| Description |
1 online resource (386 pages) |
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text file rdaft |
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(epub) |
| Access |
Access limited to subscribing institutions. |
| Summary |
"How the discovery of the Rosetta Stone led to new ways of thinking about language: "A brilliant new interpretation of major 19th-century American writers." -J. Hillis Miller The discovery of the Rosetta Stone and the subsequent decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics captured the imaginations of nineteenth-century American writers and provided a focal point for their speculations on the relationships between sign, symbol, language, and meaning. Through fresh readings of classic works by Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Poe, Hawthorne, and Melville, John T. Irwin's American Hieroglyphics examines the symbolic mode associated with the pictographs. Irwin demonstrates how American Symbolist literature of the period was motivated by what he calls "hieroglyphic doubling," the use of pictographic expression as a medium of both expression and interpretation. Along the way, he touches upon a wide range of topics that fascinated people of the day, including the journey to the source of the Nile and ideas about the origin of language."-- Provided by Freading. |
| Note |
Publisher metadata. |
| Subject |
Symbolism in literature.
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Hieroglyphics in literature.
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American literature -- Egyptian influences.
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American literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism.
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Egypt -- In literature.
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United States -- Intellectual life -- 1783-1865.
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LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 19th Century.
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| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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| ISBN |
9781421421162 (epub) |
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9781421421155 (print) |
| Standard No. |
9781421421162 |
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