The Poetics of Personification (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521445399)

Literary personification has long been taken for granted as an important aspect of Western narrative; Paul de Man had given it prominence as "the master trope of poetic discourse." James Paxson here offers a critical and theoretical appraisal of personification in the light of developments in poststructuralist thought. He reassesses early theories and examines the allegorical texts of Prudentius, Chaucer, Langland and Spenser to show how personification works as a complex artistic tool for revealing and advertising the problems and limits inherent in poetic or verbal creation.

Author: James J. Paxson
ISBN-10: 0521445396
ISBN-13: 9780521445399
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 02/25/1994
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.63d