With Her in Ourland [Paperback]

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Author), Mary Jo Deegan (Editor), Michael R. Hill (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275960773 | ISBN-13: 978-0275960773 | Publication Date: June 30, 1997

Two works in one, this volume contains the full text of With Her in Ourland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, as well as an illuminating sociological analysis by Mary Jo Deegan with the assistance of Michael R. Hill. Ourland is the sequel to Gilman's acclaimed feminist utopian novel Herland; both were published in her journal, The Forerunner, in 1915 and 1916. Ourland resumes the adventures of Herland's protagonists, Ellador and Van, but turns from utopian fantasy to a challenging analysis of contemporary social fissures in his land, or the real world. The republication of Herland as a separate novel in 1979 revived critical interest in Gilman's work but truncated the larger aims implicit in the Herland/Ourland saga, leaving an erroneous understanding of Gilman's other/better half of the story, in which it is suggested that strong women can resocialize men to be nurturant and cooperative. Gilman's choice of a sexually integrated society in With Her in Ourland provides us with her answer to her ideal society, but her foray into a woman-only society as a corrective to a male dominated one is a controversial option. The challenging message of Ourland, however, does not impede the pleasure of reading it as a novel. Though known more for her fiction today, Gilman in her time was a recognized and accomplished sociologist who admired Lester F. Ward and frequently visited Jane Addams of Chicago's Hull-House. The male protagonist in Herland/Ourland, Van, is a sociologist, used by Gilman as a foil on which to skewer the assumptions and practices of patriarchal sociology. The interpretation presented here, which adopts a sociological viewpoint, is invaluable reading for scholars and students of sociology, American women's studies, and utopian literature.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Despite its lack of plot, forced dialog, and flat characters, this is a significant book. A sequel to Gilman's feminist classic, Herland (1916), this continues yet radically changes that book's utopian vision. Ellador leaves Herland with her new husband, Vandyck Jennings, one of the three men who discovered the world populated entirely by women. After a tour of Europe and Asia, they return to "his" land, the United States. More sociological tract than novel, the book analyzes social, economic, and political problems, discussing overpopulation, gender roles, environmentalism, the care of children, and racism?issues that are surprisingly relevant today. The final pages of the book provide an unexpected twist that completes the reader's understanding of Gilman's overall purpose. Recommended for academic libraries.?Yvette Weller Olson, City Univ. Lib., Seattle
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Gilman's sequel to Herland continues to advance her social theories. However, With Her in Ourland (first published in 1916) is a dystopian work; it chronicles the experiences of characters Van and Ellador, following their departure from Herland as they travel the world during the Great War. As she does in much of her fiction, Gilman urges radical social reform as a way to save the world from chaos and destruction.... Deegan provides a cogent argument for reading Herland and With Her in Ourland as two halves of a greater whole.... Reommended for all public and academic collections.”–Choice

“"[T]his is a significant book. A sequel to Gilman's feminist classic, Herland (1916), this continues yet radically changes that book's utopian vision....More sociological tract than novel, the book analyzes social, economic, and political problems, discussing overpopulation, gender roles, environmentalism, the care of children, and racism--issues that are surprisingly relevant today. The final pages of the book provide an unexpected twist that completes the reader's understanding of Gilman's overall purpose. Recommended for academic libraries."”–Library Journal

“He's a brash American adventurer; she's an independent, albeit sheltered, sociologist from Herland, a 2000-year-old, all-female society. Not surprisingly, when Vandyck (Van) and Ellador marry, most everything becomes a point of negotiation, if not contention: sexual relations, family obligations and attitudes about race, class, and the welfare state....the book is a window into the second decade of the 20th century...many of Gilman's observations are prescient and astute.”–Publishers Weekly

“...a splendid book, a delight to have now available. Mary Jo Deegan's introduction is filled with useful insights and information....Deegan's angle of vision is sociological, and that makes her reading of this story different from most Gilman scholarship.”–Theories and Epistemology

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Paperback (June 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275960773
• ISBN-13: 978-0275960773
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #991,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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