The Problem of Literary Value

The Problem of Literary Value by Robert J Meyer-Lee

This book addresses the vexed status of literary value. Unlike other approaches, it pursues neither an apologetic thesis about literature’s defining values nor, conversely, a demystifying account of those values’ ideological uses. Instead, arguing that the category of literary value is inescapable, it focuses pragmatically on everyday scholarly and pedagogical activities, proposing how we may reconcile that category’s inevitability with our understandable wariness of its uncertainties and complicities. Toward these ends, it offers a preliminary theory of literary valuing and explores the problem of literary value in respect to the literary edition, canonicity and interpretation. Much of this exploration occurs within Chaucer studies, which, because of Chaucer’s simultaneous canonicity and marginality, provides fertile ground for thinking through the problem’s challenges. Using this subfield as a synecdoche, the book seeks to forge a viable rationale for literary studies generally. An electronic edition of this book is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) licence. -- .

Robert J. Meyer-Lee is Professor of English at Agnes Scott College

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781526167941
ISBN 10	1526167948
Title	The Problem of Literary Value
Author	Robert J Meyer-Lee
Series	Manchester Medieval Literature And Culture
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Manchester University Press
Year published	2023-05-30
Number of pages	296
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable