William Empson: The Structure of Complex Words

William Empson author Stefan Collini editor Helen Thaventhiran editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:5th Nov '20

Should be back in stock very soon

William Empson: The Structure of Complex Words cover

This is the first scholarly edition of one of the classics of literary criticism. William Empson was among the two or three most important and influential literary critics and theorists of the twentieth century. He has long been celebrated as one of the most fertile (as well as one of the funniest) explorers of how meaning works in language, especially in poetry. The Structure of Complex Words (1951) was much his longest book and was intended as a major theoretical statement of his contribution to the subject. Since its publication, it has been constantly referred to, but usually from a respectful distance, since it can seem a forbidding and difficult work. This edition provides an extensive introduction together with full critical and explanatory notes. The editors trace the book's genesis and development in detail, beginning with Empson's collaboration with I. A. Richards in the early and mid-1930s, and concluding with the extensive writing and re-writing that Empson undertook while in Peking in 1947-50. This edition also reprints a selection of materials (including articles and letters) that illuminate Empson's thinking and contributed to the eventual book. The edition makes Empson's great work more intelligible to a range of readers and will immediately become the standard version of this celebrated text.

This new edition is a welcome reminder of Empson's penetrating critical voice, wrapped in a scholarly envelope that makes it, at last, accessible. * David Greenham, Modern Language Review *
Empson's ear for nuances of intonation was as sharp and precise as the intellect he brought to bear on an historical understanding of patterns of thought and feeling in written texts. These annotated volumes from Oxford University Press, paying the scholarly respect Empson deserves, should become the definitive editions of Some Versions of Pastoral and The Structure of Complex Words. * Sean Sheehan, Dublin Review of Books *

ISBN: 9780198713432

Dimensions: 241mm x 165mm x 40mm

Weight: 1116g

668 pages