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From 1929 to the latest issue, American Literature has been the foremost journal expressing the findings of those who study our national literature. The jouranl has published the best work of literary historians, critics, and bibliographers, ranging from the founders of the discipline to the best current critics and researchers. The longevity of this excellence lends a special distinction to the articles in American Literature.
Presented in order of their first appearance, the articles in each volume constitute a revealing record of developing insights and important shifts of critical emphasis. Each article has opened a fresh line of inquiry, established a fresh perspective on a familiar topic, or settled a question that engaged the interest of experts.
List of contents
Series Introduction vii
The Literary Background of Howells's Social Criticism (1942) / George Arms 1
A Note on Howells and "The Smiling Aspects of Life" (1945) / Edwin H. Cady 18
Materials and Form in Howells's First Novels (1947) / William M. Gibson 21
The Equalitarian Principle in the Fiction of William Dean Howells (1952) / William F. Ekstrom 30
Howells, The Atlantic Monthly, and Republicanism (1952) / Louis J. Budd 41
William Dean Howells, Ed Howe, and The Story of a Country Town (1958) / James B. Stronks 59
The Ethical Unity of The Rise of Silas Lapham (1960) / Donald Pizer 65
Point of View in Howells's The Landlord at Lion's Head (1962) / William McMurray 71
Marcia Gaylord's Electra Complex: A Footnote to Sex in Howells (1962) / Kermit Vanderbilt 79
The Function of Setting in Howells's The Landlord at Lion's Head (1963) / Mary S. Sulivan 89
The Architecture of The Rise of Silas Lapham (1966) / G. Thomas Tanselle 104
Howells and Ade (1966) / Jack Brenner 132
The Dark Side of Their Wedding Journey (1969) / Marion W. Cumpiano 142
William Dean Howells. George William Curtis, and the "Haymarker Affair" (1969) / Clara and Rudolf Kirk 157
Savagery and Civilization: The Moral Dimensions of Howells's A Boy's Town (1969) / Tom H. Towers 169
Transformations: The Blithedale Romance to Howells and James (1976) / Robert Emmet Long 180
The Wilderness Within: Howells's A Boy's Town (1976) / Thomas Cooley 200
Invalids and Actresses: Howells's Duplex Imagery for American Women (1976) / Sidney H. Bremer 216
William Dean Howells and Charles W. Chestnut: Criticism and Race Fiction in the Age of Booker T. Washington (1976) / William L. Andrews 232
Howells's Oresteia: The Union of Theme and Structure in The Shadow of a Dream (1977) / Barbara L. Parker 245
An Interoceanic Episode: THe Lady of thte Aroostook (1977) / John W. Crowley 258
Index 270
About the author
Edwin H. Cady is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities, Emeritus, at Duke University.
Louis J. Budd in James B. Duke Professor, Emeritus, at Duke University. Both scholars have served as Managing Editor and Chair of the Board of Editors of American Literature.
