Shirilan, Stephanie
Robert Burton and the Transformative Powers of Melancholy
- ISBN 13:
- 9780367879983
- author:
- Shirilan, Stephanie
- format:
- Paperback / softback
- publisher:
- Routledge
- language:
- English
- Publication Year:
- 2019
- Pages:
- 230
- Dimensions:
- 24.4 x 16.5 x 2.5 centimeters (0
- Genre:
- Fiction & Literature, Literary Criticsm, General,
- Condition:
- New
- Availability:
- Item usually sent within 10 working days
Description
Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy is a lesser-known but fascinating work that has been overlooked by modern scholars. Stephanie Shirilan explores its unique approach to understanding melancholy, revealing it as a cento - an ancient form of satire that quotes and misquotes authoritative texts in often subversive ways.
Shirilan argues that the Anatomy dispenses both direct physic and systemic medicine by encouraging readers to think of melancholy as a privileged mental and spiritual acuity that requires cultivation and management rather than cure. This approach rejects contemporary views on melancholy, instead celebrating its transformative powers through the imagination.
The book offers a fresh perspective on Burton's work, reading his erraticism, opacity, and theatricality as modes of resistance against demands for constancy and transparency in popular literature of spiritual and moral hygiene. By examining these themes, Shirilan sheds new light on the Anatomy's enduring significance.
Related Products
Related Products
The Anatomy of Melancholy: A Multi-Discipline Book on Melancholy
Burton, Robert
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Burton, Robert
Philosophy and Melancholy
Ilit Ferber
Aristotle On Melancholy
Borg, Marlies Ter
The Melancholy of Anatomy
CorlessSmith, Martin