Sexuality and the Sense of Self in the Works of Georg Trakl and Robert Musil
Andrew Webber
Bithell Series of Dissertations 15 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 30•1 January 1990

The Problem of Christ in the Work of Friedrich Hölderlin
Mark Ogden
Bithell Series of Dissertations 16 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 33•1 January 1991

Being and Meaning in Thomas Mann's Joseph Novels
Charlotte Nolte
Bithell Series of Dissertations 22 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 44•1 January 1996

Welttheater: Hofmannsthal, Richard von Kralik, and the Revival of Catholic Drama in Austria, 1890-1934
Judith Beniston
Bithell Series of Dissertations 23 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 46•1 January 1998

Nelle Carceri di G. B. Piranesi
Silvia Gavuzzo-Stewart
Italian Perspectives 2•31 October 1999

Anglo-German Interactions in the Literature of the 1890s
Patrick Bridgwater
Legenda (General Series) •1 August 1999

  • ‘The author is to be congratulated for shedding new light on a wide range of Anglo-German cross-currents... His study weaves a multi-faceted web of historical and inter-personal connections, and is at its best when it forges links between the approaches of different authors and diverse forms of art.’ — Susanne Stark, Modern Language Review 97.2, 2002, 523-4 (full text online)
  • ‘This well-documented volume provides new insights into the key social and cultural issues of the 1890s, including the truth and morality of artistic writing.’ — Crocker and Womack, The Year's Work in English Studies 2000, 532

Assuming the Light: The Parisian Literary Apprenticeship of Miguel Angel Asturias
Stephen Henighan
Legenda (General Series) •1 December 1999

  • ‘The combination of close textual analysis of Asturias's own work, both fictional and journalistic, with that of other discourses, including the work of his contemporaries as well as his critics, is, in my view, one of the many strengths of Assuming the Light. Frequently provocative and meticulously researched, this book will be of interest therefore not only to Asturias specialists but also more generally to scholars engaged in Latin American cultural studies, particularly those interested in questions of cultural identity.’ — Claire Lindsay, Modern Language Review 97.3, 2002, 742-3 (full text online)
  • ‘Lucid, sophisticated, beautifully written, it provides a valuable and thought-provoking introduction to the writer's extraordinary sojourn in Paris... Stephen Henighan seems destined to make an outstanding contribution to Asturias studies.’ — Gerald Martin, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 79, 2002
  • ‘Valuable, problematic insights for those conversant with Asturias's work and its criticism.’ — Paul Jordan, Bulletin of Spanish Studies LXXIX, 2002, 826-8

Baudelaire: Individualism, Dandyism and the Philosophy of History
Bernard Howells
Legenda (General Series) •1 June 1996

  • ‘This is Baudelaire as iceberg, in Claude Pichois's term, the writer whose reading lurks like a huge submerged mass... Baudelaireans will be pleased to have these essays in so convenient a form, and graduate students focusing on the nineteenth century will find them both challenging and informing.’ — Rosemary Lloyd, Nineteenth-Century French Studies 30.3-4, 2002, 417-19
  • ‘Le lecteur estimera surtout dans l'oeurage de Howells la richesse et la subtilité de parallèles, surtout avec Emerson et Carlyle, fondés sur des relations de fait et la mise en situation et en perspective de textes de Baudelaire qu'une critique fran°aise parfois étroitement nationale a pu appréhender de manière trop isolée.’ — Claude de Grève, Revue de littérature comparée 3, 1997, 391-3
  • ‘The great advantage of Howells's unflappable approach to Baudelaire's flower-pot philosophising is its corrosive effect on commonplaces of Baudelaire criticism... A valuable contribution to the art of defining a poet's philosophy.’ — Graham Robb, Times Literary Supplement 24 January, 1997
  • ‘Howells has undertaken an admirable close re-reading of Baudelaire's work by paying attention to its allusive intellectual density and to the contexts into which it should be placed.’ — Dudley M. Marchi, Comparatist 22, 1998, 208-9

Classical Rhetoric and the German Poet: 1620 to the Present
Anna Carrdus
Legenda (General Series) •1 January 1997

