The American Epic - Transforming a Genre, 1770 1860

McWilliams shows how and why the epic had to be transformed from imitative narrative poetry into new, open genres.

List of contents

Introduction; Part I. Imitations: Homer's Tyrannous Eye: 1. Invocations; 2. Freedom's heroes; 3. Freedom's fools; 4. A white achilles for the West?; Part II. Transformations: The Epic in New Genres: 5. Red Achilles, red Satan; 6. The destroying angel; 7. Till a better epic comes along; 8. 'An epic of democracy?'; Prospect; Notes; Index.

Summary

John McWilliams's 1990 book was the first thorough account of the many attempts to fashion an epic literature (the anxiously anticipated 'American Epic') from a wide range of potentially heroic New World subjects.

Product details

• Authors: John P. McWilliams, John P. Jr. McWilliams, Jr. John P. McWilliams, John P. McWilliams Jr
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 29.11.2011
• EAN: 9780521373227
• ISBN: 978-0-521-37322-7
• No. of pages: 296
• Dimensions: 157 mm x 235 mm x 22 mm
• Weight: 634 g
• Series: Cambridge Studies in American
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies