Wolfgang Iser : a companion / Ben De Bruyn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

De Bruyn, Ben.

Series:

Companions to contemporary German culture ; v. 1.

Companions to contemporary German culture, 2193-9659 ; v. 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reader-response criticism.

Criticism--History--20th century.

Criticism.

Literature--History and criticism.

Literature.

Iser, Wolfgang--Criticism and interpretation.

Iser, Wolfgang.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (284 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Although Wolfgang Iser is one of the most influential literary theorists of the twentieth century, there is no authoritative study about his oeuvre. The present work remedies that problem by analysing Iser's German and English writings in detail. Apart from being the first comprehensive account of his work, this study also modifies the established view of Iser's theory. In contrast to the idea that his only contribution to literary studies is the reception theory of the 1970s, this account demonstrates the importance of Iser's work on history and anthropology from the 1950s and 1990s. Instead of exclusively focusing on familiar terms such as 'indeterminacy', this analysis also discusses Iser's view of modernity, fiction and culture. As this discussion shows, his writings develop a consistent theory of the novel and the way in which it allows its readers to articulate new views of reality. To situate this theory, Iser's institutional and intellectual background is described as well, paying special attention to the Poetik und Hermeneutik-circle and thinkers like Blumenberg and Kermode. The continued relevance of his theory is demonstrated via comparisons with recent research on the novel and memory as well as examples from contemporary novelists like Juli Zeh and Hilary Mantel.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. Comic and Aesthetic Novels

Chapter 2. Montage and Modernity

Chapter 3. The Phenomenology of Reading

Chapter 4. Fictions, Roles and Games

Chapter 5. The Recursions of Culture

Conclusion. Modernity, Meaning and Humanity

Wolfgang Iser: A Bibliography

Name Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781283857505

1283857502

9783110245523

3110245523

OCLC:

796384273