{"product_id":"the-life-of-the-party-festive-vision-in-modern-fiction-9780820336909","title":"The Life of the Party: Festive Vision in Modern Fiction","description":"\u003cp\u003eCritics have long recognized the links between community festivals and literary art. The comedies and tragedies of the ancient Greeks grew out of their festivals; Anglo-Saxon poetry was often read at festival occasions; and the structural patterns of renaissance drama are inseparable from their festive origins. In \u003ci\u003eThe Life of the Party\u003c\/i\u003e, Christopher Ames argues that the private party has become the festival of modern culture and has served as a shaping force in the fiction of many important twentieth century writers. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing upon and extending theories of Mikhail Bakhtin and others, Ames contends that parties have inherited much of the spirit and social function of festivals and carnivals. In these \"controlled transgressions,\" ordinary rules of behavior are set aside for a short time, permitting excess and including (usually in veiled form) a ritual encounter with death, as well as a cathartic return to the normal social order when the party ends. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the experimental fiction of James Joyce and Virginia Wolf, the mingling of many voices at the party challenges both social and narrative decorum. For F. Scott Fitzgerald, Evelyn Waugh, and Henry Green, the party becomes a microcosm of a decadent society and informs a festive vision characteristic of the literature that emerged between the wars. And in postmodern works by Thomas Pynchon and Robert Coover, the novelists celebrate the disruptive and liberating force of parties even as they illustrate the dangers of chaos through scenes of the party-gone-wild. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith its creative application of literary theory and ethnographic studies of festival, \u003ci\u003eThe Life of the Party\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrates the persistence of the festive vision and its significance in the evolution of modern fiction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Christopher Ames\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Georgia Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/01\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 358\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.16lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780820336909\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristopher Ames is provost and dean of the college at Washington College. He is the author of \"Movies about the Movies: Hollywood Reflected.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Georgia Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":41261985366131,"sku":"9.78082E+12","price":49.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_ceb63616-9b70-4711-8352-949ea2e34c94.jpg?v=1705502604","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/the-life-of-the-party-festive-vision-in-modern-fiction-9780820336909","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}