The Cambridge Handbook of Literary Authorship

Surveys historical, systematic and practical perspectives on literary authorship, offering a multi-layered account of authorship as a cultural phenomenon.

This Handbook provides the definitive guide to authorship studies. Covering a vast chronological range, Part I considers the history of authorship from cuneiform to contemporary literatures. Part II explores theories of authorship, while Part III explores practical dimensions of the subject, including attribution, copyright and censorship.This Handbook surveys the state of the art in literary authorship studies. Its 27 original contributions by eminent scholars offer a multi-layered account of authorship as a defining element of literature and culture. Covering a vast chronological range, Part I considers the history of authorship from cuneiform writing to contemporary digital publishing; it discusses authorship in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, early Jewish cultures, medieval, Renaissance, modern, postmodern and Chinese literature. The second part focuses on the place of authorship in literary theory, and on challenges to theorizing literary authorship, such as gender and sexuality, postcolonial and indigenous contexts for writing. Finally, Part III investigates practical perspectives on the topic, with a focus on attribution, anonymity and pseudonymity, plagiarism and forgery, copyright and literary property, censorship, publishing and marketing and institutional contexts.