• 0 Items - £0.00
    • No products in the cart.

From £32.99

What Literature Teaches in Times of Crisis

Plague Readings

From £32.99

The Covid pandemic offers a new lens for old stories. This book explores how collective trauma deepens our understanding of authors like Joyce, Kafka, and Chekhov, revealing the enduring psychological power of classic literature.

The Covid pandemic affected our minds as well as bodies, providing occasion to examine old literature in a new light. This book considers authors like…
From £32.99
From £32.99
1-5275-5086-9 , , ,
Share

The Covid pandemic affected our minds as well as bodies, providing occasion to examine old literature in a new light. This book considers authors like Joyce, Kafka, and Chekhov, showing that present crises can deepen our appreciation of past achievements. It examines a wide range of diverse, often overlooked, fiction, arguing that the psychological and social insights of classic short stories and novels have only increased in relevance in the face of collective trauma. Comparative literature is thus linked to the study of illness and society. The book addresses the concerns of general readers whilst broadening our cultural vocabulary for analyzing contemporary challenges and dangers.

David Pickus received his PhD from the University of Chicago, USA, specializing in German intellectual history. He has taught humanities and world history at Arizona State University, USA, as well as RenMin University, China, and spent a Fulbright year in Belgrade, Serbia. David is the author of Postcards from China: Travels along the Grand Canal (2018), and has published over thirty academic essays on topics related to East-Central Europe, the globalization of education, and minority literature. He is currently Associate Professor of History at the American University in Vietnam.

Hardback

  • ISBN: 1-5275-5086-9
  • ISBN13: 978-1-5275-5086-5
  • Date of Publication: 2024-01-17

Paperback

  • ISBN: 1-0364-1611-9
  • ISBN13: 978-1-0364-1611-9
  • Date of Publication: 2024-10-22

Ebook

  • ISBN: 1-5275-5087-7
  • ISBN13: 978-1-5275-5087-2
  • Date of Publication: 2024-10-22

Subject Codes:

  • BIC: JFCX, FC, DSK
  • THEMA: JBCC9, FBC, DSK
280
  • "In lucid, attractive prose, David Pickus’s timely new book acquaints us with a rich variety of forms of fiction, all centered on a crisis. With its range, elegance, and panoply of original ideas, it satisfies every expectation of pleasure and instruction at this critical juncture in our own history."
    - Stanley A. Corngold Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature, Princeton University, USA

Meet The Author