Reading Contexts

In may 1987, the contributors to this volume gathered at the University of Neuchatel for a symposium on "Reading Contexts". Given the possible puns in the title, the meaning of the word context posed a problem with which each writer hat to grapple, and it became an explicit focus for thought. some of the essays printed in this selection take up the problem of the relations between literature and history, some make use of the linguists’ distinction between context-free and context-sensitive writing, while others take on the issue of literary traditions, how they are made and unmade by new writing. the general result, the fourth volume in the SPELL series (Swiss Publications in English Language and Literature), is a challenging and illuminating set of papers on a fascinating and important topic.