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Literary Criticism English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

Thomas Hardy, Monism, and the Carnival Tradition

The One and the Many in The Dynasts

by (author) Gordon Glen Wickens

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Jul 2002
Category
English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802048646
    Publish Date
    Jul 2002
    List Price
    $100.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442682634
    Publish Date
    Jun 2002
    List Price
    $97.00

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Description

In this original and scrupulously researched book, G. Glen Wickens offers a new reading of a work which is often ignored by critics and students of Victorian literature, Thomas Hardy's The Dynasts. Wickens explores the monistic viewpoint of The Dynasts through reference to 19th and early 20th philosophical writings which have never before been applied to Hardy's philosophy. Using insights derived from the critical theory of Mikhail Bakhtin - in particular his concept of carnival - Wickens also counters the usual view of The Dynasts as failed epic or tragedy, and instead situates the work as a novel within the serio-comical genres. In doing so, he brings out new, violent implications to Bakhtin's theory of laughter and carnival.

Thomas Hardy, Monism, and the Carnival Tradition is the first book-length study of Thomas Hardy's The Dynasts since 1977. It will be of interest to Hardy scholars, critics of Bakhtin, and to readers interested in monist philosophy or nineteenth century history.

About the author

G. Glen Wickens is a professor in the Department of English, Bishop’s University. He has published articles on Hardy, Tennyson and various aspects of Victorian literary and philosophical thought.

Gordon Glen Wickens' profile page