Rereading Walter Pater [Paperback]

This 1997 book is a rereading of the work of Walter Pater, a pivotal figure in nineteenth-century culture.Walter Pater is increasingly gaining recognition as a pivotal figure in nineteenth-century culture. William F. Shuter shows that Pater authorised rereadings of his work in an effort to rewrite his own literary and cultural past. Drawing on unpublished manuscript material, Shuter shows how Pater's later work can serve, paradoxically, as an introduction to the earlier. Such a rereading of Pater's work uncovers patterns of continuity and anticipation that decisively alter our understanding of Pater and his writings.Walter Pater is increasingly gaining recognition as a pivotal figure in nineteenth-century culture. William F. Shuter shows that Pater authorised rereadings of his work in an effort to rewrite his own literary and cultural past. Drawing on unpublished manuscript material, Shuter shows how Pater's later work can serve, paradoxically, as an introduction to the earlier. Such a rereading of Pater's work uncovers patterns of continuity and anticipation that decisively alter our understanding of Pater and his writings.Walter Pater is increasingly gaining recognition as a pivotal figure in nineteenth-century culture. William F. Shuter shows that Pater authorized rereadings of his work in an effort to rewrite his own literary and cultural past. Drawing on unpublished manuscript material, Shuter shows how Pater's later work can serve, paradoxically, as an introduction to the earlier. Such a rereading of Pater's work uncovers patterns of continuity and anticipation that decisively alter our understanding of Pater and his writings.Introduction: an initial reading; 1. The periegetic critic and the imaginative sense of place; 2. The retrojective apologist; 3. Heraclitus, Hegel, and Plato; 4. The dubious academic; 5. Visiting the dead; Conclusion: rereading, revising, and reshuffling. ...Shuter's book makes a solid contribution to Pater scholarship. ...Shuter's efforl“.