, and more. If you need help finding or navigating library resources, please ask a librarian for assistance. We are here to help!
Litcomix : Graphic Novels, Comix, and Literary Theory
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Critical studies of the graphic novel have often employed methodologies taken from film theory and art criticism. Yet, as graphic novels from Maus to Watchmen have entered the literary canon, perhaps the time has come to develop theories for interpreting and evaluating graphic novels that are drawn from classic models of literary theory and criticism. Using the methodology of Georg Lukács and his detailed defense of literary realism as a socially embedded practice, Litcomix tackles difficult questions about reading graphic novels as literature. What critical standards should we use to measure the quality of a graphic novel? How does the genre contribute to our understanding of ourselves and the world? What qualities distinguish it from other forms of literature? LitComix hones its theoretical approach through case studies taken from across the diverse world of comics, from Yoshihiro Tatsumi's groundbreaking manga to the Hernandez Brothers' influential alt-comix. Whether looking at graphic novel adaptations of Proust or considering how Jack Kirby's use of intertextuality makes him the Balzac of comics, this study offers fresh perspectives on how we might appreciate graphic novels as literature.
A Short Media History of English Literature
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This book explores the history of literature as a history of changing media and modes of communication, from manuscript to print, from the codex to the computer, and from paper to digital platforms. It argues that literature has evolved, and continues to evolve, in sync with material forms and formats that engage our senses in multiple ways. Because literary experiences are embedded in, and enabled by, media, the book focuses on literature as a changing combination of material and immaterial features. The principal agents of this history are no longer genres, authors, and texts but configurations of media and technologies. In telling the story of these combinations from prehistory to the present, Ingo Berensmeyer distinguishes between three successive dominants of media usage that have shaped literary history: performance, representation, and connection. Using English literature as a test case for a long view of media history, this book combines an unusual bird's eye view across periods with illuminating readings of key texts. It will prove an invaluable resource for teaching and for independent study in English or comparative literature and media studies.
Shakespeare / Space
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Shakespeare / Space explores new approaches to the enactment of 'space' in and through Shakespeare's plays, as well as to the material, cognitive and virtual spaces in which they are enacted. With contributions from 14 leading and emergent experts in their fields, the collection forges innovative connections between spatial studies and cultural geography, cognitive studies, memory studies, phenomenology and the history of the emotions, gender and race studies, rhetoric and language, translation studies, theatre history and performance studies. Each chapter offers methodological reflections on intersections such as space/mobility, space/emotion, space/supernatural, space/language, space/race and space/digital, whose critical purchase is demonstrated in close readings of plays like King Lear, The Comedy of Errors, Othello and Shakespeare's history plays. They testify to the importance of space for our understanding of Shakespeare's creative and theatrical practice, and at the same time enlarge our understanding of space as a critical concept in the humanities. It will prove useful to students, scholars, teachers and theatre practitioners of Shakespeare and early modern studies.
International LGBTQ+ Literature for Children and Young Adults
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What does 'queer' have to do with children and young people and, in particular, with literature for them? How are sexualities and gender identities depicted in writing and illustration for younger readers in a variety of languages and cultures? How are queer families and the construction of queer families portrayed? How is this depiction influenced by the way the culture in question views queer identities? What is the connection between LGBTQ+ rights and literature for children and young adults? These are some of the questions addressed in this edited collection. While English-language LGBTQ+ literature for young readers has been and continues to be explored in some depth in academia, this is the first book to compare LGBTQ+ children's literature from around the world and to connect the literature to greater societal, political, linguistic, historical and cultural concerns. The aim of this book, then, is to explore LGBTQ+ literature for young readers around the world, particularly beyond the English-speaking countries/cultures. This collection brings together contributions from across the academic and activist spectra, looking at picture books, middle-grade books and young adult novels. The foci of individual chapters include the representation of sexualities and gender identities, depictions of queer families, censorship, translation of LGBTQ+ literature for young readers, and self-publishing. Ultimately, the book considers what is at stake when we write (or do not write) about LGBTQ+ topics for young readers.
How Journalists Engage
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A unique theory of trust building in engagement journalism that proposes journalists move to an ethic of care as they prioritize listening and learning within communities instead of propping up problematic institutions.In How Journalists Engage, Sue Robinson explores how journalists of different identities, especially racial, enact trusting relationships with their audiences. Drawing from case studies, community-work, interviews, and focus groups, she documents a growing built environment around trust building and engagement journalism that represents the first major paradigm shift of the press's core values in more than a century. As Robinson shows, journalists are being trained to take on new roles and skillsets around listening and learning, in addition to normative routines related to being a watchdog and storyteller. She demonstrates how this movement mobilizes the nurturing of personal, organizational, and institutional relationships that people have with information, sources, news brands, journalists, and each other. Developing a new theory of trust building, Robinson calls for journalists to grapple actively with their own identities--especially the privileges, biases, and marginalization attached to them--and those of their communities, resulting in a more intentional and effective moral voice focused on justice and equity through the news practice of an ethic of care.
English Language Learning in the Digital Age
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Provides a thorough overview of digital learning methods and their practical application in the modern language classroom English Language Learning in the Digital Age is a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical background and real-world application of IDLE (Informal Digital Learning of English). Designed for teachers and future teachers preparing to teach English as a second or other language, this highly practical guide focuses on incorporating digital technology into curricula to draw upon the extracurricular exposures to English that many students experience outside of the classroom. With some creativity and care, teachers can find ways to bring these experiences with English into the classroom, ultimately improving student learning outcomes. Offering a specific focus on examples and case studies drawn from language education in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, this text employs a three-part structure beginning with the theories behind autonomous learning and the importance of informal language learning for young adults. Part two demonstrates various methods for integrating games, social media, e-books, language software, mobile apps, and other digital resources into the classroom. The third section addresses the use of IDLE methods to bridge the gap between informal and formal uses of English, the advantages and disadvantages of IDLE in flipped classrooms and online teaching, and how IDLE strategies can enhance mandated curricula and better prepare students for national exams. The book concludes with a brief discussion of the future of language learning and the need to include digital technologies and learner-driven strategies in education policy. This unique text: Offers practical methods for bringing informal student learning into the classroom Presents a wide range of engaging digital learning activities that can complement traditional language courses and improve language acquisition Reviews mobile apps for the translation and practice of vocabulary, grammar, and other components of language learning Provides real-life examples of how teachers can develop lessons and curricula, such as watching and making vlogs and reading transcripts of podcasts and audiobooks Includes access to a companion website containing video interviews with English learners and teaching plans reflecting TESOL Technology Standards and CEFR Reference Level Descriptors for English English Language Learning in the Digital Age is an ideal textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of language education and language acquisition, as well as teachers and teachers-in-training who are preparing to teach English in countries where English is not the primary language.
Ruin and Resilience: Southern Literature and the Environment
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In Ruin and Resilience, Daniel Spoth confronts why the environmental stories told about the U.S. South curve inevitably toward distressing plotlines. Examining more than a dozen works of postbellum literature and cinema, Spoth?s analysis winds from John Muir?s walking journey across the war-torn South, through the troubling of southern environmentalism?s modernity by Faulkner and Hurston, past the accounts of its acceleration in Welty and O?Connor, and finally into the present, uncovering how the tragic econarrative is transformed by contemporary food studies, climate fiction, and speculative tales inspired by the region. Phrased as a reaction to the rising temperatures and swelling sea levels in the South, Ruin and Resilience conceptualizes an environmental, ecocritical ethos for the southern United States that takes account of its fundamentally vulnerable status and navigates the space between its reactionary politics and its ecological failures.
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