Published January 2004
Configuring Community: Theories of Community Identities in Contemporary Spain
Parvati Nair
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 61
Published May 2005
Benedikte Naubert (1765-1819) and her Relations to English Culture
Hilary Brown
Bithell Series of Dissertations 27 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 63
- ‘A detailed bibliography [rounds] out this meticulous, scholarly work. Brown’s thorough and perceptive investigation of Naubert’s fiction and English literature makes previous work on the author obsolete. It takes Naubert’s oeuvre out of the niche of gender studies and places it squarely in the mainstream of German literary history and in the rich tradition of Anglo-German literary and cultural cross-currents.’ — Barbara Becker-Cantarino, Modern Language Review 102, 2007, 565 (full text online)
Published July 2006
The Reception of English Puritan Literature in Germany
Peter Damrau
Bithell Series of Dissertations 29 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 66
- ‘Damrau’s study is a well researched and exceptionally well documented inquiry into the relationship between Puritanism and Pietism that reaches beyond the theological into the linguistic and literary disciplines. The extensive bibliography offers dictionaries, primary and secondary literature of relevant works in both the English and German literatures and a refreshingly new approach.’ — Helene M. Riley, Germanic Notes and Reviews 30.1, 2007, 56-59
- ‘This book makes a valuable contribution to current understanding of the presence of British thinking and texts in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Germany and is to be commended for its detailed analysis, its cross-disciplinary approach and its clear argument.’ — Nils Langer, Modern Language Review 103, 2008, 267-68 (full text online)
Facing Modernity: Fragmentation, Culture and Identity in Joseph Roth's Writing in the 1920s
Jon Hughes
Bithell Series of Dissertations 30 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 67
- ‘Hughes’s readings of Roth’s texts are fresh and compelling. One may disagree with certain details, but undeniably this new study considerably expands the scope of the discussions about Roth and his intellectual environment in the light of current critical debates and theories. Hughes presents his arguments clearly and succinctly. The scholarly documentation is impeccable, and the book, equipped with a comprehensive bibliography and an extensive index, is as user-friendly in its organization as it is sophisticated in its scholarly narrative.’ — Dagmar C. G. Lorenz, Modern Language Review 102.4, 2007, 1188-90 (full text online)
- ‘A book-length study in English of the writings of Joseph Roth is greatly to be welcomed... Hughes’s principal thesis — that Roth is not simply the author at odds with his times, as which he is often represented, but one who finds his own ways of confronting the experiences of cultural fragmentation that the twentieth-century world brings — is engagingly presented and makes the volume as a whole a serious contribution to Roth scholarship.’ — David Midgley, Austrian Studies 15, 2007, 190-191 (full text online)
- ‘A substantial, original, and methodologically sound piece of work... This is a well-written and thought-provoking study and will be of interest to students and academics alike.’ — Helen Chambers, Modern Austrian Literature 40, 2007, 101-03
Published August 2008
Art and its Uses in Thomas Mann's Felix Krull
Ernest Schonfield
Bithell Series of Dissertations 32 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 70
- ‘Concerning freedom, play, and Mann’s appeal to a community, Schonfield makes a persuasive case in his lucid and admirable study.’ — Steve Dowden, Modern Language Review 103, 2010, 905-06 (full text online)
Single Combat and Warfare in German Literature of the High Middle Ages: Stricker's Karl der Grosse and Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal
Rachel E. Kellett
Bithell Series of Dissertations 33 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 72
- ‘The thoroughness of [Kellett's] restudy is a welcome reinforcement of many of the more impressionistic inferences drawn by previous scholars. The work will prove essential reading for those interested in the variegated oeuvre of the man who referred to himself (perhaps rather too modestly) as ‘Der Stricker’.’ — Neil Thomas, Modern Language Review 105, 2010, 270-71 (full text online)
Published February 2010
E. T. A. Hoffmann and Alcohol: Biography, Reception and Art
Victoria Dutchman-Smith
Bithell Series of Dissertations 35 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 75
- ‘Clearly written in a jargon-free style, Dutchman-Smith’s study offers an illuminating discussion of a dimension of Hoffmann’s work that has received relatively little scholarly attention up until now, and which will be of interest to specialists and advanced students alike.’ — Birgit Röder, Modern Language Review 106, 2011, 904-05 (full text online)
The Wallenstein Figure in German Literature and Historiography 1790-1920
Steffan Davies
Bithell Series of Dissertations 36 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 76
Published April 2010
Hamann's Prophetic Mission: A Genetic Study of Three Late Works against the Enlightenment
Timothy Beech
Bithell Series of Dissertations 34 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 74
Published June 2010
Max Jacob and the Poetics of Play
Anna J. Davies
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 80
Published September 2010
A Culture of Mimicry: Laurence Sterne, His Readers and the Art of Bodysnatching
Warren L. Oakley
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 73
- ‘A brief but fascinating study of the appropriations of Sterne's fiction.’ — Devoney Looser, Studies in English Literature 51.3, 2011, 713-14
- ‘Sterne's body was snatched after his death, turned up in an operating theatre, was recognized, and reburied. As Warren Oakley makes very clear in this brilliant dissertation, it was not only his corpse but also his corpus (in the sense of literary output) which underwent remarkable transformations.’ — Peter de Voogd, The Shandean 22, 2011, 168-70
Published March 2011
Shades of Grey: 1960s Lisbon in Novel, Film and Photobook
