Essays offering new insights into important topics and figures in German literature, from the middle ages to the present day. The essays in this volume, contributed by well-known Germanists and those working in the field of comparative literature, take fresh looks at key figures and issues in German literary and cultural studies, from the medieval to thepost-modernist period.

Whether in the street or the microcosm of the home, the life of things conjoins human subjects and inanimate objects. This material culture has long played a vital role in the American literary imagination, yet scholars in literary and cultural studies have only recently (re)discovered the object world as a subject of critical inquiry. Engaging a great range of American literature--from Harriet Beecher Stowe and Edith Wharton to Vladimir Nabokov and Jonathan Franzen--The Literary Life of Things illuminates scenes of animation that disclose the aesthetic, affective, and ethical dimensions of our entanglement with the material world.

This is the first substantial book about Forster's life. Drawing upon much unpublished material, Davies describes Forster's career as a man of letters and presents detailed studies of his many important friendships and professional activities. The author also breaks new ground in discussing Forster's work as a journalist, historian, and literary biographer. Contents: Part One: Early Life and Influential Friends. Newcastle to London. Leigh Hunt. Charles Lamb. Bulwer, Macready; Part Two: The Man of Letters I: The literary life. Literature's friend. Friendship's variations 1834-1855. Withdrawal and return; Part Three: Man of Letters II: Four Friendships. Robert Browning. Landor. Dickens. Carlyle; Part Four: Man of Letters III: Professional Concerns. Journalist. Historian. Literary biographer; Postscript; Bibliography (including Forster's mainly anonymous reviews)^R.