Synopses & Reviews
This original book challenges prevailing accounts of English literary history, arguing that English literature emerged as a distinct category during the late sixteenth century, as Englandand#8217;s relationship with classical Rome was suffering an unprecedented strain. Exploring the myths through which poets such as Geffrey Whitney, William Shakespeare, and John Milton understood the nature of their art, Sean Keilen shows how they invented archaic origins for a new kind of writing.
When history obliged English poets to regard themselves as victims of the Roman Conquest rather than rightful heirs of classical Latin culture, it also required a redefinition of their relations with Roman literature. Keilen shows how the poetsand#8217; search for a new beginning drew them to rework familiar fables about Orpheus, Philomela, and Circe, and invent a new point of departure for their own poetic history.
Review
"Keilen possesses an original, unclassifiable intelligence. He weaves elegantly philological arguments about the antique into a counterplot that illuminates a nativist, unrefined, and hybrid early modern England.
Vulgar Eloquence will make us rethink the Spenser-to-Shakespeare-to-Milton canon, not by throwing out classicism and tradition, but by redefining it."and#8212;Leonard Barkan, Princeton University
Review
"Keilen rethinks the package of ideas and facts we call antiquarianism, so that antiquarian is the last thing they seem."and#8212;Annabel Patterson, author of
Nobody's PerfectSynopsis
Why should a developing country surrender its power to create money by adopting an international currency as its own? This comprehensive book explores the currency problems that developing countries face and offers sound, practical advice for policy makers on how to deal with them. Manuel Hinds, who has extensive experience in real-world economic policy making, challenges the myths that surround domestic currencies and shows the clear rationality for dollarization or the use of a standard international currency.
The book opens with an entertaining story of the Devil, who, through a series of common macroeconomic maneuvers, coaches the president of a mythical country into financial ruin. This ruler's path is not unlike that taken in several real developing countries, to their detriment. Hinds goes on to introduce new ways of thinking about financial systems and monetary behavior in Third World countries.
About the Author
Sean Keilen is assistant professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania.