Author |
: Pamela Lothspeich |
Publisher |
: Taylor & Francis |
Total Pages |
: 661 |
Release |
: 2024-01-30 |
ISBN-10 |
: 9781000912166 |
ISBN-13 |
: 1000912167 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (66 Downloads) |
Book Synopsis The Epic World by : Pamela Lothspeich
Download or read book The Epic World written by Pamela Lothspeich and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-01-30 with total page 661 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reconceptualizing the epic genre and opening it up to a world of storytelling, The Epic World makes a timely and bold intervention toward understanding the human propensity to aestheticize and normalize mass deployments of power and violence. The collection broadly considers three kinds of epic literature: conventional celebratory tales of conquest that glorify heroism, especially male heroism; anti-epics or stories of conquest from the perspectives of the dispossessed, the oppressed, the despised, and the murdered; and heroic stories utilized for imperialist or nationalist purposes. The Epic World illustrates global patterns of epic storytelling, such as the durability of stories tied to religious traditions and/or to peoples who have largely "stayed put"; the tendency to reimagine and retell stories in new ways over centuries; and the imbrication of epic storytelling and forms of colonialism and imperialism, especially those perpetuated and glorified by Euro-Americans over the past 500 years, resulting in unspeakable and immeasurable harms to humans, other living beings, and the planet Earth. The Epic World is a go-to volume for anyone interested in epic literature in a global framework. Engaging with powerful stories and ways of knowing beyond those of the predominantly white Global North, this field-shifting volume exposes the false premises of "Western civilization" and "Classics," and brings new questions and perspectives to epic studies.