The Epistolary Renaissance: A Critical Approach to Contemporary Letter Narratives in Anglophone Fiction

Open Access Published by De Gruyter 2018

The Epistolary Renaissance

A Critical Approach to Contemporary Letter Narratives in Anglophone Fiction

Edited by: Maria Löschnigg and Rebekka Schuh
Funded by: Knowledge Unlatched

Volume 62 in the series Buchreihe der Anglia / Anglia Book Series

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110584813

Overview
Contents

About this book

Since the late twentieth century, letters in literature have seen a remarkable renaissance. The prominence of letters in recent fiction is due in part to the rediscovery, by contemporary writers, of letters as an effective tool for rendering aspects of historicity, liminality, marginalization and the expression of subjectivity vis-à-vis an ‘other’; it is also due, however, to the artistically challenging inclusion of the new electronic media of communication into fiction.
While studies of epistolary fiction have so far concentrated on the eighteenth century and on thematic concerns, this volume charts the epistolary renaissance in recent literature, entering new territory by also focusing on the aesthetic implications of the epistolary mode. In particular, the essays in this volume illuminate the potential of the epistolary (including digital forms) for rendering contemporary sensitivities. The volume thus offers a comprehensive assessment of letter narratives in contemporary literature. Through its focus on the aesthetic and structural aspects of new epistolary fiction, the inclusion of various narrative forms, and the consideration of both conventional letters and their new digital kindred, The Epistolary Renaissance offers novel insight into a multi-facetted (re)new(ed) genre.

provides a new approach to letter fiction
covers a wide variety of epistolary forms
written by experts in the field of epistolary studies

Author / Editor information

Maria Löschnigg and Rebekka Schuh, University of Graz, Austria.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VI
Introduction to this Volume Maria Löschnigg and Rebekka Schuh Open Access Download PDF	1
Part I: Contemporary Epistolary Fiction: New Approaches
Epistolarity. Theoretical and Generic Preliminaries Maria Löschnigg and Rebekka Schuh Open Access Download PDF	15
Part II: The Epistolary Short Story
The Epistolary Short Story and the Representation of History Maria Löschnigg Open Access Download PDF	47
Enveloped in Epistolary Illusion. The Aesthetics of Reading and Writing Letters in Selected Short Stories by Alice Munro Rebekka Schuh Open Access Download PDF	73
Epistolarity in Twenty-First Century Nigerian Short Fiction Maximilian Feldner Open Access Download PDF	91
Wish I Was There. Economies of Communication in Annie Proulx’s Postcards and “Brokeback Mountain” Kym Brindle Open Access Download PDF	107
Part III: The Contemporary Epistolary Novel
Epistolary Forms as Semiotic and Generic Modes in the Multimodal Novel Wolfgang Hallet Open Access Download PDF	125
Isolation, Participation and Communication in Young Adult Unidirectional Epistolary Fiction Lisa Kazianka Open Access Download PDF	143
From Ireland with Love: The Use of Epistolary Writing in Cecelia Ahern’s Fiction Ingrid Pfandl-Buchegger Open Access Download PDF	159
An Open Letter to Nick Bantock OR Letters and/as Ephemera(l): Desire, Transposition and Transpoetic Possibility with/in Epistolary Form Ames Hawkins Open Access Download PDF	181
The Epistolary Revenant: Teaching Against Linearity Toni Bowers Open Access Download PDF	193
Part IV: Literature and Electronic Correspondence
E-Mail Epistlemologies Thomas O. Beebee Open Access Download PDF	211
Stuplimity and Quick Media Epistolarity in Lauren Myracle’s Internet Girls Series Silvia Schultermandl Open Access Download PDF	227
In the Age of Vlogging: Functions of the Letter in YouTubers’ Fiction and Non-Fiction Silke Jandl Open Access Download PDF	243
E-pistolary Novels and Networks: Registering Formal Shifts between Henry Fielding’s Shamela (1741) and Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story (2010) Elizabeth Kovach Open Access Download PDF	261
The Right Sort of Form for “The Right Sort”: David Mitchell’s Tweet-Story Gerd Bayer Open Access Download PDF	277
Contributors Open Access Download PDF	289
Index Open Access Download PDF	293

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars and students in the field of narrative studies; all interested in old and new forms of correspondence; libraries.
Pages
- Front matter: 7
- Main content: 298
Illustrations
- Coloured Illustrations: 1
Keywords: Epistolarity; letters; narrative genres; Anglophone fiction

eBook

Published: September 10, 2018
ISBN: 9783110584813

Hardcover

Published: September 10, 2018
ISBN: 9783110582024

Paperback

Published: July 6, 2020
ISBN: 9783110709674