Search results for ""Author Clare Brant""

This important new book explores epistolary forms and practices in relation to important areas of British culture. Familiar ideas about epistolary fiction and personal correspondence, and public and private, are re-examined in the light of alternative paradigms, showing how the letter is a genre at the centre of Eighteenth-century life.

Read more less

In this sparkling account, Brant uses the brief moment of balloon madness as a way into a wide-ranging exploration of Enlightenment sensibility in Britain. All the world is mad about balloons observers recorded during the craze in Britain that lasted from 1783 to 1786. Excitement about the new invention spread rapidly, inspiring hopes, visions, fashions, celebrations, satires, imaginary heroics and real adventures. In this sparkling account, Brant uses the brief moment of balloon madness as a way into a wide-ranging exploration of Enlightenment sensibility in Britain. She follows the craze as it travelled around the country, spread through crowds and shaped the daily lives and dreams of individuals. From the levity of fashion, political satire and light verse inspired by balloons, she shows how wonders of air and speed alsoconnected with the deeper preoccupations and anxieties of eighteenth-century Britain. An aerial 'view from above' provided new moral perspectives on the place of humans in the universe and the nature of their aspirations; while the success of the French, leaders in aeronautics, unsettled national identity with visions of a new world order. The practical limitations of balloons soon put an end to one set of possibilities, but their effect on popularculture was more enduring, with meaning even today. With a cast including kings, politicians, charlatans, pickpockets, the beau monde, duellists and animals, Balloon Madness celebrates the excitement and fun of this briefbut world-changing episode of history and its long afterlife in our imagination. CLARE BRANT is Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture at King's College London.

Read more less

'An innovative and challenging title from feminists in Britain [...] makes a valuable contribution to understanding sexual harassment' Feminist Bookstore News 'Serious and scholarly ... deserves a wide audience' Journal of the Institute of Health Education 'Excellent ... However familiar the subject may seem - or precisely because we all think we know what term 'sexual harassment' means - these discussions open up a series of vital questions, both theoretical and practical. Rethinking Sexual Harassment is a valuable contribution to a debate that continues all around us' Parallax Sexual harassment continues to stimulate controversy and attract partisan responses. This is an exciting and original exploration of how it came to be defined, what institutional forces and contexts shape our understanding of it. This multidisciplinary study brings together essays from feminist scholars in the fields of law, literature, the social sciences, history and cultural studies. The contributors' central argument is an awareness of the social and discursive contexts required to challenge sexual harassment effectively. Offering insight into current limitations and making practical suggestions for ways forward, this wide-ranging collection addresses general readers and professionals alike. Contributors include Suzanne Gibson; Helen Watson; Gargi Bhattacharyya; Ruth Jamieson; Celia Kitzinger; Suzanne Raitt; Ros Hunt; Diane Purkiss; Padma Anagol-McGinn and Jane Beckett

Read more less