The spectacle of death : populist literary responses to American capital cases / Kristin Boudreau.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boudreau, Kristin, 1965-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Popular literature--United States--History and criticism.

Popular literature.

Capital punishment in popular culture.

Capital punishment.

Public opinion.

United States.

Capital punishment in literature.

Executions and executioners in literature.

American literature--19th century--History and criticism.

American literature.

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

Capital punishment--United States--Public opinion.

Capital punishment in popular culture--United States.

Public opinion--United States.

Physical Description:

292 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 2006.

Summary:

Examines literary forms reacting to public execution and demonstrates their affect on public attitudes toward capital punishment.

Contents:

Theoretical introduction to execution literature: early American criminal narratives, the power of reading, and the problem of public sentiments

Rewriting the Fall River murder : a factory town turns to sentimental narratives

The Haymarket Anarchist Trial of 1886

Wisdom, justice and moderation abandoned : the lynching of Leo Frank

No other remedy : community awakening and the lynching of Emmett Till

Witnesses to an execution : Norman Mailer's spectacle of death

The sweetheart of death row : Karla Faye Tucker and the problem of public sentiments

Artful uprisings : the campaign against capital punishment.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-280) and index.

ISBN:

159102403X

OCLC:

62888228

Publisher Number:

9781591024033