Published January 2003
'Hitler's First Victim'? Memory and Representation in Post-War Austria
Edited by Judith Beniston and Robert Vilain
Austrian Studies 11
Troubling Maternity: Mothering, Agency, and Ethics in Women's Writing in German of the 1970s and 1980s
Emily Jeremiah
Bithell Series of Dissertations 26 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 58
Slavonic and East European Review 81.1
Luigi Tansillo and Lyric Poetry in Sixteenth-Century Naples
Erika Milburn
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 57
Medieval and Early Modern Miscellanies and Anthologies
Edited by Phillipa Hardman
Yearbook of English Studies 33
The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies, Volume 63: Survey Year 2001
Edited by Stephen Parkinson
Published February 2003
Proust: La Traduction du sensible
Nathalie Aubert
Research Monographs in French Studies 13
- ‘Careful examination of that delicate area between object seen and the deepening sense of being and elation which goes beyond the banality of the situation and becomes a challenge for the narrator to resolve in words: in fact, the very opposition of life and art that lies at the root of Proust's quest.’ — W. L. Hodson, Modern Language Review 99.3, 2004, 786-7 (full text online)
- ‘Utile et intéressant, ce petit volume introduit des observations profondes et nouvelles.’ — Gareth Gollrad, French Review 79.3, 2006, 624-25
Published April 2003
Slavonic and East European Review 81.2
Published May 2003
Robert Antelme: Humanity, Community, Testimony
Martin Crowley
Research Monographs in French Studies 15
- ‘A sensitive and timely account... Crowley’s challenging and detailed study shows vitally that if Antelme is ultimately and necessarily writing within the limits of his own period, none the less he makes an urgent, ethical, and highly politicized challenge to the reader which may never be realized, yet which remains all the more pressing at the beginning of the twenty-first century.’ — Kathryn Robson, Modern Language Review 100.1, January 2005, 220-21 (full text online)
- ‘Martin Crowley's concern, in this thought-provoking study of the text and the readings to which it has given rise, is to elucidate the dynamics of Antelme's thought firstly by focusing specifically on Antelme, rather than on Antelme as approached from Marguerite Duras, and secondly by situating Antelme's writings historically, philosophically and, to a certain extent, politically.’ — Margaret Atack, French Studies 58.4, 2004, 574
Published June 2003
Desiring the Dead: Necrophilia and Nineteenth-Century French Literature
Lisa Downing
Legenda (General Series)
- ‘Downing is working outside the scope of any simple discourse of pathology, and perhaps outside the queer undoing of pathology as such. ...this is an impressive first book, striking without being facile, theoretically complex without being unruly, and attentive to literary qualities in the chosen texts while sustaining its thematic argument.’ — Peter Cryle, Modern Language Review 100.2, 2005, 505-6 (full text online)
- ‘This is a successful, richly structured, and thought-provoking exploration of 'the cultural fantasy of necrophilia'.’ — Carol Rifelj, Nineteenth-Century French Studies 33, n. 1 and 2, Fall-Winter 2004-2005
- ‘Downing's approach throughout is essentially post-Faucauldian and psychoanalitic. Her style, at once sober and engaging, is a model for academic prose in general. ... The work also indicates a new direction for death studies, and despite its omissions deserves consideration in this regard.’ — Jason Hartford, The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association Spring 2004, 119-21
Image and Word: Reflections of Art and Literature
Edited by Antonella Braida and Giuliana Pieri
Legenda (General Series)
Liberty, Equality, Maternity
Alison Fell
Legenda (General Series)
- ‘A highly readable, well-informed, and clearly argued study of the discourses of motherhood in twentieth-century France.’ — Catherine Rodgers, Modern Language Review 99.4, 2004, 1059-60 (full text online)
- ‘Ce livre consciencieux met en valeur l'humanité des trois écrivaines étudiées plutôt qu'une quelconque rigidité. Somme tout, c'est leur histoire personnelle que Fell explore, avec tout ce que cela supposes de contradictions, d'ambiguïtés, de tiraillements entre théorie et vécu.’ — Catherine Slawy-Sutton, French Review 79.2, 2006, 420-21
Secrets and Puzzles: Silence and the Unsaid in Contemporary Italian Writing
Nicoletta Simborowski
Legenda (General Series)
- ‘Simborowski's book provides a novel, interpretative angle for some of the most studied authors of 20th century Italian literature, inviting a reading which overcomes the limitations of the said by engaging the reader in an operation of 'voicing the silence.' The book is clearly written and Simborowski's positions convincingly argued.’ — Nicoletta Di Ciolla McGowan, Forum Italicum 38/1, 2004, 267-9
- ‘This book throws new light on a crucial period of Italian culture. In the analysis of silence and the unsaid it provides a key for interpretation, which works well (although not infallibly), and which highlights fundamental issues in Italian literature of the second half of the twentieth century.’ — Olivia Santovetti, Modern Language Review 100.3, 7 July 2005, 843-44 (full text online)
- ‘Secrets and Puzzles foregrounds and consolidates an important interpretative issue, offering a new perspective on mainstream authors and a new critical context in which to view other writers of the post-war period. An impressive contribution to the study, at undergraduate level and beyond, of contemporary Italian literature.’ — Jennifer Burns, Italian Studies 60.1, 2005, 111-12
Silent Witness: Racine's Non-Verbal Annotations of Euripides
