A Handbook of English Renaissance Literary Studies (Critical Theory Handbooks)

Provides a detailed map of contemporary critical theory in Renaissance and Early Modern English literary studies beyond Shakespeare A Handbook of English Renaissance Literary Studies is a groundbreaking guide to the contemporary engagement with critical theory within the larger disciplinary area of Renaissance and Early Modern studies. Comprising commissioned contributions from leading international scholars, it provides an overview of literary theory, beyond Shakespeare, focusing on most major figures, as well as some lesser-known writers of the period. This book represents an important first step in bridging the divide between the abundance of titles which explore applications of theory in Shakespeare studies, and the relative lack of such texts concerning English Literary Renaissance studies as a whole, which includes major figures such as Marlowe, Jonson, Donne, and Milton. The tripartite structure offers a map of the critical landscape so that students can appreciate the breadth of the work being done, along with an exploration of the ways in which the treatments of or approaches to key issues have changed over time. Handbook of English Renaissance Literary Studies is must-reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of early modern and Renaissance English literature, as well as their instructors and advisors. Divided into three main sections, “Conditions of Subjectivity,” “Spaces, Places, and Forms,” and “Practices and Theories,” A Handbook of English Renaissance Literary Studies : Provides an overview of theoretical work and the theoretical-informed competencies which are central to the teaching of English Renaissance literary studies beyond Shakespeare Provides a map of the critical landscape of the field to provide students with an opportunity to appreciate the breadth of the work done Features newly-commissioned essays in representative subject areas to offer a clear picture of the contemporary theoretically-engaged work in the field Explores the ways in which the treatments of or approaches to key issues have changed over time Offers examples of the ways in which the practice of a theoretically-engaged criticism may enrich the personal and professional lives of critics, and the culture in which such critical practice takes place Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Notes on Contributors -- Introduction -- I -- II -- III -- IV -- References -- Part I Conditions of Subjectivity -- Chapter 1 Gender -- What to Read Next -- Note -- References -- Chapter 2 Love and Friendship -- What to Read Next -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 3 Race and Colonization -- I -- II -- III -- What to Read Next -- References -- Chapter 4 Agency and Choice -- Hegel and the Coming of a Modern Age -- The "Self" and Hamlet -- Agency and Institutions -- Agency and Choice in 1 Henry 4 -- What to Read Next -- References -- Chapter 5 Religion and the Religious Turn -- The Religious Turn in Shakespeare Studies -- Post-Secularism: Definitions and Dilemmas -- Weak Post-secularism: Shakespeare/Habermas -- Non-Christian Post-secularism: Shakespeare/Asad -- Ecofeminist Post-secularism: Shakespeare/Braidotti -- Conclusion: Post-secular Shakespeare? -- What to Read Next -- References -- Chapter 6 Desire and Representation -- Theater of the Incommensurable -- Desire in the Abyss -- What to Read Next -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 7 Service -- Shakespeare's Othello -- Webster, The Duchess of Malfi -- Middleton and Rowley, The Changeling -- Coda: John Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore -- What to Read Next -- References -- Chapter 8 The Body and Its Lives -- Social Histories of the Body -- Bodies in Pain and the Sexualized Body -- The Body in Parts -- The Medicalized Body -- Textualized Bodies -- What to Read Next3 -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 9 Objects and Things -- A Few Words About Worlds and Pictures -- Donne's Relics -- What to Read Next -- References -- Part II Places, Spaces, and Forms -- Chapter 10 The Market -- What to Read Next -- References -- Chapter 11 Nature and the Non-Human -- I -- II -- III -- What to Read Next -- Note -- References