Roland Barthes's "The Death of the Author" is a foundational text for scholars who are addressing questions of authorship and textual ownership in English studies and its neighboring disciplines. Barthes's essay is typically presented without significant attention to the circumstances and context surrounding its initial English…

This article presents an interview with the noted Nepali American fiction writer Samrat Upadhyay. Samrat Upadhyay's fiction is mostly about his native country of Nepal, but he writes mainly for an Anglo-American audience. In the interview, Upadhyay not only discusses his own work, but he also examines samples of prose by other Asian or Asian…

The author analizes and evaluates Frye's concept of myth. (MF)

Author Sue Monk Kidd, who is white, employs stereotypes of African Americans and problematically appropriates features of black writing in her novel "The Secret Life of Bees." Nevertheless, this book is worth teaching, not only because it has acquired much cultural capital but also because it offers students a way to examine relationships between…

Although it angers feminist critics that Eliot did not deal with liberated females like herself, we still can learn much about the conditions of women from her novels. (JH)

Barthes'"S/Z: An Essay" offers ways of approaching critical problems not well dealt with in Anglo-American criticism.

Critical discussions of reader reaction are often only disguised discussions of author intention. (JH)

Argues that Joseph Conrad's political novels belie the sweeping and vague rhetoric sometimes used to describe them. States that Conrad, disillusioned with materialism in his political novels, imagines that "industrialism and commercialism" may foster wars between democracies. Contends Conrad's interest is at least divided between a…

Analyzes Gertrude Stein's approach to detective fiction through her text, "Subject Cases: The Background of a Detective Story." Argues that Stein's lesbianism raises a fear of homosexuality repressed in detective fiction. Concludes that Stein's readers may prefer her word play and opaque plot lines to any premature resolution. (SG)

Using Anais Nin as an example, the author describes the problem of the female writer as an agent of destruction. She is angered over the fact that women writers misdirected so much of their creative energy through fear of adopting any but the submissive, passive, feminine role. (Author/NL)

Examines the poetics of Richard Hugo, William Stafford, Donald Hall, and Robert Bly. Proposes that these poets are associated more with European and South American literature than with the poetry previously written in the United States and England. Discusses what these poets tell others about language and about writing poetry. (RL)

Notes that Black women writers of the 70s were writing about a new woman with a consistently heroic and articulate voice, and suggests that critics, especially feminist critics, should take note. Provides examples of characters from the works of Black women writers. (MKM)

Offers suggestions for seeking out neglected writers from all literary periods and advocates teaching the works of these writers along with the works of accepted great writers. (MKM)

The position of the historical writer, Chaucer within classroom environment concerned with the creation and nurturing of an ethical consciousness is presented. The way in which an understanding of the writer from this perspective encourages an enhanced critical engagement with personal ethos and critical analysis for both the student and the…