Translated by Susan Fischer, David Forgacs and David Miller. A compelling analysis of the relations between high and mass culture, from tragedy and horror to detective fiction and classical realism.
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
‘A sheer intelligence animates the pages of Mr. Moretti’s work.’ -- Edward W. Said, New York Times Book Review
‘A sheer intelligence animates the pages of Mr. Moretti’s work.’ -- Edward W. Said, New York Times Book Review
‘Breathtaking… Moretti’s radiant intelligence can catch you off guard.’ -- San Francisco Review of Books
‘A sheer intelligence animates the pages of Mr. Moretti’s work.’ -- Edward W. Said, New York Times Book Review
‘Breathtaking… Moretti’s radiant intelligence can catch you off guard.’ -- San Francisco Review of Books
About the Author
Franco Moretti was born in 1950, and currently teaches English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. His other books include Graphs, Maps, Trees: Abstract Models for a Literary History; The Way of the World: The Bildungsroman in European Culture; Modern Epic: The World-System from Goethe to Garcia Marquez, and An Atlas of the Euopean Novel, 1800-1900, all published by Verso.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the striking final chapter of this book, and further developed in several essays since, Franco Moretti proposes a theory of literary evolution inspired by Charles Darwin. As is well known, Darwin's theory of `natural selection' has two key components: first, it postulates that change is random, more prone to failure than to success, and not the unfolding of a teleological process progressing towards some final form of perfection (humans are not more perfect than the humanoids they evolved from); second, it postulates that only those changes which give the creature a reproductive advantage in a given set of external conditions survive (survival of the fittest means survival of the fastest reproducer). Adapting this to the needs of literary history, Moretti renders `natural selection' as follows: (1) aesthetic variation is the product of chance; and (2) the literary marketplace determines which formal variations survive. In later works, Moretti brings in `world-systems' theory to account for the peculiarities of the market, thus departing from his initial quite strict focus on Darwin, but nevertheless maintains the original evolutionary model conceived here. The other striking piece in this work is the essay on Dracula and Frankenstein -- Moretti argues quite brilliantly that these novels reflect two different perspectives on apital -- that of owners and that of employers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Evolutionary Theory and Literary History
13 Nov 2010
By Ian M. Buchanan
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
In the striking final chapter of this book, and further developed in several essays since, Franco Moretti proposes a theory of literary evolution inspired by Charles Darwin. As is well known, Darwin's theory of `natural selection' has two key components: first, it postulates that change is random, more prone to failure than to success, and not the unfolding of a teleological process progressing towards some final form of perfection (humans are not more perfect than the humanoids they evolved from); second, it postulates that only those changes which give the creature a reproductive advantage in a given set of external conditions survive (survival of the fittest means survival of the fastest reproducer). Adapting this to the needs of literary history, Moretti renders `natural selection' as follows: (1) aesthetic variation is the product of chance; and (2) the literary marketplace determines which formal variations survive. In later works, Moretti brings in `world-systems' theory to account for the peculiarities of the market, thus departing from his initial quite strict focus on Darwin, but nevertheless maintains the original evolutionary model conceived here. The other striking piece in this work is the essay on Dracula and Frankenstein -- Moretti argues quite brilliantly that these novels reflect two different perspectives on apital -- that of owners and that of employers.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see the review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
