Summary
Stephen Greenblatt: Self-Formation in the Renaissance
From Mora to Shakespeare
Self-Formation in the Renaissance is a study devoted to representations of identity in 16th century literature. Greenblatt's book, which soon became a real classic, started the movement of new historicism in literary theory and related disciplines. Dealing with the leading representatives of the English Renaissance, such as Moore, Wyatt, Spencer, Marlowe and Shakespeare, Greenblatt explores the structure of identity and discovers the multiple connections between Renaissance culture and identity formation at the dawn of the modern age.
The subject of Greenblatt's research is the analysis of the historical and cultural conditioning of the construction of identity in the works of the aforementioned writers: from the understanding according to which identity is "willing submission to legitimate authorities such as God and the state" (Spencer), to the fact that identity only arises "in moments when order is - political, theological, sexual - violated" (Marlowe).
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