  • ‘The tone is confident, the style lucid. Within a few pages the reader senses how purposeful the exposition is, and how well thought out. But what makes Anna Carrdus's performance so assured is her obvious commitment to poetry itself... It concludes with a wish that may sound audacious, yet which the undertaking wholly justifies: 'My findings will, I hope, open up an opportunity for scholarship to revise current perceptions of the history of German poetry.' She has already revised them herself, single-handed.’ — Peter Skrine, Modern Language Review 94.1, 1999, 243-5 (full text online)
  • ‘Die Analysen sind treffich, und die Er≥rterungen zum literarhistorischen und poetologischen Kontext zeugen von groôer Kennerschaft.’ — Joachim Knape, Germanistik 41.2, 2000, 419

Goethe and Patriarchy: Faust and the Fates of Desire
James Simpson
Legenda (General Series) •2 January 1999

  • notice, Germanistik 41.3-4, 2000, 921
  • ‘Simpson argues that Goethe's work, in essence, constitutes an act of self-diagnosis and therapy... his paradigm is not just Freudian, but also implicitly Jungian.’ — Paul Bishop, Modern Language Review 96.2, 2001, 566-7 (full text online)
  • ‘This book is not brilliant: it is too carefully argued and clearly written to deserve that flashy label of the day. A more apt descriptor might be formidable, both for its ambition and for its achievement. Simpson has undertaken nothing less than the elucidation of the paradigm that was central to all of Goethe's intellectual, personal, scientific and poetic concerns, the "ur-fantasy that is a fantasy of origins"... In the best tradition of British literary criticism, Simpson writes in a lively, engaging style that does not need jargon... No one working seriously on Goethe or on Faust can ignore the challenge of this study.’ — Arnd Bohm, Seminar 41.1, 2005, 73-74

Processes of Literary Creation: Flaubert and Proust
Marion Schmid
Legenda (General Series) •1 May 1998

  • ‘This is an excellent, scholarly analysis with insights both for the specialist and the non-genetic scholar.’ — notice, The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies 60, 1998, 164
  • ‘A penetrating and valuable contribution to genetic scholarship.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 37.1, 2001, 110-11
  • ‘Represents a formidable amount of research... a very substantial and fruitful study on all counts.’ — Nola M. Leov, New Zealand Journal of French Studies 22.1, 2001, 29
  • ‘A painstaking and perceptive account... Schmid defends genetic criticism against Bourdieu's charge that it marks a return to the positivism of traditional literary historiography. Her own application of genetic theories of composition is measured and nuanced, and throws up many insights.’ — Edward J. Hughes, Modern Language Review 95.3, 2000, 843-4 (full text online)
  • ‘Intriguingly, Proust had placed medical prescriptions centre-stage in one of the drafts for the opening line of the novel... Nuggets such as this feature in Schmids study, in which she meticulously explains genetic criticism, before uncovering two contrasting compositional styles.’ — Edward Hughes, Times Literary Supplement 21 May, 1999, 8
  • ‘As well as containing detailed analysis of two radically opposed writing practices, the work is especially valuable in setting out the main issues in genetic studies.’ — Larry Duffy, French Studies LIV.2, 2000, 233-4
  • ‘Schmid's analysis sheds new light on the organizational intricacies of these canonical texts, which may encourage even scholars of Flaubert and Proust to reread, in hopes of appreciating the subtle patterns she uncovers.’ — Hollie Markland Harder, French Review 77.5, April 2004, 990-1

The Artificial Self: The Psychology of Hippolyte Taine
Hilary Nias
Legenda (General Series) •1 October 1999

  • ‘Given the relative dearth of serious work on the writers who formed the philosophical backbone to nineteenth-century literary France, a study of any one of them is welcome, a study of this quality of scholarship, insight and precision a real feast.’ — David C. J. Lee, Modern Language Review 96.3, 2001, 830-1 (full text online)
  • ‘This authoritative study of Taine's indirectness and inconclusiveness will be an indispensable foundation.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 37.3, 2001, 347
  • ‘A probing and stimulating contribution to Tainian studies.’ — Thomas H. Goetz, Nineteenth-Century French Studies 29.3-4, 2001, 370-1

The Epic Rhetoric of Tasso: Theory and Practice
Maggie Günsberg
Legenda (General Series) •1 May 1998

