Overview

The Edinburgh Companion to the Essay distinguishes itself by the wide range and scope of its themes, voices and approaches. Thirty-five leading essayists, literary critics and writing instructors explore the essay from multiple perspectives, including its theories, forms and histories as well as its cultural, political and pedagogical contexts. In particular, the volume extends the theory of the essay by addressing topics such as the construction of an essayistic self and the political dimensions of essaying. It further explores the relationship between the essay and other forms, such as philosophical writing, the column, science writing, the novel, the lyric and the advert as well as the essay in digital spaces.

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9781474486026

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"This admirable entry in the wide-ranging series ""Edinburgh Companions to Literature and the Arts"" is a must-read for anyone interested in the art of the essay. [...] Summing Up: Essential.--D. M. Moore, University of Iowa ""CHOICE"" To appreciate the full breadth and depth of the essay, you need a diverse array of guides and that is what you will find in this volume, where scholars, teachers and writers combine to reveal the pleasures and powers of this versatile literary form and its relevance to the issues of our day.--Scott Russell Sanders, Author of The Way of Imagination and Earth Works: Selected Essays While the essay as a form might embrace ambiguity and uncertainty, the expert essays compiled herein are clear and authoritative in their historical and formal sweep. This volume is serious-minded and impressive in its scope, but never boring. It's high time for such a necessary examination of this vital and ever-evolving form.--Robin Hemley, Author of Borderline Citizen, Dispatches from the Outskirts of Nationhood and Founder, NonfictioNow Underlying the chapters--and adding significantly to their effectiveness--is a sense that the contributors enjoy the form they're writing about. Their grasp of essayistic literature, particularly in its contemporary manifestations, is impressive. This means that their analyses are supported by a persuasive range of example and reference. The Edinburgh Companion to the Essay offers a wide-ranging, multifaceted, and engaging examination of this hard-to-pin-down genre. It will be an invaluable guide both for those approaching the essay for the first time and those already well versed in it who wish to further their understanding of its mercurial nature and seemingly endless possibilities.--Chris Arthur ""World Literature Today"""

This admirable entry in the wide-ranging series ""Edinburgh Companions to Literature and the Arts"" is a must-read for anyone interested in the art of the essay. [...] Summing Up: Essential.--D. M. Moore, University of Iowa ""CHOICE"" To appreciate the full breadth and depth of the essay, you need a diverse array of guides and that is what you will find in this volume, where scholars, teachers and writers combine to reveal the pleasures and powers of this versatile literary form and its relevance to the issues of our day.--Scott Russell Sanders, Author of The Way of Imagination and Earth Works: Selected Essays While the essay as a form might embrace ambiguity and uncertainty, the expert essays compiled herein are clear and authoritative in their historical and formal sweep. This volume is serious-minded and impressive in its scope, but never boring. It's high time for such a necessary examination of this vital and ever-evolving form.--Robin Hemley, Author of Borderline Citizen, Dispatches from the Outskirts of Nationhood and Founder, NonfictioNow Underlying the chapters--and adding significantly to their effectiveness--is a sense that the contributors enjoy the form they're writing about. Their grasp of essayistic literature, particularly in its contemporary manifestations, is impressive. This means that their analyses are supported by a persuasive range of example and reference. The Edinburgh Companion to the Essay offers a wide-ranging, multifaceted, and engaging examination of this hard-to-pin-down genre. It will be an invaluable guide both for those approaching the essay for the first time and those already well versed in it who wish to further their understanding of its mercurial nature and seemingly endless possibilities.--Chris Arthur ""World Literature Today""

Author Information

Mario Aquilina, Senior Lecturer in the Department of English, University of Malta. Nicole B. Wallack, Director of Columbia University's Undergraduate Writing Program and Senior Lecturer-in-Discipline in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University. Bob Cowser Jnr., Professor of English, St. Lawrence University.

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