American Literature and the Culture Wars / Gregory S. Jay.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jay, Gregory S., author.

Series:

Cornell paperbacks

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

American literature.

American literature--Study and teaching--United States.

Cultural pluralism--United States.

Cultural pluralism.

Culture conflict--United States.

Culture conflict.

Literature and society--United States.

Literature and society.

Multiculturalism--United States.

Multiculturalism.

Canon (Literature).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 238 p. )

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York : Cornell University Press, [1997]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Gregory S. Jay boldly challenges the future of American literary studies. Why pursue the study and teaching of a distinctly American literature? What is the appropriate purpose and scope of such pursuits? Is the notion of a traditional canon of great books out of date? Where does American literature leave off and Mexican or Caribbean or Canadian or postcolonial literature begin? Are today's campus conflicts fueled more by economics or ideology? Jay addresses these questions and others relating to American literary studies to explain why this once arcane academic discipline found itself so often in the news during the culture wars of the 1990s. While asking some skeptical questions about new directions and practices, Jay argues forcefully in favor of opening the borders of American literary and cultural analysis. He relates the struggle for representation in literary theory to a larger cultural clash over the meaning and justice of representation, then shows how this struggle might expand both the contents and the teaching of American literature. In an account of the vexed legacy of the Declaration of Independence, he provides a historical context for the current quarrels over literature and politics. Prominent among these debates are those over multiculturalism, which Jay takes up in an essay on the impasses of identity politics. In closing, he considers how the field of comparative American cultural studies might be constructed.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Making Ends Meet

1. The Struggle for Representation

2. Not Born on the Fourth of July

3. Taking Multiculturalism Personally

4. The Discipline of the Syllabus

5. The End of "American" Literature

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-224) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 16. Mai 2019)

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781501731273

1501731270

OCLC:

1132221288