The Brontës and Religion (hardback)
appeared from Cambridge University Press in 1999. The first full-length study of religion in the Brontë fiction, it shows how the Brontës' familiarity with the contemporary debates on doctrinal, ethical, and ecclesiastical issues informs their novels. Divided into four parts, the book examines denominations, doctrines, ethics, and clerics in the work of the Brontës. The analyses of the novels clarify the constant interplay of human and divine love in their development. While demonstrating that the Brontës' fiction is usually in agreement with the basic tenets of Evangelical Anglicanism, The Brontës and Religion emphasises the characteristic spiritual freedom and audacity of the Brontës. Lucid and vigorously written, it opens up new perspectives for Brontë specialists and enthusiasts alike on a fundamental aspect of the novels greatly neglected in recent decades.
Excerpts from reviews: "[a] well-informed [study] based on scrupulous readings and meticulous judgments" (Times Literary Supplement); "[the author's] willingness to read with the grain of the novels' religion makes for absorbing reading" (Victorian Studies); "a refreshingly textual study of the Brontës' fiction" (The Review of English Studies); "a work of extraordinarily comprehensive scholarship" (The Journal of Ecclesiastical History); "the kind of writing which will endure and remain valuable for many years to come" (Theology); "I very much enjoyed this book" (Reviews in Religion & Theology).
The Brontës and Religion, hardback
The Brontës and Religion, paperback
The Brontës and Education (hardback)
All the seven Brontë novels are concerned with education in both senses, that of upbringing as well as that of learning. The Brontë sisters all worked as teachers before they became published novelists. In spite of the prevalence of education in the sisters' lives and fiction, however, this is the first full-length book on the subject. Marianne Thormählen explores how their representations of fictional teachers and schools engage with the intense debates on education in the nineteenth century, drawing on a wealth of documentary evidence about educational theory and practice in the lifetime of the Brontës. This study offers much new information both about the Brontës and their books and about the most urgent issue in early-nineteenth-century British social politics: the education of the people, of all classes and both sexes.
The Brontës and Education, hardback
The Brontës and Education, paperback
Reviews so far
'Compelling and unique ... This thoroughly researched volume looks at ... contemporaneous education controversies. Summing up: highly recommended.' Choice '... writes with considerable panache and vigor. In this reviewer's experience the book makes a very enjoyable read not only for a scholar public but for a general audience as well'. www.bronteblog.blogspot.com. Read the whole review at http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/bronts-and-education-review.html '... crisp, objective and lively ... Thormählen triumphs in the light she shines on the educational world in which the family lived ... This book is an exciting helpmate in the struggle to secure a firm understanding of factors that fed the Brontë sisters' imaginative development ...' Brontë Studies ''Thormählen's prose is lucid yet sophisticated, each paragraph redolent with pithy thoughts and new twists on familiar truths ... Thormählen guides us sure-footedly ... [the notes constitute] a veritable textbook on early nineteenth-century education ... [The Brontës and Education is] a deeply satisfying work that enriches our appreciation of the Brontës and their world." Modern Philology
English Now
Selected Papers from the 20th IAUPE Conference in Lund 2007
In August 2007, about 200 senior researchers in the field of English, language and literature, spent a week in Lund taking the temperature of their subject. Nearly 150 papers were presented in 19 conference sections. This volume contains a lively selection, chosen by the 37 Section Chairs as saying something about where research in the discipline is heading. Also included are the two plenary lectures about the state and future of English in the academy by Elizabeth Traugott (language) and Helen Vendler (literature).
A common feature unites this diverse collection: English literature and language as a vital concern for real people, all over the world and in the past as well as the present. Here 'English' reaffirms its human credentials, moving forward with fresh confidence and enthusiasm. (Lund Studies in English 112, ISBN 978-91-976935-0-9)
Contents
Order from skriftserier@ht.lu.se
The Brontës in Context (hardback)
Edited by: Marianne Thormählen, Lunds Universitet, Sweden
Very few families produce one outstanding writer. The Brontë family produced three. The works of Charlotte, Emily and Anne remain immensely popular, and are increasingly being studied in relation to the surroundings and wider context that formed them. The forty-two new essays in this book tell 'the Brontë story' as it has never been told before, drawing on the latest research and the best available scholarship while offering new perspectives on the writings of the sisters. A section on Brontë criticism traces their reception to the present day. The works of the sisters are explored in the context of social, political and cultural developments in early-nineteenth-century Britain, with attention given to religion, education, art, print culture, agriculture, law and medicine. Crammed with information, The Brontës in Context shows how the Brontës' fiction interacts with the spirit of the time, suggesting reasons for its enduring fascination.
The Brontës in Context, hardback
The Brontës in Context, paperback