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Examines selected works in the American literary tradition from an evolutionary perspective. Using an interdisciplinary framework to pose new questions about long admired, much discussed texts, the collection as a whole provides an introduction to Darwinian literary critical methodology.
List of contents
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: The Story of a Successful Social Animal
2. Nepotism in Hawthorne¿s ¿My Kinsman, Major Molineux¿
3. Biophilia in Thoreaüs
Walden4. Bateman¿s Principle in ¿Song of Myself¿: Whitman Celebrates Male Ardency
5. Maladaptive Behavior and Auctorial Design: Huck Finn¿s Pap
6. Hell¿s Fury: Female Mate-Retention Strategies in Wharton¿s ¿Pomegranate Seed
and
Ethan Frome7. Male Reproductive Strategies in Sherwood Anderson¿s ¿The Untold Lie¿
8.
The Great Gatsby: An Unusual Case of Mate-Poaching
9. Female Sexual Strategies in the Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay
10. Philosophy and Fitness: Hemingway¿s ¿A Clean, Well-Lighted Place¿ and
The Sun
Also Rises11. Paternal Confidence in Zora Neale Hurston¿s ¿The Gilded Six-Bits¿
12. The Role of the Arts in Male Courtship Display: Billy Collins¿s ¿Serenade¿
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Judith P. Saunders is Professor of English at Marist College in New York State. She is the author of
The Poetry of Charles Tomlinson: Border Lines and
Reading Edith Wharton through a Darwinian Lens: Evolutionary Biological Issues in Her Fiction.
Summary
Examines selected works in the American literary tradition from an evolutionary perspective. Using an interdisciplinary framework to pose new questions about long admired, much discussed texts, the collection as a whole provides an introduction to Darwinian literary critical methodology.
Additional text
“As Saunders makes clear at the outset, her aim is to offer ‘an
accessible introduction to Darwinian literary critical methodology in tandem
with new insights into acknowledged classics’ (x). This is precisely what she
does with admirable clarity and grace. To assist readers not familiar with
Darwinian methodology, Saunders provides a succinct glossary of essential terms
that matches up nicely with the general approach she spells out in her brief,
well-focused introduction. … Teachers seeking to shake up predictable
discussions of classic works will find Saunders’s interpretations immensely
useful and entertaining. This is not to suggest that Saunders is not a serious
scholar whose work contributes to literary scholarship. Quite the contrary, her
essays are carefully researched, articulate additions to American literary naturalism
that offer important insights into the evolutionary forces that inform literary
texts. … Readers will find American Classics: Evolutionary Perspectives
every bit as thought provoking as it is delightful.” —Paul Crumbley, Utah State
University, Studies in American Naturalism Vol. 13, No. 2
