Pursuing privacy in Cold War America / Deborah Nelson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nelson, Deborah, 1962-

Series:

Gender and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American poetry--20th century--History and criticism.

American poetry.

Privacy in literature.

Literature and society--United States--History--20th century.

Literature and society.

Privacy.

History.

Privacy, Right of.

United States.

Privacy, Right of--United States--History--20th century.

Privacy--United States--History--20th century.

Autobiography in literature.

Confession in literature.

Cold War in literature.

Cold War (1945-1989) in literature.

Self in literature.

Physical Description:

xxii, 209 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2002]

Summary:

While the public declarations of the Supreme Court and the private declamations of the lyric poet may seem unrelated, both express the upheavals in American notions of privacy that marked the Cold War era. Examining this interchange between poetry and law, Nelson produces a rhetorical analysis of privacy -a concept integral to postwar Americas self-definition. Nelson provides close readings of the confessional poetry of Anne Sexton, Robert Lowell, and Sylvia Plath, along with an examination of the Supreme Courts shifting definitions of privacy. The invention of the computer, the development of surveillance technology, and even the increasing popularity of open architectural plans are all part of the story.

Contents:

Introduction: The Death of Privacy xi

1 Reinventing Privacy 1

2 "Thirsting for the Hierarchic Privacy of Queen Victoria's Century": Robert Lowell and the Transformations of Privacy 42

3 Penetrating Privacy: Confessional Poetry, Griswold v. Connecticut, and Containment Ideology 74

4 Confessions Between a Woman and Her Doctor: Roe v. Wade and the Gender of Privacy 112

5 Confessing the Ordinary: Paul Monette's Love Alone and Bowers v. Hardwick

An Epilogue 141.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-200) and index.

ISBN:

0231111207

0231111215

OCLC:

47216905