The Myth of Emptiness and the New American Literature of Place PDF Download

Author: Wendy Harding
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
ISBN: 160938279X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 266

View

Book Description
"In Under the Sign of Empty, Wendy Harding adopts a transdisciplinary perspective that draws on the theories of geographers, historians, sociologists, and philosophers to understand the reasons for the enduring perception of emptiness in the American landscape. In doing so, she identifies a recent trend in the literature of place that corrects the misperceptions resulting from this trope"--

Author: Jeanne Campbell Reesman
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 9780820322773
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 260

View

Book Description
At once criminal and savior, clown and creator, antagonist and mediator, the character of trickster has made frequent appearances in works by writers the world over. Usually a figure both culturally specific and transcendent, trickster leads the way to the unconscious, the concealed, and the seemingly unattainable. This book offers thirteen interpretations of trickster in American writing, including essays on works by African America, Native America, Pacific Rim, and Latino writers, as well as an examination of trickster politics. This collection conveys the trickster's imprint on the modern world.

Author: Philip Young
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271038780
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 322

View

Book Description
Few experts in American literature have written as insightfully and brilliantly as did Philip Young, renowned Hemingway critic and scholar at large. His unique work bursts with a joy in the humanities, with a sensibility, a humor, and a style that communicate to academics and general readers alike. Although Young died in 1991, he survives in his remarkable prose. American Fiction, American Myth features nineteen groundbreaking essays in which Young masterfully reveals the &"so what?&" that he insisted all literary studies ought to have. In the first section, he demonstrates his fascination with such American myths as Pocahontas and Rip Van Winkle, reaching powerful conclusions about America and its people. In the second section, he becomes &"Our Hemingway Man,&" explaining his germinal and still provocative theory that Hemingway's severe wounding in World War I so traumatized the novelist that his fiction was to a great degree unwitting self-psychoanalysis. Young's book on Hemingway was the first of its kind, but Young was more than a one-author critic, as his essays demonstrate in the third section, exploring such diverse topics as Hawthorne's secret love, the Lost Generation that was never lost, F. Scott Fitzgerald&’s debt to T. S. Eliot, and the relationship between American fiction and American life. What Hemingway once said about himself can be equally applied to Young: &"I am a very serious but not a solemn writer.&" The reader comes away from these essays dazzled by the power of Young's observations and the grace with which he expresses them.

Author: S.K. Robisch
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
ISBN: 087417774X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 746

View

Book Description
The wolf is one of the most widely distributed canid species, historically ranging throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere. For millennia, it has also been one of the most pervasive images in human mythology, art, and psychology. Wolves and the Wolf Myth in American Literature examines the wolf’s importance as a figure in literature from the perspectives of both the animal’s physical reality and the ways in which writers imagine and portray it. Author S. K. Robisch examines more than two hundred texts written in North America about wolves or including them as central figures. From this foundation, he demonstrates the wolf’s role as an archetype in the collective unconscious, its importance in our national culture, and its ecological value. Robisch takes a multidisciplinary approach to his study, employing a broad range of sources: myths and legends from around the world; symbology; classic and popular literature; films; the work of scientists in a number of disciplines; human psychology; and field work conducted by himself and others. By combining the fundamentals of scientific study with close readings of wide-ranging literary texts, Robisch astutely analyzes the correlation between actual, living wolves and their representation on the page and in the human mind. He also considers the relationship between literary art and the natural world, and argues for a new approach to literary study, an ecocriticism that moves beyond anthropocentrism to examine the complicated relationship between humans and nature.

Author: Kevin Kruse
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781541604667
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

View

Book Description
In this "incisive" (Vanity Fair) and "authoritative" (New York Times) instant New York Times bestseller, America's top historians set the record straight on the most pernicious myths about our nation's past The United States is in the grip of a crisis of bad history. Distortions of the past promoted in the conservative media have led large numbers of Americans to believe in fictions over facts, making constructive dialogue impossible and imperiling our democracy. In Myth America, Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer have assembled an all-star team of fellow historians to push back against this misinformation. The contributors debunk narratives that portray the New Deal and Great Society as failures, immigrants as hostile invaders, and feminists as anti-family warriors--among numerous other partisan lies. Based on a firm foundation of historical scholarship, their findings revitalize our understanding of American history. Replacing myths with research and reality, Myth America is essential reading amid today's heated debates about our nation's past. With Essays By Akhil Reed Amar - Kathleen Belew - Carol Anderson - Kevin M. Kruse - Erika Lee - Daniel Immerwahr - Elizabeth Hinton - Naomi Oreskes - Erik M. Conway - Ari Kelman - Geraldo Cadava - David A. Bell - Joshua Zeitz - Sarah Churchwell - Michael Kazin - Karen L. Cox - Eric Rauchway - Glenda Gilmore - Natalia Mehlman Petrzela - Lawrence B. Glickman - Julian E. Zelizer

Author: Christopher R. Fee
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1610695682
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1265

View

Book Description
A fascinating survey of the entire history of tall tales, folklore, and mythology in the United States from earliest times to the present, including stories and myths from the modern era that have become an essential part of contemporary popular culture. Folklore has been a part of American culture for as long as humans have inhabited North America, and increasingly formed an intrinsic part of American culture as diverse peoples from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania arrived. In modern times, folklore and tall tales experienced a rejuvenation with the emergence of urban legends and the growing popularity of science fiction and conspiracy theories, with mass media such as comic books, television, and films contributing to the retelling of old myths. This multi-volume encyclopedia will teach readers the central myths and legends that have formed American culture since its earliest years of settlement. Its entries provide a fascinating glimpse into the collective American imagination over the past 400 years through the stories that have shaped it. Organized alphabetically, the coverage includes Native American creation myths, "tall tales" like George Washington chopping down his father's cherry tree and the adventures of "King of the Wild Frontier" Davy Crockett, through to today's "urban myths." Each entry explains the myth or legend and its importance and provides detailed information about the people and events involved. Each entry also includes a short bibliography that will direct students or interested general readers toward other sources for further investigation. Special attention is paid to African American folklore, Asian American folklore, and the folklore of other traditions that are often overlooked or marginalized in other studies of the topic.

Author: Richard Weiss
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252060434
Category : Success
Languages : en
Pages : 292

View

Book Description
From the introduction: "Tradition has it that every American child receives, as part of his birthright, the freedom to mold his own life. . . . However inaccurate as a description of American society, the success myth reflects what millions believe that society is or ought to be. The degree to which opportunity has or has not been available in our society is a subject for empirical investigation. It rests within the realm of verifiable fact. The belief that opportunity exists for all is a subject for intellectual analysis and rests within the realm of ideology. This latter dimension of the success myth is the primary focus of this book."

Author: Amy J. Ransom
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476668337
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 232

View

Book Description
Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend has spawned a series of iconic horror and science fiction films, including The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971) and I Am Legend (2007). The compelling narrative of the last man on earth, struggling to survive a pandemic that has transformed the rest of humanity into monsters, has become an American myth. While the core story remains intact, filmmakers have transformed the details over time, reflecting changing attitudes about race and masculinity. This reexamination of Matheson's novel situates the tale of one man's conflicted attitude about killing racialized "others" within its original post-World War II context, engaging the question of post-traumatic stress disorder. The author analyzes the several film adaptations, with a focus on the casting and interpretations of protagonist Robert Neville.

Author: Tom Christoffel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 484

View

Book Description

Author: John Bierhorst
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780197714812
Category : Indian mythology
Languages : en
Pages : 0

View

Book Description
Describes the background of the myths of the Indian cultures of the North American continent, some of which have the same themes as myths of other world cultures.