The Origins of English Nonsense

The Origins of English Nonsense
Author: Noel Malcolm
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1998
Genre: English poetry
ISBN: 9780006388449

A major rediscovery and reevaluation of a lost strand of English literature from one of today's most brilliant scholars. Nonsense verse in England is generally thought to have its origins in Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. Noel Malcolm's remarkable book lays before us the extent of its flourishing a full two hundred and fifty years earlier, with the work of such now nearly forgotten nonsense poets as Sir John Hoskyns and John Taylor. It presents an anthology of their work, much of it published here for the first time since the 17th century, and in a long introduction discusses the origins and development of the genre in England, and the history of medieval and Renaissance nonsense poetry in Europe. It is a brilliant addition to the study of English literature in the 17th century.

The Origins of English Nonsense

The Origins of English Nonsense
Author: Noel Malcolm
Publisher:
Total Pages: 360
Release: 1997
Genre: Humor
ISBN:

Noel Malcolm's remarkable book lays before us the extent of nonsense verse some 250 years earlier than Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. It presents an anthology of the work by these poets in the 17th century and discusses the development of this genre.

Hobbes, the Scriblerians and the History of Philosophy

Hobbes, the Scriblerians and the History of Philosophy
Author: Conal Condren
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2015-10-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317321995

Satire was core to the work of Thomas Hobbes although his critics also used it as a weapon to ridicule him. Condren uses Hobbes as an example to demonstrate that an examination of the persona is needed to advance our understanding of a writer's philosophy.

A Theology of Nonsense

A Theology of Nonsense
Author: Josephine Gabelman
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2017-10-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0718847342

There is within all theological utterances something of the ridiculous, perhaps more so in Christianity, given its proclivity for the paradoxical and the childlike. Few theologians are willing to discuss how consent to the Christian doctrine often requires a faith that goes beyond reason. There seems to be a fear that the association of theology with the absurd will give fuel to the sceptic's refrain: 'You can't seriously believe in all that nonsense.' Josephine Gabelman considers the legitimacy of the sceptic's objection and explores the possibility that an idea can be contrary to rationality and also true and meaningful using the systematic analysis of central stylistic features of literary non sense such as Lewis Carroll's Alice stories. Gabelman sets up a nonsense theology by considering the practical and evangelical ramifications of associating Christian faith with nonsense literature and, conversely, the value of relating theological principles to the study of literary nonsense.Ultimately, Gabelman says, faith is always a risk and a strictly rational apologetic misrepresents the nature of Christian truth.

Nonsense and Other Senses

Nonsense and Other Senses
Author: Elisabetta Tarantino with the collaboration of Carlo Caruso
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2020-07-24
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1527557200

This book deals with a topic that is gaining increasing critical attention, the literature of nonsense and absurdity. The volume gathers together twenty-one essays on various aspects of literary nonsense, according to criteria that are deliberately inclusive and eclectic. Its purpose is to offer a gallery of “nonsense practices” in literature across periods and countries, in the conviction that important critical insights can be gained from these juxtapositions. Most of the cases presented here deal with linguistic nonsense, but in a few instances the nonsense operates at the higher level of the interpretation of reality on the part of the subject—or of the impossibility thereof. The contributors to the volume are established and younger scholars from various countries. Chronologically, the chapters range widely from Dante to Václav Havel, and offer a large span of national literatures (Czech, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese) and literary genres (poetry, prose, and drama), inviting the readers to trace their own pathway and draw their own lines of connection. One point that emerges with particular force is the notion that what distinguishes literary nonsense is its somehow “regulated” nature. Literary nonsense thus sounds like a deliberate, last-ditch attempt to snatch order from the jaws of chaos—the speech of the “Fool” as opposed to the tale told by an idiot. It is this kind of post-Derridean retrieval of choice as the defining element in semantic transactions which is perhaps the most significant insight bequeathed by the study of nonsense to the analysis of poetry and literature in general.

