Sheds new light on European and regional book markets, the development of a public sphere and the impact of new media on intellectual, social, religious and political change. How do you become a citizen? Ever since printing was introduced, being a member of society increasingly involved reading and writing: for sociability and belonging, instruction and entertainment, profit and charity, spiritual awakening and political debate. Literary practices shaped and changed identities and the organisation of society during the Long Eighteenth Century. In Scandinavia, this happened locally, as well as transnationally - reading, writing and producing texts involved entanglements within and beyond the borders of the Northern European periphery of Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Focusing on 'literary citizenship', this volume uncovers the different ways in which engagements with print have mediated and established networks and communities, identities and agencies of multiple sorts in an interconnected media landscape. The result is a complex and intriguing history of the book in the Scandinavian region. This history is, on the one hand, influenced by a European market and tradition. On the other hand, it offers an important and different case of regional and local adaptation, marked by what has been termed a 'Northern Enlightenment'. This book will be of interest to scholars of European enlightenment studies and to those who are interested in the continuing debates surrounding print culture and history. This book is available as Open Access under the Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC. This book and the research upon which it is based was supported by funds from The Research Council of Norway and the National Library of Norway. CONTRIBUTORS: Jens Bjerring-Hansen, Jon Haarberg, Ruth Hemstad, Thor Inge Rørvik, Ellen Krefting, Karin Kukkonen, Ulrik Langen, Aina Nøding, Jonas Nordin, James Raven, Janicke S. Kaasa, Karen Skovgaard-Petersen, Frederik Stjernfelt, Iver Tangen Stensrud and Jonas Thorup Thomsen.

There exists an area of overlap where language and nature meet, and this book, first published in 1980, illuminates that fascinating territory. When real-world things, such as plants, are used in literature or language as symbols, these special signs have a double allegiance. They function as language but derive their meaning from nature. The authors trace the consequences of this, and show how it affects the character of the relevant areas of language and literature. Original and entertaining, this study cuts across a number of traditional disciplines. It should appeal not only to those interested in literature, language and semiotics, but also to students of philosophy, anthropology, classics, pictorial art, religion and folklore.

There exists an area of overlap where language and nature meet, and this book, first published in 1980, illuminates that fascinating territory. When real-world things, such as plants, are used in literature or language as symbols, these special signs have a double allegiance. They function as language but derive their meaning from nature. The authors trace the consequences of this, and show how it affects the character of the relevant areas of language and literature. Original and entertaining, this study cuts across a number of traditional disciplines. It should appeal not only to those interested in literature, language and semiotics, but also to students of philosophy, anthropology, classics, pictorial art, religion and folklore.

What is the importance of poetry? Why do we enjoy the experience of tragic distress? Does Roman tragedy reflect Aristotelian poetics? In what ways can Aristotle's "Poetics" be read and interpreted? To what kind of use can it be put? Such are the questions discussed in this collection of essays, which examines one of the most seminal as well as cryptic texts of Western criticism - a text that still triggers essential deliberations about literature and the ways in which we relate to it.