Writer Writing

• List of IllustrationsForewordPrefaceAcknowledgmentsCh. 1The Writer Writing3Ch. 2'Intentions' and 'Purposes'19Interpretation and Actions19Intention and Historical Interpretation27Purpose and Literary Art36Ch. 3'Parody' or the Imitation of Disciplines46Ch. 4Explanations57"Scientific" Explanation59"Processive" Explanation63Ch. 5Bernard Shaw: Historical Explanation72"A Frankly Doctrinal Theatre"72G.B.S.75G.B.S. in the Theater79G.B.S. as Historian83Saint Joan: The Argument and Function of the Preface86The Scope of the Play91The Play of Saint Joan: Structure and Mechanism93The Epilogue102Ch. 6Marcel Proust: Psychological Explanation104The Book and the Man104"Psychology in Space and Time"110The Syllabus of Errors113The Triumph of the Will121The Historical Author, the Narrator, and Their Books126Ch. 7Historical Interpretation: The Face of the Muse and the Baker's Daughter133Notes155Index175

"This lucid, vigorously written book is a refreshing demonstration of the sophistication of common sense. The Writer Writing makes a persuasive case for the reinstatement of the writer's intention, the living author, and the stubborn individuality of the particular literary text, at the heart of interpretation. Francis-Noël Thomas is an important new voice in the rising chorus of objections to the critical orthodoxies that have dominated academic literary studies over the past quarter-century."—Robert Alter, University of California, Berkeley