Traces of gold : California's natural resources and the claim to realism in western American literature / Nicolas S. Witschi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Witschi, Nicolas S., 1966-

Series:

Studies in American literary realism and naturalism.

Studies in American literary realism and naturalism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--California--History and criticism.

American literature.

Authors, American--Homes and haunts--California.

Authors, American.

Natural resources--California.

Natural resources.

Nature in literature.

Realism in literature.

California--In literature.

California.

California--Intellectual life.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (232 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Broadening our understanding of what constitutes ""realism,"" Nicolas Witschi artfully demonstrates the linkage of American literary realism to the texts, myths, and resources of the American West. From Gold Rush romances to cowboy Westerns, from hard-boiled detective thrillers to nature writing, the American West has long been known mainly through hackneyed representations in popular genres. But a close look at the literary history of the West reveals a number of writers who claim that their works represent the ""real"" West. As Nicolas Witschi shows, writers as varie

Contents:

Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction: The Genres of Realism; 1. Bret Harte and the Gold Rush Claim to Realism; 2. John of the Mines: Muir's Picturesque Rewrite of the Gold Rush; 3. "Why, Have You Got the Atlantic Monthly Out Here?" W. D. Howells, Realism, and the Idea of the West; 4. 1902: The Generic Imagination in Transition; 5. "I Know What Is Best for You": Post-Howellsian Realism in Mary Austin's Desert Narratives; 6. Hard-Boiled Nature: California, Detective Fiction, and the Limits of Representation; Notes; Works Cited; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [195]-212) and index.

ISBN:

0-8173-1371-0

OCLC:

427567264