Conscience And Purpose: Fiction And Social Consciousness in Howells, Jewett, Chesnutt, And Cather - Rilegato

Petrie, Paul R.

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0817314849 ISBN 13: 9780817314842

Casa editrice: Univ of Alabama Pr, 2005

Riassunto

Explores literature's social mission at the turn of the century as defined by William Dean Howells and practiced by him and others.

In a series of influential essays that appeared in Harper’s, W. D. Howells argued for literature as a vehicle for social change. Literature could and should, Howells suggested, mediate across divisions of class and region, fostering cross-cultural sympathies that would lead to comprehensive social and ethical reform.

Paul R. Petrie explores the legacy of Howells’s beliefs as they manifest themselves in Howell’s fiction and in the works of three major American writers--Charles W. Chesnutt, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Willa Cather. Each author struggled to adapt Howells’s social-ethical agenda for literature to his or her own aesthetic goals and to alternative conceptions of literary purpose. Jewett not only embraced Howells’s sense of social mission but also extended it by documenting commonplace cultural realities in a language and vision that was spiritual and transcendent. Chesnutt sought to improve relations between Anglo readers and African Americans, but his work, such asThe Conjure Woman, also questions literature’s ability to repair those divides.

Finally, Petrie shows how Cather, as she shifted from journalism to fiction, freed herself from Howells’s influence.Alexander’s Bridge (1912) and O Pioneers! (1913) both make reference to social and material realities but only as groundwork for character portrayals that are mythic and heroic. The result of Petrie’s exploration is a refreshing reassessment of Howells’s legacy and its impact on American literature and social history at the turn of the century.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull'autore

Paul R. Petrie is Associate Professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University where he has taught American Literature since 1998.

Dalla quarta di copertina

Explores literature's social mission at the turn of the century as defined by William Dean Howells and practiced by him and others.

This work s originality resides in its resurrection of and careful, well-crafted response to the issue of social ethics and realistic practice in Howells. . . . Its readings are soundly argued, sensible, and convincing; they provide a refreshing look at works rarely considered together. --Donna M. Campbell, author of Resisting Regionalism: Gender and Naturalism in American Fiction, 1885-1915

Dal risvolto di copertina interno

In a series of influential essays that appeared in Harper s, W. D. Howells argued for literature as a vehicle for social change. Literature could and should, Howells suggested, mediate across divisions of class and region, fostering cross-cultural sympathies that would lead to comprehensive social and ethical reform.

Paul R. Petrie explores the legacy of Howells s beliefs as they manifest themselves in Howell s fiction and in the works of three major American writers--Charles W. Chesnutt, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Willa Cather. Each author struggled to adapt Howells s social-ethical agenda for literature to his or her own aesthetic goals and to alternative conceptions of literary purpose. Jewett not only embraced Howells s sense of social mission but also extended it by documenting commonplace cultural realities in a language and vision that was spiritual and transcendent. Chesnutt sought to improve relations between Anglo readers and African Americans, but his work, such asThe Conjure Woman, also questions literature s ability to repair those divides.

Finally, Petrie shows how Cather, as she shifted from journalism to fiction, freed herself from Howells s influence.Alexander s Bridge (1912) and O Pioneers! (1913) both make reference to social and material realities but only as groundwork for character portrayals that are mythic and heroic. The result of Petrie s exploration is a refreshing reassessment of Howells s legacy and its impact on American literature and social history at the turn of the century.

Paul R. Petrie is Associate Professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University where he has taught American Literature since 1998.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Univ of Alabama Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2005
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0817314849
• ISBN 13: 9780817314842
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 234
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile