A history of American literature / Richard Gray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gray, Richard, 1944-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--History and criticism.

American literature.

United States--Literatures--History and criticism.

United States.

Genre:

Literatures.

Physical Description:

xii, 899 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub., 2004.

Summary:

This major new history of American literature from pre-Columbian times to the present is written in an informed but accessible style by one of the leading authorities in the field. While paying attention to the full range of fiction, poetry, drama and non-fiction that has been incorporated into the mainstream literary canon, it also looks at other forms, including oral literature, folktales, spirituals, the blues, the western, the detective story, the thriller, and science fiction. All this writing is placed in the context of American social and cultural history both before and after the formation of the United States. Taking account of the radical changes that have occurred in our understanding of American literature over the past 30 years, this book concentrates above all on the plural character of culture in the United States, the conflicting forces at work in its history, and the continuing acts of imagination that constitute the making of this nation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 818-844) and index.

ISBN:

0631221352

0631221344

OCLC:

51817396