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Literary Criticism Books & Reading

'Paper-contestations' and Textual Communities in England, 1640-1675

by (author) Elizabeth Sauer

Publisher
University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
Initial publish date
Aug 2020
Category
Books & Reading, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802038845
    Publish Date
    Sep 2005
    List Price
    $88.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781487526283
    Publish Date
    Aug 2020
    List Price
    $31.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442678248
    Publish Date
    Jul 2005
    List Price
    $86.00

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Description

The mass production and dissemination of printed materials were unparalleled in England during the 1640s and 50s. While theatrical performance traditionally defined literary culture, print steadily gained ground, becoming more prevalent and enabling the formation of various networks of writers, readers, and consumers of books.

In conjunction with an evolving print culture, seventeenth-century England experienced a rise of political instability and religious dissent, the closing of the theatres, and the emergence of a middle class. Elizabeth Sauer examines how this played out in the nation’s book and print industry with an emphasis on performative writings, their materiality, reception, and their extra-judicial function.'Paper-contestations' and Textual Communities in England challenges traditional readings of literary history, offers new insights into drama and its transgression of boundaries, and proposes a fresh approach to the politics of consensus and contestation that animated seventeenth-century culture and that distinguishes current scholarly debates about this period.

About the author

Elizabeth Sauer is a professor in the Department of English at Brock University.

Elizabeth Sauer's profile page