The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of London [Hardcover]

This book offers a variety of approaches to the topic of London in English literature from the Middle Ages to the present.London has provided the setting and inspiration for a host of literary works, from canonical masterpieces to the popular and ephemeral. Drawing upon a variety of methods and materials, the essays in this volume explore representations of the city and its literary culture from medieval times to the present.London has provided the setting and inspiration for a host of literary works, from canonical masterpieces to the popular and ephemeral. Drawing upon a variety of methods and materials, the essays in this volume explore representations of the city and its literary culture from medieval times to the present.London has provided the setting and inspiration for a host of literary works in English, from canonical masterpieces to the popular and ephemeral. Drawing upon a variety of methods and materials, the essays in this volume explore the London of Langland and the Peasants' Rebellion, of Shakespeare and the Elizabethan stage, of Pepys and the Restoration coffee house, of Dickens and Victorian wealth and poverty, of Conrad and the Empire, of Woolf and the wartime Blitz, of Naipaul and postcolonial immigration, and of contemporary globalism. Contributions from historians, art historians, theorists and media specialists as well as leading literary scholars exemplify current approaches to genre, gender studies, book history, performance studies and urban studies. In showing how the tradition of English literature is shaped by representations of London, this volume also illuminates the relationship between the literary imagination and the society of one of the world's greatest cities.Chronology; Introduction Lawrence Manley; 1. Images of London in medieval English literature Ralph Hanna; 2. London and the early modern stage Jean E. Howard; 3. London and the early modern book Adrian Johns; 4. 'Sweet Thames! Run softly': London and poetry to 1750 Brean HalÃ#