Willa Cather and the Politics of Criticism , livre ebook

Nebraska - Joan Acocella

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140 pages

English

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Expanding on her absorbing and controversial 1995 New Yorker article, Joan Acocella examines the politics of Willa Cather criticism: how Cather’s work has been seized upon and often distorted by critics on both the left and the right. Acocella argues that the central element of Cather’s works was not a political agenda but rather a tragic vision of life. This beautifully written book makes a significant contribution to Cather studies and, at the same time, points out the follies of political criticism in the study of all literature.

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Publié par	Nebraska
Date de parution	01 février 2000
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780803206496
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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willa cather and the politics of criticism

[TITLE PAGE provided by designer] Willa Cather and the Politics of Criticism By Joan Acocella University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Acocella, Joan Ross. Willa Cather and the politics of criticism / by Joan Acocella. p. cm. Includes biographical references (p.) and index. isbn 0-8032-1046-9(cloth: alkaline paper) 1. Cather, Willa,1873–1947Criticism and interpre-tation History.2. Politics and literature United States History20th century.3. Cather, Willa, 1873–1947Political and social views. 4United States . Criticism History20th century. 5. Criticism Political aspects United States.i. Title. ps3505.a87 z545 2000 813'.52–dc21 99-36773 cip

To Arlene Croce

Contents

Author’s Note

Prologue

1The Darkling Plain

2Youth

3Cather and Her Critics:1910s–1940s

4Cather and Her Critics:1950s–1960s

5Cather and the Feminists: The Problem

6Cather and the Feminists: The Solution

7Politics and Criticism

8The Tragic Sense of Life

9Red Cloud

Notes

Bibliography

Index

109

121

Author’s Note

This book is an expanded version of an essay, “Cather and the Academy,” that was published in theNew Yorkerin1995. I have enlarged the material of that essay throughout; I have also added two new chapters (8and9for). Much of the new material example, all of chapter9was in fact written as part of the1995 essay, but was cut for reasons of space.

My primary concern is with the recent political criticism of Cather’s novels, but I have tried in my revision and above all in my notes to acknowledge the work of a wider range of Cather scholars. Here I want to thank, in particular:

those critics whose thinking on Cather informed my own: E. K. Brown, David Daiches, Richard Giannone, Hermione Lee, Susan J. Rosowski, Merrill Maguire Skaggs, Phyllis Rose, Bernice Slote, Donald Sutherland, and James Woodress;

those whose biographical, bibliographical, and editorial labors made it possible for me to ﬁnd my way through my topic: Bernice Slote and James Woodress again, together with Marilyn Arnold, Mildred Bennett, L. Brent Bohlke, William Curtin, John J. Murphy, and James Schroeter;

those whose work guided me through the history and theory of feminism and gave me hope for a sane feminist criticism: Nina Baym, Lillian Faderman, Ellen Moers, Joanna Russ, Elaine Showalter, and Carroll Smith-Rosenberg.

Robert Cornﬁeld, Arlene Croce, and Frederick Crews read and commented on the manuscript. Steven Shively helped me with research. Deborah Garrison edited theNew Yorkeressay. I thank them all, together with the staff of the University of Nebraska Press and also the MacDowell Colony, where for two summers I worked in peace on this book.