The difficult art of giving : patronage, philanthropy, and the American literary market / Francesca Sawaya.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sawaya, Francesca, author.

Series:

Haney Foundation series.

Haney Foundation Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Authors and patrons in literature.

Philanthropists in literature.

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

American literature.

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

Authors and patrons--United States--History--19th century--Case studies.

Authors and patrons.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (259 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Difficult Art of Giving rethinks standard economic histories of the literary marketplace. Traditionally, American literary histories maintain that the post-Civil War period marked the transition from a system of elite patronage and genteel amateurism to what is described as the free literary market and an era of self-supporting professionalism. These histories assert that the market helped to democratize literary production and consumption, enabling writers to sustain themselves without the need for private sponsorship. By contrast, Francesca Sawaya demonstrates the continuing importance of patronage and the new significance of corporate-based philanthropy for cultural production in the United States in the postbellum and modern periods. Focusing on Henry James, William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, Charles Chesnutt, and Theodore Dreiser, Sawaya explores the notions of a free market in cultural goods and the autonomy of the author. Building on debates in the history of the emotions, the history and sociology of philanthropy, feminist theory, and the new economic criticism, Sawaya examines these major writers' careers as well as their rich and complex representations of the economic world. Their work, she argues, demonstrates that patronage and corporate-based philanthropy helped construct the putatively free market in literature. The book thereby highlights the social and economic interventions that shape markets, challenging old and contemporary forms of free market fundamentalism.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface. From the Harlem Renaissance

Introduction. ‘‘The Difficult Art of Giving’’

Chapter 1. American Generosity: Philanthropy in Henry James

Chapter 2. ‘‘Livin’ on My Money’’: The Politics of Gratitude and Ingratitude in Howells

Chapter 3. ‘‘The Gospel of Self’’: Philanthropy and Political Economy in Mark Twain

Chapter 4. ‘‘That Friendship of the Whites’’: Patronage and Philanthropy in Charles Chesnutt

Chapter 5. ‘‘Inexplicable Tangles of Personality’’: Patronage, Philanthropy, and Progressive Irony in Theodore Dreiser

Afterword

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780812290035

0812290038

OCLC:

884615827