Literary twinship from Shakespeare to the age of cloning / Wieland Schwanebeck.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwanebeck, Wieland, author.

Series:

Literary criticism and cultural theory.

Literary criticism and cultural theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--History and criticism.

English literature.

Twins in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (231 pages).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, 2020.

Summary:

Unlike previous efforts that have only addressed literary twinship as a footnote to the doppelganger motif, this book makes a case for the complexity of literary twinship across the literary spectrum. It shows how twins have been instrumental to the formation of comedies of mistaken identity, the detective genre, and dystopian science fiction. The individual chapters trace the development of the category of twinship over time, demonstrating how the twin was repeatedly (re-)invented as a cultural and pathological type when other discursive fields constituted themselves, and how its literary treatment served as the battleground for ideological disputes: by setting the stage for debates regarding kinship and reproduction, or by partaking in discussions of criminality, eugenic greatness, and "monstrous births". The book addresses nearly 100 primary texts, including works of Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Aldous Huxley, Christopher Priest, William Shakespeare, and Zadie Smith.

Contents:

Introducing twins Conceiving twins Confusing twins Appropriating twins Detecting twins Multiplying twins Untangling twins

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-00-300579-9

1-000-03273-6

1-003-00579-9

9781003005797

OCLC:

1137165972

Publisher Number:

9781003005797