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Article: Recent Studies in the English Renaissance.(Critical Essay)
- Article from:
- Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900
- Article date:
- January 1, 2000
- Author:
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RENAISSANCE VS. EARLY MODERN
The "Renaissance" remains a viable title not only for this review but also for many of this year's books. Despite being "regarded with suspicion in many quarters," as Alvin Snider noted in last year's exemplary SEL review (p. 171), and despite New Historicism's preference for the less honorific "early modern," the older term persists. I must begin by admitting my own attachment to it. I recently taught a survey course called "Renaissance, Reformation, and Revolution," a title reflecting not only a weakness for alliteration, but also the belief that, whatever we call it, our period of study was a very big deal, making a greater mark ...