Robert Burton and the Transformative Powers of Melancholy

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Other Sciences, Philosophy & Social Aspects, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Robert Burton and the Transformative Powers of Melancholy by Stephanie Shirilan, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Stephanie Shirilan ISBN: 9781317062257
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: March 3, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Stephanie Shirilan
ISBN: 9781317062257
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: March 3, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Few English books are as widely known, underread, and underappreciated as Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy. Stephanie Shirilan laments that modern scholars often treat the Anatomy as an unmediated repository of early modern views on melancholy, overlooking the fact that Burton is writing a cento - an ancient form of satire that quotes and misquotes authoritative texts in often subversive ways - and that his express intent in so doing is to offer his readers literary therapy for melancholy. This book explores the ways in which the Anatomy dispenses both direct physic and more systemic medicine by encouraging readers to think of melancholy as a privileged mental and spiritual acuity that requires cultivation and management rather than cure. Refuting the prevailing historiography of anxious early modern embodiment that cites Burton as a key witness, Shirilan submits that the Anatomy rejects contemporary Neostoic and Puritan approaches to melancholy. She reads Burton’s erraticism, opacity, and theatricality as modes of resistance against demands for constancy, transparency, and plainness in the popular literature of spiritual and moral hygiene of his day. She shows how Burton draws on rhetorical, theological, and philosophical traditions that privilege the transformative powers of the imagination in order to celebrate melancholic impressionability for its capacity to inspire and engender empathy, charity, and faith.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Few English books are as widely known, underread, and underappreciated as Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy. Stephanie Shirilan laments that modern scholars often treat the Anatomy as an unmediated repository of early modern views on melancholy, overlooking the fact that Burton is writing a cento - an ancient form of satire that quotes and misquotes authoritative texts in often subversive ways - and that his express intent in so doing is to offer his readers literary therapy for melancholy. This book explores the ways in which the Anatomy dispenses both direct physic and more systemic medicine by encouraging readers to think of melancholy as a privileged mental and spiritual acuity that requires cultivation and management rather than cure. Refuting the prevailing historiography of anxious early modern embodiment that cites Burton as a key witness, Shirilan submits that the Anatomy rejects contemporary Neostoic and Puritan approaches to melancholy. She reads Burton’s erraticism, opacity, and theatricality as modes of resistance against demands for constancy, transparency, and plainness in the popular literature of spiritual and moral hygiene of his day. She shows how Burton draws on rhetorical, theological, and philosophical traditions that privilege the transformative powers of the imagination in order to celebrate melancholic impressionability for its capacity to inspire and engender empathy, charity, and faith.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book The Culture of AI by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Redemption and Recovery by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Women and the Irish Diaspora by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Islam in Transition by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Financing the New Federalism by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Bertrand Russell's Theory of Knowledge by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Maritime Security by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Ideology, Curriculum, and the New Sociology of Education by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book The Talking Cure by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Distributed Leadership in Schools by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Groups at Work by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book Russian Mass Media and Changing Values by Stephanie Shirilan
Cover of the book A Teaching Assistant's Guide to Primary Education by Stephanie Shirilan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy