El. knyga: Reading the American Novel 1780 - 1865

Reading the American Novel 1780-1865 explores the diverse fiction produced in the United States from the late 18th century until the onset of the Civil War. The book provides an overview of early fiction along with in-depth examinations of specific novels, asking how they establish and develop grounds of inquiry. The major authors are featured, including Charles Brockden Brown, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Harriet...Beecher Stowe, alongside less familiar writers such as Fanny Fern, Caroline Kirkland, George Lippard, and Catharine Sedgwick. A chapter dedicated solely to popular women's fiction explores works by Louisa May Alcoa, Maria Cummins, E.D.E.N. Southworth, Susan B. Warner, and Harriet Wilson. The social and historical contexts of the time are considered in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the stories that evolved to explain those events and help Americans define themselves. The book also explores questions of identity - about the novel, its 19th-century readers, and the emerging structure of the United States - as an important backdrop to understanding American fiction.

Reading the American Novel 1780-1865 offers fascinating insights into the evolution of America's most popular literary genre.

Reading the American Novel 1780-1865 provides valuable insights into the evolution and diversity of fictional genres produced in the United States from the late 18th century until the Civil War, and helps introductory students to interpret and understand the fiction from this popular period.