The Cambridge Handbook of Literary Authorship

Surveys historical, systematic and practical perspectives on literary authorship, offering a multi-layered account of authorship as a cultural phenomenon.

Ingo Berensmeyer (Edited by), Gert Buelens (Edited by), Marysa Demoor (Edited by)

9781316617946, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 March 2021

503 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.729 kg

'Literary authorship entails much more than composing texts that form aesthetic wholes. A host of other elements factor into the process, and for those interested in the dynamics of the phenomenon, there is no better source to consult than this handbook, which provides a comprehensive survey of the burgeoning field of intellectual inquiry and looks at the cultural peregrinations of a species erroneously thought by many to be extinct - the author.' H. I. Einsohn, Choice

This Handbook surveys the state of the art in literary authorship studies. Its 27 original contributions by eminent scholars offer a multi-layered account of authorship as a defining element of literature and culture. Covering a vast chronological range, Part I considers the history of authorship from cuneiform writing to contemporary digital publishing; it discusses authorship in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, early Jewish cultures, medieval, Renaissance, modern, postmodern and Chinese literature. The second part focuses on the place of authorship in literary theory, and on challenges to theorizing literary authorship, such as gender and sexuality, postcolonial and indigenous contexts for writing. Finally, Part III investigates practical perspectives on the topic, with a focus on attribution, anonymity and pseudonymity, plagiarism and forgery, copyright and literary property, censorship, publishing and marketing and institutional contexts.

1. Introduction Ingo Berensmeyer, Gert Buelens and Marysa Demoor
Part I. Historical Perspectives: 2. Authorship in cuneiform literature Benjamin R. Foster
3. Authorship in Ancient Egypt Antonio Loprieno
4. Authorship in Archaic and Classical Greece Ruth Scodel
5. Authorship in Classical Rome Christian Badura and Melanie Möller
6. Conceptions of authorship in early Jewish cultures Mordechai Z. Cohen
7. Modes of authorship and the making of Medieval English literature A. B. Kraebel
8. Manuscript and print cultures 1500–1700 Margaret J. M. Ezell
9. The eighteenth century: print, professionalization, and defining the author Betty A. Schellenberg
10. The nineteenth century: intellectual property rights and 'literary larceny' Alexis Easley
11. Industrialized print: modernism and authorship Sean Latham
12. Postmodernist authorship Hans Bertens
13. Chinese authorship Kang-i Sun Chang
14. Literary authorship in the digital age Adriaan van der Weel
Part II. Systematic Perspectives: 15. Literary authorship in the traditions of rhetoric and poetics Kevin Dunn
16. Authors, genres, and audiences: a rhetorical approach James Phelan
17. The author in literary theory and theories of literature Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen
18. Gender, sexuality, and the author: five phases of authorship from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century Chantal Zabus
19. Postcolonial and Indigenous authorship Mita Banerjee
Part III. Practical Perspectives: 20. Attribution John Burrows and Hugh Craig
21. Anonymity and pseudonymity Robert J. Griffin
22. Plagiarism and forgery Jack Lynch
23. Authorship and scholarly editing Dirk Van Hulle
24. Copyright and literary property: the invention of secondary authorship Daniel Cook
25. Censorship Trevor Ross
26. Publishing and marketing Andrew King
27. Institutions: writing and reading Jason Puskar.

Subject Areas: Publishing industry & book trade [KNTP], Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: general [DSB]