The power of historical knowledge : narrating the past in Hawthorne, James, and Dreiser / Susan L. Mizruchi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mizruchi, Susan L. (Susan Laura), author.

Series:

Princeton legacy library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Historical fiction, American--History and criticism.

Historical fiction, American.

Literature and history--United States.

Literature and history.

Narration (Rhetoric)--History--20th century.

Narration (Rhetoric).

Narration (Rhetoric)--History--19th century.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864. House of the seven gables.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel.

James, Henry, 1843-1916. Bostonians.

James, Henry.

James, Henry, 1843-1916. Wings of the dove.

Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945. American tragedy.

Dreiser, Theodore.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (335 pages).

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1988]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this provocative study, Susan Mizruchi argues that the act of writing history is the key to the political concerns of American novelists. Using nineteenth-century theories of history as well as recent narratological models, she examines reconstructions of the past in The House of the Seven Gables (1851), The Bostonians (1886), The Wings of the Dove (1902), and An American Tragedy (1925). Her special focus allows us to see that the efforts (on the part of characters and narrators alike) to reshape the past reveal both anxieties about the self and larger struggles for political power.Professor Mizruchi demonstrates the deepening connections between narrative and political coercion from Hawthorne to Dreiser, whose novels (as she further shows) both incorporate, and portray their characters incorporating, the conditions of their contemporary worlds. Her argument addresses a major contemporary dialogue on the subversive qualities of American texts and the place of history in literary interpretation.Originally published in 1988.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

ONE. The Problem of History in American Literature

TWO. The Problem of History in American Historiography

THREE. From History To Gingerbread: Manufacturing a Republic in The House of the Seven Gables

FOUR. The Politics of Temporality in The Bostonians

FIVE. American Innocence and English Perils: The Treachery of Tales in The Wings of the Dove

SIX. The Power of Mere Fable: Reconstructing the Past in An American Tragedy

Bibliography

Index

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

Bibliography: pages 295-307.

ISBN:

9780691632568

0691632561

9780691603162

0691603162

9781400859191

1400859190

OCLC:

889253557