This collection of insightful and provocative essays explores the theme of sanctuaries of light in nineteenth-century European literature, especially in selected works by William Wordsworth, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Joseph von Eichendorff, and Charlotte Brontë. These sanctuaries of light, natural beauty, and serenity comfort, nurture, and revitalize the heart, mind, and soul of the individual and inspire creative expression. This book will be of interest to professors, teachers, and scholars in the fields of English literature, German literature, European literature, comparative literature, and cultural studies.

This book is a collection of wonderful and thoughtful essays that explore the theme of beautiful sanctuaries in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century European literature. The book focuses especially on selected works by Percy Shelley, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Henrik Ibsen, and James Hilton. These sanctuaries of light, natural beauty, and tranquility comfort, nurture, and soothe the heart, mind, and soul of the individual, and inspire creative expression.

In Light as Experience and Imagination from Medieval to Modern Times, David S. Herrstrom synthesizes and interprets the experience of light as revealed in a wide range of art and literature from medieval to modern times. The true subject of the book is making sense of the individual’s relationship with light, rather than the investigation of light’s essential nature, while telling the story of light “seducing” individuals from the Middle Ages to our modern times. Consequently, it is not concerned with the “progress” of scientific inquiries into the physical properties and behavior of light (optical science), but rather with subjective reactions as reflected in art, architecture, and literature. Instead of its evolution, this book celebrates the complexity of our relation to light’s character. No individual experience of light being “truer” than any other.

The 1979 film Alien has left an indelible mark on popular culture. Directed by Ridley Scott, at the time known primarily for making advertisements, and starring then-unknown actor Sigourney Weaver in the lead role, it transcended its humble origins to shock and disturb audiences upon its initial release. Its success has led to three direct sequels, two prequels, one "mashup" franchise, a series of comic books, graphic novels, novelizations, games, and an enormous and devoted fanbase. For forty years, Alien and its progeny have animated debate and discussion among critics and academics from a wide variety of fields and methodological perspectives. This book brings together scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to explore Alien through a contemporary lens. The chapters here demonstrate the extent to which its effects and reception are deeply multifaceted, with the Alien franchise straddling the lines between "high" and "low" culture, playing with generic categories, crossing media boundaries, and animating theoretical, critical, and political debates. Chapters touch on female agency and motherhood, the influence of H.R. Giger, the viscerality of Alien's body horror, the narrative tradition of the Female Gothic, the patriarchal gaze in the Alien video games, and the rise of in-universe online marketing campaigns. In so doing, the volume aims to debate Alien's legacy, consider its current position within visual culture, and establish what the series means--and why it still matters--forty years since its birth.

An Original Research Area – Little has been written on the connections between artificial light and literature in this period. Substantial Textual Coverage – A wide range of literature is analysed in this manuscript, which makes it beneficial to new or experienced scholars. Some more canonical texts are studied, and some more obscure authors and texts. The Holistic Approach – This manuscript tackles the entire history of nineteenth century illumination; it is an excellent primer for those interested in the field, and an example of what can be done within it.

During the Nineteenth-Century a major revival in religious pilgrimage took place across Europe. This phenomenon was largely started by the rediscovery of several holy burial places such as Assisi, Milano, Venice, Rome and Santiago de Compostela, and subsequently developed into the formation of new holy sites that could be visited and interacted with in a wholly Modern way. This uniquely wide-ranging collection sets out the historic context of the formation of contemporary European pilgrimage in order to better understand its role in religious expression today. Looking at both Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Europe, an international panel of contributors analyse the revival of some major Christian shrines, cults and pilgrimages that happened after the rediscovery of ancient holy burial sites or the constitution of new shrines in locations claiming apparitions of the Virgin Mary. They also shed new light on the origin and development of new sanctuaries and pilgrimages in France and the Holy Land during the Nineteenth Century, which led to fresh ways of understanding the pilgrimage experience and had a profound effect on religion across Europe. This collection offers a renewed overview of the development of Modern European pilgrimage that used intensively the new techniques of organisation and travel implemented in the Nineteenth-Century. As such, it will appeal to scholars of Religious Studies, Pilgrimage and Religious History as well as Anthropology, Art, Cultural Studies, and Sociology.