{"title":"Elaine Freedgood","description":"\u003cp\u003eElaine Freedgood’s work offers a thoughtful exploration of \u003cstrong\u003earts and culture\u003c\/strong\u003e, blending intellectual rigour with accessible prose. Her writing invites readers to consider the relationship between literature, society, and history, revealing deeper layers in familiar narratives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith titles such as \u003cem\u003eWorlds Enough\u003c\/em\u003e, Freedgood examines the ways in which everyday objects and cultural practices shape our understanding of the past. Readers can expect insightful analysis that enriches their appreciation of both art and written word.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"worlds-enough-by-elaine-freedgood-9780691227818","title":"Worlds Enough","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA short, provocative book that challenges basic assumptions about Victorian fiction.\u003c\/strong\u003e Now praised for its realism and formal coherence, the Victorian novel was not always great, or even good, in the eyes of its critics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Elaine Freedgood reveals in \u003cem\u003eWorlds Enough\u003c\/em\u003e, it was only in the late 1970s that literary critics constructed a prestigious version of British realism, erasing more than a century of controversy about the value of Victorian fiction. Examining criticism of Victorian novels since the 1850s, Freedgood demonstrates that while they were praised for their ability to bring certain social truths to fictional life, these novels were also criticised for their formal failures and compared unfavourably to their French and German counterparts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eShe analyses the characteristics of realism—denotation, omniscience, paratext, reference, and ontology—and the politics inherent in them, arguing that if critics displaced the nineteenth-century realist novel as the standard by which others are judged, literary history might be richer. It would allow peripheral literatures and the neglected wisdom of their critics to come fully into view.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eShe concludes by questioning the aesthetic racism built into prevailing ideas about the centrality of realism in the novel, and how those ideas have affected debates about world literature. By re-examining the critical reception of the Victorian novel, \u003cem\u003eWorlds Enough\u003c\/em\u003e suggests how we can rethink our practices and perceptions about books we think we know.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47601422565612,"sku":"9780691227818","price":49.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/19f19d5497bcbfe57c7c43fbbf61df08.jpg?v=1778017533"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/elaine-freedgood.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}