Picaresque fiction today [e-book] : the trickster in contemporary Anglophone and Italian literature / by Luigi Gussago.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gussago, Luigi.

Series:

Postmodern Studies 54.

Postmodern Studies ; 54

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Picaresque literature, European--History and criticism.

Picaresque literature, European.

Tricksters in literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (315 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2016]

Summary:

In Picaresque Fiction Today Luigi Gussago examines the development of the picaresque in contemporary Anglophone and Italian fiction. Far from being an extinct narrative form, confined to the pages of its original Spanish sources or their later British imitators, the tale of roguery has been revisited through the centuries from a host of disparate angles. Throughout their wanderings, picaresque antiheroes are dragged into debates on the credibility of historical facts, gender mystifications, rational thinking, or any simplistic definition of the outcast. Referring to a corpus of eight contemporary novels, the author retraces a textual legacy linking the traditional picaresque to its recent descendants, with the main purpose of identifying the way picaresque novels offer a privileged insight into our sceptical times. Cover illustration by Eugene Ivanov \'Night Airing\', 2007.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction: A Journey around the Picaresque Novel

History through Roguish Eyes

Alienation and Counter-culture

Women on the Edge: Sexuality and Gender Dissent

Humour and the Muffled Voice of Reason

Concluding Remarks

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-31123-8

OCLC:

958412456

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004311237 DOI