Reforming the world : social activism and the problem of fiction in nineteenth-century America / Maria Carla Sanchez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sánchez, María Carla, 1968-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

American fiction.

Social change in literature.

Social problems in literature.

Literature and society--United States--History--19th century.

Literature and society.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (257 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Reforming the World considers the intricate relationship between social reform and spiritual elevation and the development of fiction in the antebellum United States. Arguing that novels of the era engaged with questions about the proper role of fiction taking place at the time, Maria Carla Sánchez illuminates the politically and socially motivated involvement of men and women in shaping ideas about the role of literature in debates about abolition, moral reform, temperance, and protest work. She concludes that, whereas American Puritans had viewed novels as risqué and grotesque, antebellum re

Contents:

The devil and his angels

The panic of 1837 and the failures of literary men

Sentimentalizing the fallen woman

Making history with Child and Stowe

Saying goodbye to Timothy Shay Arthur.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [219]-233) and index.

ISBN:

9781587297588

1587297582

OCLC:

646889052