Oscar Wilde
The Works of a Conformist Rebel
Part of European Studies in English Literature
- Author: Norbert Kohl
- Translator: David Henry Wilson
- Date Published: March 2011
- availability: Available
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521176538
Paperback
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Originally published in English in 1989, from a 1980 German edition, this book provides a comprehensive study of Oscar Wilde's work. It aims to gain fresh insight into his literary and critical œuvre by fully analysing each of his works on the basis of a textually oriented interpretation, taking equal account of the biographical and intellectual contexts. Professor Kohl's starting-point is the thesis that Wilde's identity - both personal and artistic - can only be adequately described in terms of a conflict between two opposing forces: individualism and convention. This conflict colours not only Wilde's use of Romantic and Victorian images and motifs, but also his modern portrayal of the individual's alienation from society, the loss of transcendent values, the sovereignty of subjectivity and autonomous art, and also his formal experiments with language. This is a penetrating and highly readable account of Wilde as a 'conformist rebel'.
Reviews & endorsements
Review of the hardback: Of the German edition: 'Here at last is a standard work on Wilde, which combines all the known and relevant facts within a unified and convincing perspective.' Poetica
See more reviewsReview of the hardback: 'Kohl's book is a long awaited basic work which gives optimal characterisation ... and never strays from its essential purpose of studying not the author's personality, but the individuality of his work.' Literatur in Wissenschaft und Unterricht
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×Product details
- Date Published: March 2011
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521176538
- length: 450 pages
- dimensions: 229 x 152 x 25 mm
- weight: 0.66kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
1. Epigonic experiments: the early poems and plays
2. The selfish and the selfless: the fairy-tales and stories
3. Personality and perfection: the lectures, Reviews and Intentions
4. Authority and autonomy: The Soul Man under Socialism
5. Culture and corruption: The Picture of Dorian Gray
6. Sensuality and suggestion: Salome and The Sphinx
7. Pathos and paradox: Lady Windermere's Fan: A Woman of No Importance
An Ideal Husband
8. Propriety and parody: The Importance of Being Earnest
9. Apologies and accusations: De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol
10. Plans, sketches and fragments
Conclusion
List of abbreviations
Notes
Select bibliography
Index.
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