Susanna Phillippo
Research Monographs in French Studies 14
- ‘Phillippo ... is to be congratulated on finding interest in such apparently unpromising markings and on giving them voice. Indeed, her book is a triumph of sober scholarship and critical imagination.’ — Michael Hawcroft, French Studies LVIII.3, 2004, 408-9
- ‘Source criticism seems to have caught a second wind lately ... Silent Witness represents an enlightened form of this methodological approach, giving an inside view of Racine's creative process that allows us to look over his shoulder in the atelier d'artiste.’ — Ronald W. Tobin, L'Esprit Créateur Vol. XLIV, n. 2, Summer 2004, 97-8
- ‘This book has been painstakingly researched and set out in a manner to facilitate the reader's understanding of the detailed argument based on close reading of the French and Greek texts.’ — Rosemary Arnoux, New Zealand Journal of French Studies 25/1, 2004, 61-2
- ‘It is true that we will never know why Racine marked certain passages, and that we can also argue for the influence of text that is unmarked. The study of sources will necessarily often belong to the domain of informed speculation. But if we accept that literary criticism deals more in persuasion than in certainties, we will be more sympathetic to this well-judged attempt to look at an old question in what is an original, clear-headed, and stimulating way.’ — John Campbell, Modern Language Review 100.2, April 2005, 500-01 (full text online)
- ‘For anyone interested in Euripides and his influence, the research and the argument here presented offer much to tantalize.’ — Clara Shaw Hardy, The Classical Bulletin 81.1, 2005, 98-100
- ‘Phillippo's conclusions remain firmly within the limits of what can reasonably be deduced from the evidence and the complete listing in an appendix of Racine's non-verbal annotations allow the sceptic to check against the original Euripidean text. This book has added an important element to the study of Racine's work.’ — Mark Bannister, International Journal of the Classical Tradition Fall 2004, 312-13
Published July 2003
Slavonic and East European Review 81.3
The Jewish Pope: Myth, Diaspora and Yiddish Literature
Joseph Sherman
Studies In Yiddish 4
- ‘Although I cannot concur fully with all of Sherman's conclusions, the building-blocks of his narrative (the examination of the Joseph story as the master narrative of the Jewish Pope myth, as well as the analyses of individual reworkings of the myth) are truly insightful, meticulously researched, and masterfully argued. His book is an important contribution to Jewish literary and cultural studies and will also be of great interest to students and scholars of folklore.’ — Elizabeth Loentz, Modern Language Review 100.4, October 2005, 1160-62 (full text online)
Published October 2003
Slavonic and East European Review 81.4
Published December 2003
Artful Seduction: Homosexuality and the Problematics of Exile
Karl Posso
Legenda (General Series)
Crossing Fields in Modern Spanish Culture
Edited by Federico Bonaddio and Xon de Ros
Legenda (General Series)
- ‘Federico Bonaddio and Xon de Ros have put together a very useful series of short and punchy articles which span over a hundred and fifty years of Spanish culture, from the 1860s to the present day... Without doubt this collection would make an excellent addition to any university library. The essays on canonical texts may very well prove invaluable to undergraduate students while those on lesser-known writers, artists, and cinematographers will surely fulfil the same function for postgraduates and the academic community in general.’ — Jean Andrews, Modern Language Review 101.3, July 2006, 876-77 (full text online)
Edmond Jabès: The Hazard of Exile
Steven Jaron
Legenda (General Series)
- ‘A meticulously researched account of backgrounds to Edmond Jabès's poetry... Its focus on the early period in Egypt brings to view an aspect of Jabès's life not much otherwise looked at. And it raises many questions vital to understanding Jabès.’ — Shira Wolosky, Partial Answers 4.1, 2006, 201-04
For the People, by the People? Eugène Sue's 'Les Mystères de Paris': A Hypothesis in the Sociology of Literature
Christopher Prendergast
Research Monographs in French Studies 16
- ‘What is particularly fascinating in Prendergast's work is his detailed analysis of the voluminous correspondence received by Sue as his novel progressed... The substantial Bibliography is itself illustrative of the various analyses that have been made over the years, among which For the People By the People? now earns a major place.’ — John Dunmore, New Zealand Journal of French Studies 26.2, 2005, 60-61
- ‘This is a brilliant and lucid book, richly documented and subtle, and as engaging as it is authoritative.’ — David H. Walker, French Studies 58.4, 2004, 561
A Self-Administered Poison: The System and Functions of Soviet Censorship
Arlen Blyum
Special Lecture Series 5
- ‘The title of this marvellous little book relates both to Soviet propaganda and to the Soviet censorship system in general... This well-translated booklet will, I hope, stimulate more Western scholars to work in this fascinating field.’ — Martin Dewhirst, Slavonic and East European Review 84.2, 2006, 319-20 (full text online)
Forming Couples: Godard's Contempt
Leo Bersani and Ulysse Dutoit
Special Lecture Series 6
- ‘Perhaps more than those of any other director, the films of Jean-Luc Godard attract the attention of smart people who devote immense time and energy into figuring out what they mean... Certainly, Bersani and Dutoit are masters of this game and their recent essay represents something of a model exercise in this genre of criticism.’ — William S. Lewis, French Review 80.5, 2007, 1134-35