Nathaniel Hawthorne: Tradition and Revolution - Rilegato

Swann, Charles

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 052136552X ISBN 13: 9780521365529

Casa editrice: Cambridge University Press, 1991

Riassunto

This is the first analysis of the fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne and his perception of history. In his study, Charles Swann examines the whole of Hawthorne's literary career and gives proper weight to the unfinished work. Hawthorne saw history as a struggle between the authoritative claims of tradition on the one hand and the conflicting but equally valid claims of the desires for revolutionary transformation on the other. To evaluate Hawthorne's view of history, Swann provides close readings of such key shorter works as Alice Doane's Appeal and Main Street, as well as the most detailed analysis to date of the unfinished works The American Claimant Mss and The Elixir of Life Mss (two works which exemplify the temptations of tradition and the exhilaration of the revolutionary moment). This study asks us to explore how Hawthorne presents and interprets history through his fiction: for example, the history of crucial sins of the past (and the contemporary placing of such sins) in Alice Doane's Appeal, the problematic nature of the American Revolution in The Elixir of Life Mss, and the role of society in The Scarlet Letter. Swann's innovative study will be of interest to students and scholars of American literature, history, cultural studies, and literary criticism.

Su questo libro

Descrizione del libro

This is the first analysis of the fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne and his perception of history. It examines the whole of Hawthorne's literary career and gives proper weight to the unfinished work; encouraging the reader to explore how Hawthorne presents and interprets history through his fiction.

Contenuti

Acknowledgements; Notes on the texts; 1. Tradition and revolution; 2. An experimental fiction; 3. Sketches experimental and ideal; 4. The Scarlet Letter and the language of history; 5. The House of the Seven Gables; 6. The Blithedale Romance; 7. The American Claimant Manuscripts, or, the absence of an ending; 8. The Marble Faun, or, the ambivalences and ambiguities; 9. The Elixir of Life Manuscripts; Notes; Index.

Dettagli dell?edizione

• Editore: Cambridge University Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 1991
• ISBN 10: 052136552X
• ISBN 13: 9780521365529
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Lingua: Inglese
• Numero di pagine: 294