Modern American Literature (Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature) Book

The Edinburgh Critical Guide to Modern American Literature examines the sites of literary production and reception of modern American literature from Edith Wharton Djuna Barnes and Langston Hughes through to Ezra Pound William Carlos Williams and Eugene O'Neill. It offers a comprehensive study of key texts and issues analysing commonalities and differences across a diverse range of writers and genres. The volume adopts a thematic approach which allows readers to engage with core issues such as the social and literary impact of World War I the quest for a distinct national culture the rise of the American metropolis and the themes of exile race assimilation and gender. The book addresses pressing questions raised by recent theoretical debates about the status of modern American literature. It combines the close reading of carefully selected widely-studied texts with a discussion of key themes theories and critical practices.The book opens with a chronology and closes with a section on 'Approaches to Studying Modern American Literature' which includes a directory of study strategies links to websites sample assessment and dissertation topics and a section on future directions in the field. The Introduction outlines the themes and perspectives that form the core chapters: Formulating Modern America; Tales of the City; Modernism on the Prairies; Home Thoughts From Abroad; The Revolt of the Modern; and 'Making it New' which deals with radical experiments in modern poetry prose and drama. The Conclusion develops ideas raised throughout the core chapters focusing on contemporary trends and critical views of American literature and questioning the modern American canon in light of recent interest in national boundaries.Key Features * Wide-ranging approach to modern American literature with detailed consideration of widely-taught novelists dramatists poets texts problems and theoretical approaches * Encourages informed discussion of the difficulties regarding periodicity in the classification of modern literature * Links close reading of texts with the historical and cultural context of their production and reception * Extensive bibliography and valuable resources for students Sales points The Edinburgh Critical Guide to Modern American Literature offers a comprehensive study of key texts and issues analysing trends and differences across a diverse range of writers and genres. Authors studied include Edith Wharton Djuna Barnes Langston Hughes Ezra Pound William Carlos Williams and Eugene O'Neill. The thematic approach allows readers to engage with core issues such as the social and literary impact of World War I the quest for a distinct national culture the rise of the American metropolis themes of exile race assimilation and gender and questions raised by recent theoretical debates about the status of modern American literature.The guide combines close readings of carefully selected core texts with a discussion of key themes theories and critical practices. The book ends by developing ideas raised throughout the core chapters focusing on contemporary trends and critical views of American literature and questioning the modern American canon in light of the recent interest in national boundaries.Key Features o Wide-ranging critical guide to modern American literature with detailed consideration of widely taught novelists dramatists poets texts problems and theoretical approaches o Links close readings of texts with the historical and cultural context of their production and reception o Includes a full chronology suggestions for further reading and a student resources section which includes a directory of study strategies links to websites sample assessment and dissertaRead More