A Biocultural Approach to Literary Theory and Interpretation

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Frontispiece

A Biocultural Approach to Literary Theory and Interpretation This page intentionally left blank A Biocultural Approach to Literary Theory and Interpretation N A N C Y E A S T E R L I N The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore © 2012 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2012 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Easterlin, Nancy. A biocultural approach to literary theory and interpretation / Nancy Easterlin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4214-0472-1 (hdbk. : acid-free paper) ISBN-13: 978-1-4214-0504-9 (electronic) ISBN-10: 1-4214-0472-9 (hdbk. : acid-free paper) ISBN-10: 1-4214-0504-0 (electronic) 1. Literature—History and criticism—Theory, etc. 2. Literature and society. 3. Empiricism in literature. 4. Social science literature. I. Title. PN51.E24 2012 809′.93355—dc23 2011034745 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or specialsales@press.jhu.edu. The Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible. For Peter, and for Keaton Ever the best of friends audrey What Jane Austen novels have you read? tom None. I don’t read novels. I prefer good literary criticism—that way you get both the novelists’ ideas and the critics’ thinking. With fiction I can never forget that none of it really happened— that it’s all just made up by the author. Whit Stillman ...