Kirjahaku

How do genres develop? In what ways do they reflect changing political and cultural trends? What do they tell us about the motivations of publishers and readers? Combining close readings and formal analysis with a sociology of literary institutions and markets, Minor Characters Have Their Day offers a compelling new approach to genre study and contemporary fiction. Focusing on the booming genre of books that transform minor characters from canonical literary texts into the protagonists of new works, Jeremy Rosen makes broader claims about the state of contemporary fiction, the strategies of the publishing industry over recent decades, and the function of literary characters. Rosen traces the recent surge in "minor-character elaboration" to the late 1960s and works such as Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. These early examples often recover the voices of marginalized individuals and groups. As the genre has exploded between the 1980s and the present, with novels about Ahab's wife, Huck Finn's father, and Mr. Dalloway, it has begun to embody the neoliberal commitments of subjective experience, individual expression, and agency. Eventually, large-scale publishers capitalized on the genre as a way to appeal to educated audiences aware of the prestige of the classics and to draw in identity-based niche markets. Rosen's conclusion ties the understudied evolution of minor-character elaboration to the theory of literary character.

Detective, horror, fantasy, romance, science fiction, spy thrillers, westerns, zombie novels. In recent decades, acclaimed and ambitious writers of literary fiction have increasingly gravitated to popular fiction genres. In this comprehensive account, Jeremy Rosen describes literary fiction's embrace of genre fiction's conceits as "genre bending" and argues that while literary writers adopt genres for a wide variety of purposes, what they share is a revitalized attitude toward genre—a recognition that while genres can be used in formulaic ways, they can also be adapted and transformed endlessly. Rosen reads across the outpouring of fiction of the last several decades by writers like Margaret Atwood, Michael Chabon, Jennifer Egan, Louise Erdrich, Kazuo Ishiguro, Chang-rae Lee, David Mitchell, Cormac McCarthy, Ian McEwan, Haruki Murakami, and Colson Whitehead. He finds that literary writers' embrace of popular genres is the product of several seemingly contradictory forces, including their attempt to extend a modernist-inspired project of formal experiment, to pursue high cultural prestige, and to preserve the distinctiveness of the literary, which they perceive to be under threat, while also embracing the role of providing pleasure to readers. Examining what today's most critically acclaimed and widely read literary writers have done with the genres of genre fiction, Genre Bending reveals the values, practices, and forms, as well as the tensions, that constitute literary fiction today.

Detective, horror, fantasy, romance, science fiction, spy thrillers, westerns, zombie novels. In recent decades, acclaimed and ambitious writers of literary fiction have increasingly gravitated to popular fiction genres. In this comprehensive account, Jeremy Rosen describes literary fiction's embrace of genre fiction's conceits as "genre bending" and argues that while literary writers adopt genres for a wide variety of purposes, what they share is a revitalized attitude toward genre—a recognition that while genres can be used in formulaic ways, they can also be adapted and transformed endlessly. Rosen reads across the outpouring of fiction of the last several decades by writers like Margaret Atwood, Michael Chabon, Jennifer Egan, Louise Erdrich, Kazuo Ishiguro, Chang-rae Lee, David Mitchell, Cormac McCarthy, Ian McEwan, Haruki Murakami, and Colson Whitehead. He finds that literary writers' embrace of popular genres is the product of several seemingly contradictory forces, including their attempt to extend a modernist-inspired project of formal experiment, to pursue high cultural prestige, and to preserve the distinctiveness of the literary, which they perceive to be under threat, while also embracing the role of providing pleasure to readers. Examining what today's most critically acclaimed and widely read literary writers have done with the genres of genre fiction, Genre Bending reveals the values, practices, and forms, as well as the tensions, that constitute literary fiction today.

Throughout human history, religious questions have too often alienated or divided people. Ask any two individuals who God is, and they'll give you two different answers. So is it even possible to discuss God, faith, and religion-topics that are so personal-in an open and reasonable manner? In his intriguingly sensible and progressive book Can We Talk About God?, author and rabbi Jeremy Rosen invites readers of all beliefs, and disbeliefs, to consider foundational spiritual questions, such as: Can we prove God exists? What do we mean when we say we believe? What is a soul? Does prayer work? Is there life after death? Providing a rational analysis of each topic, Rosen reveals how one can value both logic and mysticism without discrediting either one. His unique approach welcomes people who have dismissed God as irrational or irrelevant and invites members of other religions to consider a more gracious view of people with differing opinions. Are you ready to talk about God?

