{"product_id":"9781501372469","title":"Secret Selves A History of our Inner Space","description":"\u003ch1\u003eSecret Selves\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA History of our Inner Space\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eStephen Prickett\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eLiterary Criticism \/ Comparative Literature\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003eWho are we and how do we define our inner selves? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn his last work, Professor Stephen Prickett presents a literary and cultural exploration of our inner selves – and how we have created and written about them – from the Old Testament to social media. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat he finds is that although our secret, inner, sense of self – what we feel makes us distinctively 'us' – seems a natural and permanent part of being human, it is in fact surprisingly new. Whilst confessional religious writings, from Augustine to Jane Austen, or even diaries of 20th-century Holocaust victims, have explored inwards as part of a path to self-discovery, our inner space has expanded beyond any possible personal experience. This development has enhanced our capacity not merely to write about what we have never seen, but even to create fantasies and impossible fictions around them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet our secret selves can also be a source of terror. The fringes of our inner worlds are often porous, ill-defined and susceptible to frightening forms of external control. Mystics and poets, from Dante to John Henry Newman or Gerard Manley Hopkins, sought God in their secret spaces not least because they feared the 'abyss beneath.' \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the origin of human consciousness through modern history and into the future, \u003ci\u003eSecret Selves\u003c\/i\u003e uses literature to consider the profound possibilities and ramifications of our evolving ideas of self.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eStephen Prickett \u003c\/b\u003ewas an Honorary Professor of English at the University of Kent at Canterbury and Regius Professor Emeritus of English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow, UK. He authored 10 books and edited nine volumes, including \u003ci\u003eReader in European Romanticism\u003c\/i\u003e (Bloomsbury, 2010), which was winner of the Jean-Pierre Barricelli Prize. During a career that began in the late 60s, Professor Prickett taught in the UK, US, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Singapore and Nigeria. He was a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Fellow of the English Association, former Chairman of the UK Higher Education Foundation and was a former President of the European Society for the Study of Literature and Theology.\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e26 August 2021\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781501372469\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e272\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e18.72\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51369246720140,"sku":"9781501372469","price":37.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/getimage_95875b5b-f476-469d-831d-a228183ddbf2.jpg?v=1783878462","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9781501372469","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}