Narrative And Meaning In Early Modern England: Browne's Skull And Other Histories (cambridge Studies In Renaissance Literature And Culture)

Howard Marchitello's Study Of Narrative Techniques In Renaissance Discourse Analyzes Imaginative Conjunctions Of Literary Texts, Such As Those By Shakespeare And Thomas Browne, With Developments In Scientific And Technical Writing. In Narrative And Meaning In Early Modern England He Explores The Relationship Between A Range Of Early Modern Discourses, Such As Cartography, Anatomy, And Travel Writing, And The Developing Sense Of The Importance Of Narrative In Producing Meaning. Narrative Was Used In The Renaissance As Both A Mode Of Discourse And An Epistemology; It Produced Knowledge, But Also Dictated How That Knowledge Should Be Understood. Marchitello Uses A Wide Range Of Cultural Documents To Illustrate The Importance Of Narrative In Constructing The Renaissance Understanding Of Time And Identity. By Highlighting The Inherent Textual Element In Imaginative And Scientific Discourses, His Study Also Evaluates A Range Of Contemporary Critical Practices And Explores Their Relation To Narrative And The Production Of Meaning. Introduction: Narrationalities -- Shakespeare's Othello And Vesalius's Fabrica: Anatomy, Gender, And The Narrative Production Of Meaning -- (dis)embodied Letters And The Merchant Of Venice: Writing, Editing, History -- Political Maps: The Production Of Cartography In Early Modern England -- Possessing The New World: Historicism And The Story Of The Anecdote -- Browne's Skull. Howard Marchitello. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. If the early modern period is that moment in the history of the west in which science in its distinctly modern form begins to emerge from complex pre-modern assemblages of mystical, hermetic, folkloric, metaphysical, and religious beliefs and practices, it is also the moment in which meaning in general begins a gradual transformation into the privileged domain of the discourses of science. Howard Marchitello's 1997 study of narrative techniques in Renaissance discourse analyses imaginative conjunctions of literary texts with developments in scientific and technical writing. Marchitello uses a wide range of cultural documents to illustrate the importance of narrative in constructing the Renaissance understanding of time and identity.