While many people shy away from talking about politics or religion in polite company, author Jeremy Rosen has made religious discourse and education his life's work. An Orthodox Jewish rabbi and professor of religion at institutions around the world, Rosen sets out to make a case for the utility of religion in societies...and its ability to function as a uniting, rather than dividing, force on Earth. In accessible language and grounded in years of academic study, Rosen asks important questions about the aim of world religions and what they attempt to achieve, before offering reasons why they often fail-sometimes miserably. Rosen acknowledges religion is inherently mystical, but that does not mean its adherents can't also exercise rationality and logic. He makes the case that religion can be compatible with modern life, and it can be a vehicle for promoting tolerance and peace among people. A wonderful tool for anyone seeking to understand more about religion and religious people, Can We Talk About Religion? asks important questions and makes eloquent arguments for the value of faith in societies around the world.

Can one reconcile a scientific, intellectual, cultural world view with a commitment to a religious way of life? Jeremy Rosen believes you can and should combine them. His goal is to educate, to present different perspectives and arguments, in the hope that his readers will be encouraged to think for themselves and choose a way of life that suits their personalities, their histories and their priorities. No two people are identical, either mentally or physically, so that choice is essential to fulfil one's aspirations and maintain one's integrity. This is my fourth collection of blogs and essays covering 2019 through 2021. It deals with Jewish religious and political issues, Bible, festivals, culture and ideas, and anti-Judaism. These pieces are designed to instruct and entertain without being too heavy or technical. And I am always delighted to get feedback.

Can one reconcile a scientific, intellectual, cultural world view with a commitment to a religious way of life? Jeremy Rosen believes you can and should combine them. His goal is to educate, to present different perspectives and arguments, in the hope that his readers will be encouraged to think for themselves and choose a way of life that suits their personalities, their histories and their priorities. No two people are identical, either mentally or physically, so that choice is essential to fulfil one's aspirations and maintain one's integrity. This is my fourth collection of blogs and essays covering 2019 through 2021. It deals with Jewish religious and political issues, Bible, festivals, culture and ideas, and anti-Judaism. These pieces are designed to instruct and entertain without being too heavy or technical. And I am always delighted to get feedback.

This book is a collection of ideas I have written about over the past year or so in the form of weekly blogs. They describe the different thoughts I have had on a range of topics from religious, political, historical and cultural to specifically Jewish. My way of thinking comes from the integration of Jewish and secular western ideas and values. I write to inform, to challenge, to educate and to entertain. Often controversially. I am aiming at a Jewish audience that is looking for new ways of treating religious issues in a non-conformist way that encourages a critical view of life. And for others interested in how I, as a Jewish person, try to reconcile two very different ways of looking at the world.

This book is a collection of ideas I have written about over the past year or so in the form of weekly blogs. They describe the different thoughts I have had on a range of topics from religious, political, historical and cultural to specifically Jewish. My way of thinking comes from the integration of Jewish and secular western ideas and values. I write to inform, to challenge, to educate and to entertain. Often controversially. I am aiming at a Jewish audience that is looking for new ways of treating religious issues in a non-conformist way that encourages a critical view of life. And for others interested in how I, as a Jewish person, try to reconcile two very different ways of looking at the world.

Rabbi Jeremy Rosen considers himself a maverick. An Orthodox Jew, Rosen is unafraid to criticize his own people and religion when he sees the need. Nor is he willing to reject aspects of culture and life beyond Judaism if it means trapping himself in a restrictive "mental ghetto." Commitment and Controversy: Living in Two Worlds is the third collection of Rosen's insightful, wide-ranging thoughts on Jewish life and its relationship with the larger world. His essays reveal a moderate who is nonetheless deeply committed to his ideals. Rosen deftly jumps from discussions on feminism and current affairs to art, history, politics, and more. While his primary goal is to celebrate Jewish life, Rosen recognizes that any culture has its limitations and failures. Firm in his belief that self-criticism is the duty of any thinking individual, he's quick to confront such failings in both Jewish leaders and Israel itself. Rosen's eclectic interests shine though in his writing. He proves being a moderate does not preclude strongly held beliefs, whether he's considering aesthetics, history, Neanderthals, or humanity's capacity for goodness. He's informative, entertaining, and always ready for civil, intelligent discourse.