Presents selections of literary criticism devoted to the Bible.

Examines the life and writings of Geoffrey Chaucer, including detailed synopses of his works, explanations of literary terms, character portraits, social and historical influences, and more.

"Zora Neale Hurston, one the first great African-American novelists, was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance and an inspiration for future generations of writers. Widely studied in high school literature courses, her novels are admired for their depiction of southern African-American culture and their strong female characters." "Critical Companion to Zora Neale Hurston is a reliable and up-to-date resource for high school and college-level students, providing information on Hurston's life and work. This new volume covers all her writings, including her classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, her landmark works of folklore and anthropology, and her shorter works, such as "The Gilded Six-Bits." Detailed entries on Hurston's life and related people, places, and topics round out this comprehensive guide."--BOOK JACKET.

Praise for the previous edition:RASD/ALA "Outstanding Reference Source, 1996""'Essential' is the word for it!

Examines the life and writings of Flannery O'Connor, including detailed synopses of her works, explanations of literary terms, biographies of friends and family, and social and historical influences.

Critical Companion to Herman Melville examines the life and work of a writer who spent much of his career in obscurity.

This book offers a comprehensive, academic and detailed study of the works of James Cameron, whose films include successful productions such as the first two Terminator films (1984-91), Aliens (1986), Titanic (1997), and Avatar (2009), but also lesser known films such as Piranha 2: The Spawning (1981), The Abyss (1989), and True Lies (1994), and a series of documentaries on the depths of the ocean or on the tomb of Christ. Cameronʼs major productions have an immense and enduring popularity throughout the globe and have attracted both public and critical attention. This volume investigates several distinct areas of Cameronʼs works and addresses the different approaches and topics invited by the multidimensionality of the subject itself: the philosophical, the artistic, the socio-cultural and the personal. The methodologies adopted by the contributors differ significantly from each other, thus offering the reader a variegated and compelling picture of Cameronʼs oeuvre. Contrary to the numerous volumes published in the past on the subject, each chapter offers specific case studies that have been previously ignored, or only partially mentioned, by other scholars.

Representations of the Body in Middle English Biblical Drama combines epistemological enquiry, gender theory and Foucauldian concepts to investigate the body as a useful site for studying power, knowledge and truth. Intertwining the conceptualizations of violence and the performativity of gender identity and roles, Estella Ciobanu argues that studying violence in drama affords insights into the cultural and social aspects of the later Middle Ages. The text investigates these biblical plays through the perspective of the devil and offers a unique lens that exposes medieval disquiets about Christian teachings and the discourse of power. Through detailed primary source analysis and multidisciplinary scholarship, Ciobanu constructs a text that interrogates the significance of performance far beyond the stage.

Exploring the earliest literary evidence for human-animal relations, this volume presents and analyzes biblical and Mesopotamian (Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian) sources from the third millennium BCE through to the consolidation of the biblical literature in the first millennium BCE. Key Features: Provides the first comprehensive study of these texts from an ethical perspective. Examines proverbs, popular aphorisms, myths, epic literature, wisdom literature, historiography, prophecy, and law codes. Applies methodology from current contemporary biblical and ancient Near Eastern scholarship and human-animal ethics, thereby raising new questions that lead to fresh insights. ​An Ethical View of Human Animal-Relations in the Ancient Near East is essential reading for scholars and graduate students of animal ethics, applied ethics and biblical studies.