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
Author: John McWhorter
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2009-10-27
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1592404944

A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead of “I read a catalog”? Why do we say “do” at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Language distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history. Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English— and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it’s not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).

Encyclopedia of Humor Studies

Encyclopedia of Humor Studies
Author: Salvatore Attardo
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 985
Release: 2014-02-25
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 148334617X

The Encyclopedia of Humor: A Social History explores the concept of humor in history and modern society in the United States and internationally. This work’s scope encompasses the humor of children, adults, and even nonhuman primates throughout the ages, from crude jokes and simple slapstick to sophisticated word play and ironic parody and satire. As an academic social history, it includes the perspectives of a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, child development, social psychology, life style history, communication, and entertainment media. Readers will develop an understanding of the importance of humor as it has developed globally throughout history and appreciate its effects on child and adult development, especially in the areas of health, creativity, social development, and imagination. This two-volume set is available in both print and electronic formats. Features & Benefits: The General Editor also serves as Editor-in-Chief of HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research for The International Society for Humor Studies. The book’s 335 articles are organized in A-to-Z fashion in two volumes (approximately 1,000 pages). This work is enhanced by an introduction by the General Editor, a Foreword, a list of the articles and contributors, and a Reader’s Guide that groups related entries thematically. A Chronology of Humor, a Resource Guide, and a detailed Index are included. Each entry concludes with References/Further Readings and cross references to related entries. The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and cross references between and among related entries combine to provide robust search-and-browse features in the electronic version. This two-volume, A-to-Z set provides a general, non-technical resource for students and researchers in such diverse fields as communication and media studies, sociology and anthropology, social and cognitive psychology, history, literature and linguistics, and popular culture and folklore.

Shakespeare Unlearned

Shakespeare Unlearned
Author: Adam Zucker
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2024-09-26
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0198906781

Shakespeare Unlearned dances along the borderline of sense and nonsense in early modern texts, revealing overlooked opportunities for understanding and shared community in words and ideas that might in the past have been considered too silly to matter much for serious scholarship. Each chapter pursues a self-knowing, gently ironic study of the lexicon and scripting of words and acts related to what has been called 'stupidity' in work by Shakespeare and other authors. Each centers significant, often comic situations that emerge -- on stage, in print, and in the critical and editorial tradition pertaining to the period -- when rigorous scholars and teachers meet language, characters, or plotlines that exceed, and at times entirely undermine, the goals and premises of scholarly rigor. Each suggests that a framing of putative 'stupidity' pursued through lexicography, editorial glossing, literary criticism, and pedagogical practice can help us put Shakespeare and semantically obscure historical literature more generally to new communal ends. Words such as 'baffle' in Twelfth Night or 'twangling' and 'jingling' in The Tempest, and characters such as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Holofernes the pedant, might in the past have been considered unworthy of critical attention -- too light or obvious to matter much for our understanding of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Adam Zucker's meditation on the limits of learnedness and the opportunities presented by a philology of stupidity argues otherwise.

The Secret Artist

The Secret Artist
Author: Lesley Chamberlain
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2011-01-04
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1609800117

Widely acclaimed for giving "an understanding of the connection between Nietzsche’s personal experience and his most famous ideas" (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times) in her biography of Nietzsche, Nietzsche in Turin, Chamberlain now renders a similar service to readers of Freud. In this book, part biography, part literary criticism, she takes the reader into the mind of Freud, toward a better understanding of the thinker, his work, and art itself. The very idea of the subconcious as a constant, active presence in our daily lives was Freud’s greatest contribution and has allowed generations of people to experience their lives more deeply. His rigorous exploration of the dynamism and structures of the subconscious, Chamberlain argues, was in itself an important work of art. Using Freud’s own writing on art and the aesthetic theories of thinkers ranging from Nietzsche to Lionel Trilling, Chamberlain examines Freud’s art and shows how his imaginative creations have revolutionized not only mental health, but our thinking about art in general, by opening up the individual subconscious as a subject. In elegant, accessible prose she describes how "Freud split the aesthetic atom, releasing a vast energy for individual creativity."