Hardback
Description
Reconceptualizing the epic genre and opening it up to a world of storytelling, The Epic World makes a timely and bold intervention toward understanding the human propensity to aestheticize and normalize mass deployments of power and violence.
The collection broadly considers three kinds of epic literature: conventional celebratory tales of conquest that glorify heroism, especially male heroism; anti-epics or stories of conquest from the perspectives of the dispossessed, the oppressed, the despised, and the murdered; and heroic stories utilized for imperialist or nationalist purposes. The Epic World illustrates global patterns of epic storytelling, such as the durability of stories tied to religious traditions and/or to peoples who have largely "stayed put"; the tendency to reimagine and retell stories in new ways over centuries; and the imbrication of epic storytelling and forms of colonialism and imperialism, especially those perpetuated and glorified by Euro-Americans over the past 500 years, resulting in unspeakable and immeasurable harms to humans, other living beings, and the planet Earth. The Epic World is a go-to volume for anyone interested in epic literature in a global framework.
Engaging with powerful stories and ways of knowing beyond those of the predominantly white Global North, this field-shifting volume exposes the false premises of "Western civilization" and "Classics," and brings new questions and perspectives to epic studies.
Information
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Out of stock
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:660 pages, 5 Line drawings, black and white; 22 Halftones, black and white; 27 Illustrations, black
- Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication Date:30/01/2024
- Category:
- ISBN:9780367252366
Information
-
Out of stock
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:660 pages, 5 Line drawings, black and white; 22 Halftones, black and white; 27 Illustrations, black
- Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication Date:30/01/2024
- Category:
- ISBN:9780367252366