The Poetics of Personification [Paperback]

An appraisal of literary personification in the light of developments in poststructuralist thought.James Paxson offers a critical and theoretical appraisal of literary personification in the light of developments in poststructuralist thought, reassessing early theories and examining medieval and early modern texts to show how personification reveals and advertises the problems and limits inherent in poetic or verbal creation.James Paxson offers a critical and theoretical appraisal of literary personification in the light of developments in poststructuralist thought, reassessing early theories and examining medieval and early modern texts to show how personification reveals and advertises the problems and limits inherent in poetic or verbal creation.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.Introduction; 1. A history of personification theory; 2. Towards a taxonomy of tropes; 3. Narrative level, personification, and character ontology in Prudentius' Psychomachia; 4. A phenomenology of personification; 5. Personification, dreams, and narrative structure in Piers Plowman B; 6. Narrating the personification of personification in The Faerie Queene; Conclusion; Taxonomy II and future directions in personification theory; Notes; Works cited; Index. ...I am delighted to have read and to suggest you read The Poetics of Personification, by James J. Paxson. Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance Throughout he demonstrates an exhilarating rigolãÏ