Revolution and the Word: Rise of the Novel in America - Hardcover

Davidson, Cathy N.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195041089 ISBN 13: 9780195041088

Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, 1987

Synopsis

Revolution and the Word offers a unique perspective on the origins of American fiction, looking not only at the early novels themselves but at the people who produced them, sold them, and read them. It shows how, in the aftermath of the American Revolution, the novel found a special place among the least privileged citizens of the new republic. As Cathy N. Davidson explains, early American novels--most of them now long forgotten--were a primary means by which those who bought and read them, especially women and the lower classes, moved into the higher levels of literacy required by a democracy. This very fact, Davidson shows, also made these people less amenable to the control of the gentry who, naturally enough, derided fiction as a potentially subversive genre. Combining rigorous historical methods with the newest insights of literacy theory, Davidson brilliantly reconstructs the complex interplay of politics, ideology, economics, and other social forces that governed the way novels were written, published, distributed, and understood. Davidson also shows, in almost tactile detail, how many Americans lived during the Constitutional era. She depicts the life of the traveling book peddler, the harsh lot of the printer, the shortcomings of early American schools, the ambiguous politics of novelists like Brackenridge and Tyler, and the lost lives of ordinary women like Tabitha Tenney and Patty Rogers. Drawing on a vast body of material--the novels themselves as well as reviews, inscriptions in cherished books, letters and diaries, and many other records--Davidson presents the genesis of American literature in its fullest possible context.

About this title

Review

Praise for the previous edition: "Drawing on recent work in social history, post-structuralist literary theory and feminist studies, [Davidson] argues persuasively that the genesis of American fiction was an integral part of a widespread crisis of authority in early modern America.... A wonderful book."--The Nation"A fascinating and groundbreaking book."--Philadelphia Inquirer"Revolution and the Word--sophisticated, comprehensive and imaginative--charts this wilderness birthplace of American fiction and updates our notion of literary criticism in the process.... As remarkable for its methods as for its message."--San Francisco Chronicle"An engaging combination of information and analysis, Davidson's book on the production and readers of the early novel will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of the novel, of reading, or of American literature."--Library Journal Praise for the previous edition: "Drawing on recent work in social history, post-structuralist literary theory and feminist studies, [Davidson] argues persuasively that the genesis of American fiction was an integral part of a widespread crisis of authority in early modern America.... A wonderful book."--The Nation "A fascinating and groundbreaking book."--Philadelphia Inquirer "Revolution and the Word--sophisticated, comprehensive and imaginative--charts this wilderness birthplace of American fiction and updates our notion of literary criticism in the process.... As remarkable for its methods as for its message."--San Francisco Chronicle "An engaging combination of information and analysis, Davidson's book on the production and readers of the early novel will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of the novel, of reading, or of American literature."--Library Journal Praise for the previous edition: "Drawing on recent work in social history, post-structuralist literary theory and feminist studies, [Davidson] argues persuasively that the genesis of American fiction was an integral part of a widespread crisis of authority in early modern America.... A wonderful book."--The Nation "A fascinating and groundbreaking book."--Philadelphia Inquirer "Revolution and the Word--sophisticated, comprehensive and imaginative--charts this wilderness birthplace of American fiction and updates our notion of literary criticism in the process.... As remarkable for its methods as for its message."--San Francisco Chronicle "An engaging combination of information and analysis, Davidson's book on the production and readers of the early novel will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of the novel, of reading, or of American literature."--Library Journal Praise for the previous edition: "Drawing on recent work in social history, post-structuralist literary theory and feminist studies, [Davidson] argues persuasively that the genesis of American fiction was an integral part of a widespread crisis of authority in early modern America.... A wonderfulbook."--The Nation"A fascinating and groundbreaking book."--Philadelphia Inquirer"Revolution and the Word--sophisticated, comprehensive and imaginative--charts this wilderness birthplace of American fiction and updates our notion of literary criticism in the process.... As remarkable for its methods as for its message."--San Francisco Chronicle"An engaging combination of information and analysis, Davidson's book on the production and readers of the early novel will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of the novel, of reading, or of American literature."--Library Journal

About the Author

Cathy N. Davidson is Vice Provost of Interdisciplinary Studies and Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of English at Duke University. She is co-founder of the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University, a past president of the American Studies Association, and a past editor of the journal American Literature.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195041089
• ISBN 13: 9780195041088
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336