Paul Melo e Castro
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 77
Kundera and the Ambiguity of Authorship
Christine Angela Knoop
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 79
Published May 2012
Private Lives and Collective Destinies: Class, Nation and the Folk in the Works of Gustav Freytag (1816-1895)
Benedict Schofield
Bithell Series of Dissertations 37 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 81
- ‘Schofield’s unprecedented and skillful incorporation of the author’s entire oeuvre has made a real and lasting contribution to nineteenth-century scholarship.’ — Alyssa Howards, German Quarterly 86, 2013, 489-90
- ‘Represents a valuable contribution to the field and enhances our understanding of Freytag’s strategy and agenda in no small measure.’ — Florian Krobb, Modern Language Review 109, 2014, 556-58 (full text online)
- ‘This is the only comprehensive work on Freytag that I know of, at least in our time. It is thoroughly researched... The criticism is exacting and precise.’ — Jeffrey L. Sammons, Monatshefte 106, 2014, 312-15
Space in Theodor Fontane's Works: Theme and Poetic Function
Michael James White
Bithell Series of Dissertations 38 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 82
- ‘The book is exceptionally well written, precise, compact, and lean. It has been well edited with very few faults.’ — Jeffrey L. Sammons, Modern Language Review 109, 2014, 277-79 (full text online)
Crisis and Form in the Later Writing of Ingeborg Bachmann: An Aesthetic Examination of the Poetic Drafts of the 1960s
Áine McMurtry
Bithell Series of Dissertations 39 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 84
- ‘There is precious little in McMurtry’s approach and textual interpretation that invites criticism. In fact, one so often feels compelled to applaud the subtlety of these examinations, the comprehensiveness of argument, and sheer erudition of the author... With this study McMurtry has positioned herself in the forefront of contemporary Bachmann scholarship.’ — Rüdiger Görner, Modern Language Review 109, 2014, 1144-45 (full text online)
- ‘The study’s solid grounding in Bachmann research, and modern European literature in general, means that it provides a useful starting point for readers who are new to Bachmann’s work, academics interested in modern literature or philosophy, and Bachmann scholars in search of a new perspective on her work.’ — Lina Fisher, German Quarterly 2013, 110-12
Bridal-Quest Epics in Medieval Germany: A Revisionary Approach
Sarah Bowden
Bithell Series of Dissertations 40 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 85
- ‘Bowden’s style is clear, lively, and elegant. As well as making a definitive statement, this book also offers insightful interpretations that are likely to make the texts in question more accessible and appealing to students.’ — Annette Volfing, Modern Language Review 109, 2014, 534-35 (full text online)
Published January 2013
The Prose of Sasha Sokolov: Reflections on/of the Real
Elena Kravchenko
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 86
- ‘Written with admirable coherence, this original, sophisticated and well-researched book by a young scholar should be read by anyone interested in Sokolov's novels ... If Sokolov's novels can be unified by one critical approach, Kravchenko's study comes close."’ — Larissa Rudova, Slavic and East European Journal 58, 2014, 158-59
Narrative and National Allegory in Rómulo Gallegos's Venezuela
Jenni M. Lehtinen
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 88
- ‘Lehtinen’s book will remain an indispensable contribution to the critical corpus on Gallegos and to Venezuelan studies in general.’ — Juan Pablo Lupi, Bulletin of Spanish Studies 93, 2016, 543
- ‘Lehtinen’s book is of interest to established Gallegos scholars and students alike, both accessible and offering up new critical insights. Moreover, it should also be on the radar of Venezuelan scholars more generally, since it is a study that requires us to consider how contemporary and future Venezuelan authors respond to, perpetuate, or depart from the narrative strategies and trajectories traced in and through Gallegos’s œuvre.’ — Nicholas Roberts, Modern Language Review 111.4, October 2016, 1151-52 (full text online)
Time in the Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel
Helen Tattam
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 89
- ‘Helen Tattam’s Time in the Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel deserves to be read not only by those who find insight and inspiration in Marcel’s work, but by all those interested in the question of time as well as the development of modern French philosophy.’ — Geoffrey Karabin, Modern Language Review 109, 2014, 1089-90 (full text online)
- ‘Tattam's book provides an excellent introduction to Marcel’s thought.’ — Thomas Pavel, French Studies 68, 2014, 121-22
Published February 2013
The Signifying Self: Cervantine Drama as Counter-Perspective Aesthetic
Melanie Henry
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 83
Published September 2013
Phantom Images: The Figure of the Ghost in the Work of Christa Wolf and Irina Liebmann
Catherine Smale
Bithell Series of Dissertations 41 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 97
Published October 2013
Frontier Memory: Cultural Conflict and Exchange in the Romancero fronterizo
Sizen Yiacoup
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 87
Published January 2014
Narrative Structure and Philosophical Debates in Tristram Shandy and Jacques le fataliste
Margaux Whiskin
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 95
- ‘Whiskin proves a perceptive and engaging commentator who will aid readers in their journeys through a literary world of orderly disorder.’ — Simon Davies, French Studies 68, 2014, 546-47
Published March 2014
Constructing Feminine Poetics in the Works of a Late-20th-Century Catalan Woman Poet: Maria-Mercè Marçal
Noèlia Díaz Vicedo
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 90
- ‘Este libro de Noèlia Díaz-Vicedo constituye una apreciable aportación a los estudios sobre la obra de Maria-Mercè Marçal en general, y sobre su poesía en particular.’ — Javier Letrán, Bulletin of Spanish Studies 94, 2017, 1251-52