Temporalities, Texts, Ideologies: Ancient and Early Modern Perspectives

Temporalities, Texts, Ideologies explores the significance of time in Classical and early modern literature, arguing that it intervenes in ontology, hierarchy, and politics. The essays highlight how time is construed as relational, contestable, and politically inflected, enabling texts to critique the interactions between tradition and change, agency and determinism, and social system and individual experience.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 08 February 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Temporalities, Texts, Ideologies offers a groundbreaking exploration of the profound significance of time in Classical and early modern literature. Through a comprehensive analysis of a diverse array of texts, from Homeric epics to eighteenth-century poems on the Last Judgement, this collection of essays demonstrates that literary temporality continually intervenes in ontological, hierarchical, and political inquiries.

In its examination of these texts, the book argues that temporality occupies a central position in how authors from antiquity to the early modern period comprehended and navigated the frameworks that shaped their lives and continue to influence future generations. The essays in this volume approach the topic from four distinct themes, highlighting the ways in which time is perceived as relational, contested, and politically charged. The authors demonstrate that variations in temporalities enable texts to critique the interplay or tensions between tradition and change, agency and determinism, social systems and individual experiences.

By adopting a refreshing approach to literary representations of time, this volume responds to the recent "temporal turn" in the humanities, engages with contemporary critical trends such as ontological analysis and ecological criticism, and presents a promising avenue for future research on the intricate relationship between time, text, and context. Through its meticulous scholarship and innovative insights, Temporalities, Texts, Ideologies contributes to our understanding of the enduring power of time in shaping the world of literature and beyond.

Weight: 596g
Dimension: 163 x 242 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350257221