Our South : geographic fantasy and the rise of national literature / Jennifer Rae Greeson.

Author/creator Greeson, Jennifer Rae
Format Book
Publication InfoCambridge, Mass. ; London, England : Harvard University Press, 2010.
Descriptionx, 356 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Subjects
American literature--History and criticism.
American literature--Southern States. --History and criticism.
National characteristics, American, in literature.
Nationalism in literature.
Nationalism and literature--United States. --History.
Southern States--In literature.

Contents Introduction : magnet South -- Nationalization/The Plantation South -- The problem of the plantation -- Putting the colonial past in its place -- Domestic possession and the imperial impulse -- The enemy within -- Industrialization and expansion/The slave South -- Underwriting free labor and free soil -- American universal geography -- Dark satanic fields -- The masterwork of national literature -- The question of empire/The Reconstruction South -- Abandoned lands and exceptional empire -- The glory of disaster -- Internal islands and the American scene, 1898-1905.
Summary This work tracks the nation/South juxtaposition in US literature from the founding to the turn of the 20th century, through genres including travel writing, gothic and romance novels, geography textbooks, transcendentalist prose, and abolitionist address.
Local noteLittle-305131061916-
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
LCCN 2010019126
ISBN9780674024281 (hc : alk. paper)
ISBN0674024281 (alk. paper)