  • ‘Günsberg examines her material with great accuracy... deals with important aspects of Tasso's thought and poetical practice in a meticulous way, and can be useful both for readers attached to traditional rhetorical categories and for those with an interest in more recent critical developments.’ — Laura Benedetti, Italian Studies LIV, 1999, 177-8
  • ‘An attractive and interesting volume that provides a useful addition to the comparatively thin recent output of Tasso scholarship in this country.’ — Peter Brand, Modern Language Review 95.3, 2000, 857-8 (full text online)

Privileged Anonymity: The Writings of Madame de Lafayette
Anne Green
Research Monographs in French Studies 1•1 June 1996

  • ‘Produces many fresh insights, and demonstrates admirably that La Fayette's writing repays detailed scrutiny... Readable, instructive and accessible: valuable for specialists and illuminating for the general reader.’ — Maya Slater, Times Literary Supplement 1996
  • ‘This thought-provoking study inaugurates a major new series of critical monographs... Offers many fresh insights into these important texts, and it is to be warmly welcomed.’ — Jonathan Mallinson, French Studies LIV.2, 2000, 215-6
  • Luisa Benatti, Studi francesi 124, 1998, 135

Critical Fictions: Nerval's Les Illuminés
Meryl Tyers
Research Monographs in French Studies 3•2 December 1999

  • ‘These six mavericks reflect aspects of Nerval himself, who thus becomes the implicit seventh in the series... Tyers's writing is as lively as it is bedazzling.’ — Roger Cardinal, Modern Language Review 96.1, 2001, 195-6 (full text online)
  • ‘As Meryl Tyers argues throughout this monograph, Nerval's Les Illuminés is one of his most intriguing but also most neglected works... Tyers examines the author's textual folie, an imaginary library in which the self loses itself.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 37.1, 2001, 115
  • ‘On retiendra aussi une hypothèse intéressante - et neuve, semblable-t-il - sur les sens du titre, Les Illuminés, que l'on peut rapprocher des 'livres illuminés', c'est-a-dire orné d'illuminations, ou d'enluminures.’ — Michel Brix, Studi francesi 130.1, 2000, 189

Towards a Cultural Philology: Phèdre and the Construction of 'Racine'
Amy Wygant
Research Monographs in French Studies 4•1 July 1999

  • ‘This book approaches Racine not primarily as a classicist, but as a playwright rooted in his own time... Through references to philosophy, art and music, Wygant interrogates the meaning of frequently used phrases such as 'the music of Racine'. This study draws together many strands of research through the juxtaposition of a multiplicity of areas and details.’ — Rosemary Arnoux, New Zealand Journal of French Studies 22.2, 2001, 43-4
  • ‘A fresh, clever, often entertaining book, about lots of things as well as Phèdre, and the brief volume is lavishly and revealing illustrated.’ — Richard Parish, Modern Language Review 96.1, 2001, 187-8 (full text online)

George Sand and Autobiography
Janet Hiddleston
Research Monographs in French Studies 5•1 October 1999

  • ‘Janet Hiddleston's well-informed, lucid and succinct study, which takes account of Sand's complex, often contradictory self-identity in terms of gender, will undoubtedly make more accessible a text which is all too often approached selectively.’ — Belinda Jack, Times Literary Supplement 14 July, 2000
  • ‘It is in subtle textual analysis that Hiddleston excels, and her studies of Sand's vocabulary, structure, imagery, symbolism and narrative strategies break new ground... Hiddleston offers us a sensitive and nuanced portrait of a complex writer.’ — Nigel Harkness, French Studies LV.1, 2001, 104-5
  • ‘The conclusion, in many respects the most compelling section of the book, offers a fascinating analysis of central image polarities of the autobiography, Paris versus Nohant, the Garden of Eden versus 'a room of one's own'.’ — Keith Wren, Modern Language Review 96.3, 2001, 832-3 (full text online)
  • ‘Solidly researched and engagingly written, Hiddleston's studies provide a valuable point of departure for readers coming to these texts for the first time, and a welcome stimulus to further reflection for those already familiar with them.’ — Nineteenth-Century French Studies 30.3-4, 2002, 417-19)
  • ‘Particular attention is given to Sand's confused and ambivalent attitude to gender, leaving a text in which the contradictions are shown to be largely unresolved.’ — The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies 1999, 168)
  • unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 37.3, 2001, 343

