Fictive People - Antebellum Economic Development and the American Reading Public

Zusatztext An entertaining and thoughtful work which demonstrates that literacy and reading in the early national period involved a complex interplay of cultural, economic, and technological forces and affected Americans at many different levels in their public and private lives. Klappentext This book explores the various ways in which antebellum socio-economic change influenced the readership for American literature. Zusammenfassung This book explodes two notions that are commonplace in cultural histories of the nineteenth century: first, that the spread of literature was a simple force for the democratization of taste, and second, that there was a body of nineteenth century literature that reflected `a nation of readers'. Zboray shows that the output of the press was so diverse and the public so indiscriminate in what it would read that these conclusions must be reassessed.

Product details

• Authors: Ronald J. Zboray, Ronald J. (Assistant Professor of History Zboray, Zboray Ronald J.
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 28.01.1993
• EAN: 9780195075823
• ISBN: 978-0-19-507582-3
• No. of pages: 348
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA, History, English, HISTORY / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 19th Century, Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900, United States of America, USA