A big part of media history is understanding the reception of the work after its initial publication (Was it reviewed positively? Did it sell a lot of copies? If a play, was it widely staged?) vis-a-vis how the work is regarded today, if it is regarded in public at all. In some cases, the work will be seen today in a more positive light than it was initially, whereas in others the reverse will be true because it has dated so badly. Given that Austen's posthumous fame has endured for far longer than the likely more limited reception she received in her lifetime, this is an important strand of understanding her enduring importance.
Good point! This is one reason that I assign the Norton Critical Edition to my students: it gives us a chance to survey nineteenth-century reception as well as modern critical analysis.
It is a wise solution to start with the familiar in order to introduce the unfamiliar. I have spent so many years in the classics that I sometimes forget how strange they seemed the first time I took them off my father's shelf and opened them, yet I sometimes wish I could go back and discover them all over again.
Wonderful! I think our students are ready for some time travel, with a course that goes backwards in time. And I would say if an outlier like Shakespeare is surprisingly accessible in this backward trajectory, embrace that as a wonderful complication - together you will make discoveries that will disrupt your own organizing principle in wonderful ways and reveal things about the nauture of art, history, and story. Wish I could take this class! 😊🌻
What you've done with this series is invaluable. Those who don't know about it should find it. BTW, _Twelfth Night_ is the key to my short story "Madness and Folly" and, of course, you have no idea what I'm talking about ... But no matter ... sending hope ...
A big part of media history is understanding the reception of the work after its initial publication (Was it reviewed positively? Did it sell a lot of copies? If a play, was it widely staged?) vis-a-vis how the work is regarded today, if it is regarded in public at all. In some cases, the work will be seen today in a more positive light than it was initially, whereas in others the reverse will be true because it has dated so badly. Given that Austen's posthumous fame has endured for far longer than the likely more limited reception she received in her lifetime, this is an important strand of understanding her enduring importance.
Good point! This is one reason that I assign the Norton Critical Edition to my students: it gives us a chance to survey nineteenth-century reception as well as modern critical analysis.
Amazingly marvelous. Your range astounds.
Thank you, dear Mary.
It is a wise solution to start with the familiar in order to introduce the unfamiliar. I have spent so many years in the classics that I sometimes forget how strange they seemed the first time I took them off my father's shelf and opened them, yet I sometimes wish I could go back and discover them all over again.
Thanks for the shoutout!
Wonderful! I think our students are ready for some time travel, with a course that goes backwards in time. And I would say if an outlier like Shakespeare is surprisingly accessible in this backward trajectory, embrace that as a wonderful complication - together you will make discoveries that will disrupt your own organizing principle in wonderful ways and reveal things about the nauture of art, history, and story. Wish I could take this class! 😊🌻
Great idea! I would’ve loved to take this course.
What you've done with this series is invaluable. Those who don't know about it should find it. BTW, _Twelfth Night_ is the key to my short story "Madness and Folly" and, of course, you have no idea what I'm talking about ... But no matter ... sending hope ...