Deliberately out of bounds : women's work on classical myth in nineteenth-century American fiction / Michaela Keck.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Keck, Michaela, author.

Contributor:

Heyne Memorial Fund.

Series:

American studies (Munich, Germany) ; v. 282.

American studies, 0178-1987 ; volume 282

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mythology, Classical, in literature.

American literature--Women authors.

American literature.

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

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

363 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Heidelberg : Universitätsverlag Winter, [2017]

Summary:

"Nymphs, maenads, goddesses, and heroines from classical myth populate nineteenth-century American women writers' fiction in exhilaratingly innovative, often multilayered and complex reconfigurations. Based on Hans Blumenberg's notion of artists' ongoing "work on myth" and Aby Warburg's concept of pathos formulae, this monograph explores the functions and meanings of these ancient figures in image and text. Examining novels by Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Lydia Maria Child, Elizabeth Stoddard, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, and Louisa May Alcott, this study sheds light on the intellectual and aesthetic achievements of these American women writers across a range of genres. Furthermore, the book challenges the assumption that women's "work on myth" did not thrive until the second half of the nineteenth century and proposes an approach to overcome the persisting binary and gendered opposition between myth and logos as the 'feminine' body governed by irrationality and the 'male' rational mind."-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Based on the author's thesis (habilitation--Universität Oldenburg).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 333-363).

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Heyne Memorial Fund .

ISBN:

9783825367060

3825367061

OCLC:

988254723

Publisher Number:

99974470560

Online:

Table of contents only