Contesting the Past, Reconstructing the Nation: American Literature and Culture in the Gilded Age, 1876-1893 (Amer Lit Realism & Naturalism) (Hardcover)

~ Benjamin A Railton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A well researched piece of work. . . . Railton’s juxtapositions of texts and his careful readings of lesser known works make this a book from which readers will learn much about the decade.”

?Donna Campbell, author of Resisting Regionalism: Gender and Naturalism in American Fiction, 1885–1919

Product Description

In this study of Gilded Age literature and culture, Benjamin Railton proposes that in the years after Reconstruction, America's identity was often contested through distinct and competing conceptions of the nation's history. He argues that the United States moved toward unifying and univocal historical narratives in the years between the Centennial and Columbian Expositions, that ongoing social conflict provided sites for complications of those narratives, and that works of historical literature offer some of the most revealing glimpses into the nature of those competing visions.Gilded Age scholarship often connects the period to the 20th-century American future, but Railton argues that it is just as crucial to see how the era relates to the American past. He closely analyzes the 1876 and 1893 Expositions, finding that many of the period's central trends, from technology to imperialism, were intimately connected to particular visions of the nation's history. Railton's concern is with four key social questions: race, Native Americans, women, and the South.He provides close readings of a number of texts for the ways they highlight these issues. He examines established classics ("Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "The Bostonians"); newer additions to the canon ("The Conjure Woman", "Life Among the Piutes", and "The Story of Avis"); largely forgotten best-sellers ("Uncle Remus", and "The Grandissimes"); unrecovered gems ("Ploughed Under", and "Where the Battle Was Fought"); and autobiographical works by Douglass and Truth, poems by Harper and Piatt, and short stories by Woolson and Cooke.These readings, while illuminating the authors themselves, contribute to ongoing conversations over historical literature's definition and value, and a greater understanding not only of American society in the Gilded Age, but also debates on our shared but contested history that remain very much alive in the present.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: University Alabama Press; 1 edition (September 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817315802
• ISBN-13: 978-0817315801
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,514,784 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Well researched, interesting premise, enlightening, June 3, 2009

By	Margarette Connor "Doc C" (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For scholars of this period in American history, this book is well worth reading. Railton covers lesser known works, which is a real boon to those who are not experts in the Gilded Age. I'm working on the earlier part of the century, and I still found this book very helpful. His exploration of race, women, the Indian question were enlightening. I found the chapter on alternate voices and histories of the South Question very helpful. The writing is a step above that in most scholarly tomes, and I say that as a scholar. Too many times academic writing gets bogged down in jargon and verbosity. This isn't a problem here.