American literary misfits : the alternative democracies of mid-nineteenth-century print cultures / D. Berton Emerson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Emerson, D. Berton, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

American literature.

Democracy in literature.

Democracy--United States--History--19th century.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (251 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Alternative democracies of mid-19th-century print cultures

Place of Publication:

The University of North Carolina Press

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 2024.

Summary:

"The study of nineteenth-century American literature has long been tied up with the study of American democracy. Just as some regions in the United States are elevated to stand in for the whole nation-New England is a good example-D. Berton Emerson argues the same is true for American literature of the nineteenth century; a few canonical texts overrepresent the more motley history of American letters. Emerson examines an eclectic group of literary texts that have rarely, if ever, been considered representative of 'the nation' because of their unseemly characters or plots, divergence from dominant literary trends of the era, or local particularity. These are his 'literary misfits,' authors and texts that show different forms of egalitarianism in action that existed outside and even against the dominant liberal narratives of American democracy. Emerson's unique contribution is revealing these texts and the people they represent as rich with political knowledge. This knowledge, he argues, finds its most potent expression in the local. Such texts show us a different kind of democratic politics: one that is egalitarian, disorderly, and radical rather than homogeneous"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Philadelphia protests, revolutionary memory, and relocalized democracy

Southwestern humor, common men, and playful democracy

Northwestern settlements, popular sovereignty, and neighborly democracy

Interbellum California, Manifest Destiny, and contingent democracy

Black New York, antiracist dignity, and basic democracy.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9798890887191

9781469678429

146967842X

9781469678412

1469678411

OCLC:

1428262095