Breeches and Metaphysics: Thackeray's German Discourse
S. S. Prawer
Studies In Comparative Literature 1•1 November 1997

  • ‘What Thackeray did not publish Professor Prawer has done for him in this welcome addition to the Thackeray literature.’ — unsigned notice, Times Literary Supplement 1997
  • ‘It is good to have a book of this kind that so thoroughly covers its subject. I have the distinct impression that Prawer has really hunted down and rounded up every last German reference there is in Thackeray and I am glad he has done it.’ — John R. Reed, Analytical and Enumerative Bibliography 11.4, 2000, 326-7
  • ‘Prawer's comprehensive analysis is thoroughly researched and convincing throughout. One of the strongest features of his monograph is the skilful mastery with which the author examines the interaction between the different discourses depicted above, as well as their function in Thackeray's oeuvre as a whole. An essential study for scholars in the field of Anglo-German literary relations and the wider domain of cultural transmission.’ — Susanne Stark, Modern Language Review 96.1, 2001, 298-9 (full text online)

Hölderlin and the Dynamics of Translation
Charlie Louth
Studies In Comparative Literature 2•1 May 1998

  • ‘An inspiring study that is not only of interest to Hölderlin experts or eighteenth-century scholars but to anyone with a scholarly interest in the interrelation between translation and poetry.’ — Heike Bartel, New Comparison 30, 144-45
  • ‘A closely argued critical assessment of translation... Louth's book is a good piece of work, incisive and perceptive.’ — Emery E. George, Journal of English and Germanic Philology October, 2000, 612-14
  • ‘For those interested in translation, let alone in Hölderlin, these are arguments to read and re-read.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 37.1, 2001, 105
  • notice, Etudes germaniques 4, 1999, 658
  • ‘Hölderlin demeure un auteur difficile; ne l'aborde pas qui veut, quelle que soit la qualité de l'exposition, servie ici par une typographie particulièrement soignée.’ — Jacques Voisine, Revue de littérature comparée 1, 2000, 110-11
  • ‘This study through the perspective of translation is a must for every Hölderlin scholar, carefully argued, well researched, and a pleasure to read.’ — Reinhilde Wiegmann, Monatshefte 93.1, 2001, 121-2
  • ‘The writing is impressive, even inspired... The argument is invariably persuasive, the judgement remarkably sure-footed throughout... supported by readings of often stunning quality.’ — Howard Gaskill, Modern Language Review 96.3, 2001, 886-7 (full text online)

Aeneas Takes the Metro: The Presence of Virgil in Twentieth-Century French Literature
Fiona Cox
Studies In Comparative Literature 3•1 July 1999

  • unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 37.3, 2001, 341
  • ‘Affirms that Virgil's 'flexibility and openness to reception' has ensured his continuing relevance for writers of widely differing persuasions.’ — Julian Cowley, The Year's Work in English Studies 80, 2002, 615
  • ‘The fine chapters on Pierre Klossowski's controversial Aeneid translation and on the nouveau roman constitute in their grouping a genuine contribution to our understanding of Virgil's postwar reception... the coherence of traditional heroic and imperialistic readings gives way to a postmodern view of Aeneas as exile.’ — Theodore Ziolkowski, French Studies LV.2, 2001, 269-70
  • ‘Wide-ranging and illuminating... In sum, Aeneas Takes The Metro illustrates, if proof were needed, the ability of a well-informed and scholarly comparative study to transcend linguistic, formal and temporal barriers successfully and productively.’ — Kiera Vaclavik, New Comparison 31, 2002, 202-3

The Twelfth-Century Psalter Commentary in French for Laurette d'Alsace: Volume One: Psalms I-XXXV
Stewart Gregory
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 29/1 of 2•1 January 1990

The Twelfth-Century Psalter Commentary in French for Laurette d'Alsace: Volume Two: Psalms XXXVI-L
Stewart Gregory
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 29/2 of 2•1 January 1990

A Critical, Old-Spelling Edition of the Birth of Merlin (Q1662)
Joanna Udall
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 31•1 January 1991

A Semiotic Analysis of the Short Stories of Leonid Andreev (1900-1909)
Stephen Hutchings
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 32•1 January 1990

Dialogue and Narrative Design in the Works of Adalbert Stifter
Brigid Haines
Bithell Series of Dissertations 17 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 34•1 January 1991