White liberal identity, literary pedagogy, and classic American realism / Phillip Barrish.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barrish, Phillip.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American fiction--White authors--History and criticism.

American fiction.

Liberalism in literature.

Didactic fiction, American--History and criticism.

Didactic fiction, American.

Ethnic relations in literature.

Race relations in literature.

Group identity in literature.

Sex role in literature.

Realism in literature.

Race in literature.

American fiction--White authors.

Physical Description:

ix, 168 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Columbus : Ohio State University Press, [2005]

Summary:

White Liberal Identity, Literary Pedagogy, and Classic American Realism brings literary works from the turn of the last century face to face with some of the dilemmas and paradoxes that currently define white liberal identity in the United States. Phillip Barrish develops fresh analytic and pedagogical tools for probing contemporary white liberalism, while also offering new critical insights and classroom approaches to American literary realism. New ground is broken by using bold close analysis of works by canonical American realist writers such as Henry James, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, and Kate Chopin. These contexts include an affirmative-action court case, the liberal arts classroom, and the "war on drugs," as well as current debates about the United States' role on the international scene. Invoking a methodology that he calls "critical presentism," Barrish's book offers a fresh response to that perennial classroom question, often posed most forcefully by students committed to progressive political agendas: why devote so much time and effort to detailed analyses of canonical American literature? This book makes specific contributions not only to American literary and cultural studies, but also to critical race theory, masculinity studies, and critical pedagogy.

Contents:

What Edith Wharton teaches about the defense of affirmative action

Mark Twain and the secret joys of antiracist pedagogy

Gender, liberalism, and racial geometry

Awakened White femininity and a shaping Mexicanist presence

Trafficking in liberal masculinities

American innocence and liberal guilt

"A good fellow wronged" : Christopher Newman and the feeling of American exceptionalism

Liberal guilt and The age of innocence.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-161) and index.

ISBN:

0814210104

0814251455

0814290884

OCLC:

60605140

Publisher Number:

9780814210109