Explores the importance and complexity of classical allusiveness in the modern American novel Explores both the sheer extent and the ideologically-invested nature of classical allusiveness in the modern American novel Sheds significant new light on canonical and often-taught major American novelists Synthesizes and builds on existing research to demonstrate how a proper understanding of each writer's classical allusiveness contributes to broad debates about modernism and postmodernism, intertextuality and the history and categorization of the American novel Draws on the methodologies and insights of Classical Reception studies as well as American studies, and makes an invaluable contribution to both fields Includes a user-friendly glossary that explains all the classical names, concepts and words This book is an invaluable survey of the allusions to ancient Greek and Roman culture in the work of seven major modern American novelists: Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth and Marilynne Robinson. Making the classical world accessible to all readers, it combines new close readings of three key texts by each author with overviews of the essential prior scholarship in the field. It also builds on archival research in documenting the nature and extent of each author's own familiarity with classical literature and languages.

Explores the importance and complexity of classical allusiveness in the modern American novel Explores both the sheer extent and the ideologically-invested nature of classical allusiveness in the modern American novel Sheds significant new light on canonical and often-taught major American novelists Synthesizes and builds on existing research to demonstrate how a proper understanding of each writer's classical allusiveness contributes to broad debates about modernism and postmodernism, intertextuality and the history and categorization of the American novel Draws on the methodologies and insights of Classical Reception studies as well as American studies, and makes an invaluable contribution to both fields Includes a user-friendly glossary that explains all the classical names, concepts and words This book is an invaluable survey of the allusions to ancient Greek and Roman culture in the work of seven major modern American novelists: Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth and Marilynne Robinson. Making the classical world accessible to all readers, it combines new close readings of three key texts by each author with overviews of the essential prior scholarship in the field. It also builds on archival research in documenting the nature and extent of each author's own familiarity with classical literature and languages.

Toni Morrison has written some of the most significant and demanding fiction of the modern age. Her dazzling depictions of African-American experience are studied in high schools and colleges, debated in the media and analyzed by scholars at an astounding rate. This Introduction offers readers a guide to the world of Morrison in all its complexity, from her status as a key player on the global intellectual stage to her unique perspective on American history and her innovative narrative techniques. Covering every novel from The Bluest Eye to A Mercy, Tessa Roynon combines close readings with critical insights into Morrison's other creative work, such as short stories, libretto and song lyrics and unpublished pieces for performance. Lively and accessibly written, Roynon's insightful text is ideal for readers approaching Morrison for the first time as well as those familiar with her work.

This essay collection begins the vast project that is the global history of Ralph Ellison's life and work. It examines how and why this avowedly "American" author read literature and scholarship from across the world and has in turn been widely read outside the borders of the USA. How did Ellison's encounters with the "international" Henry James, the Cambridge Ritualists, the Roman poet Ovid and with Dostoevsky shape both the aesthetics and the politics of his own work? And what is the relationship between Invisible Man and the complex and always evolving political and cultural contexts of South Africa, the USSR and Russia, Germany and Japan since World War II? Contributors from seven different countries - based in Asia, Africa, Europe and the USA - deploy significant archival research both in Ellison's personal library and in the translation and reception histories of his iconic first novel. This study of "the world in Ellison and Ellison in the world" initiates an important new approach in Ellison studies, illuminating hitherto hidden dimensions of the man and his writings.

Toni Morrison has written some of the most significant and demanding fiction of the modern age. Her dazzling depictions of African-American experience are studied in high schools and colleges, debated in the media and analyzed by scholars at an astounding rate. This Introduction offers readers a guide to the world of Morrison in all its complexity, from her status as a key player on the global intellectual stage to her unique perspective on American history and her innovative narrative techniques. Covering every novel from The Bluest Eye to A Mercy, Tessa Roynon combines close readings with critical insights into Morrison's other creative work, such as short stories, libretto and song lyrics and unpublished pieces for performance. Lively and accessibly written, Roynon's insightful text is ideal for readers approaching Morrison for the first time as well as those familiar with her work.