This is an analysis of the literary art of recapturing the past as the artist perceives it. By clearly distinguishing different ways of creating a past--in fiction, history, and other arts--Toliver enriches our understanding of literary strategies.
The Past that Poets Make examines such questions as how a fictional narrative differs from other ways of seeing a past time; to what extent literature is nontemporal, transcending its time, and to what extent it is tied to the institutions and traditions of its era; how given works conjure up a sense of time; and how fictional narratives function as transmitters of ideas to societies prepared to absorb them.
- ISBN10 0674656768
- ISBN13 9780674656765
- Publish Date 4 July 1981
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Harvard University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 256
- Language English