Bokus
Christopher K. Coffman - Rewriting Early America, Inbunden

Inbunden, Engelska, 2018

Rewriting Early America

The Prenational Past in Postmodern Literature

Av Christopher K. Coffman

1384 kr

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Beskrivning
Recent poems and fictions set in the early Americas are typically read as affirmations of cultural norms, as evidence of the impossibility of genuine engagement with the historical past, or as contentious repudiations of received histories. Inspired particularly by Mihai Spariosu’s arguments regarding literary playfulness as an opening to peace, Rewriting Early America: The Prenational Past in Postmodern Literature adopts a different perspective, with the goal of demonstrating that many recent literary texts undertake more constructive and hopeful projects with regard to the American past than critics usually recognize. While honoring writers' pervasive critiques of hegemony, this volume trades a preoccupation with antagonism for an interest in restoration and recuperation. It describes how texts by John Barth, John Berryman, Susan Howe, Toni Morrison, Paul Muldoon, Thomas Pynchon, and William T. Vollmann harness the ambiguities of the colonial past to find sociocultural possibilities that operate beyond the workings of power and outside the politics of difference. Throughout, this book remains devoted to uncovering the moments at which contemporary writers proffer visions of American communities defined not by marginalization and oppression, but by responsive understanding and inclusion.
Produktinformation
  • Utgivningsdatum: 2018-11-27
  • Mått: 159 x 239 x 20 mm
  • Vikt: 413 g
  • Format: Inbunden
  • Språk: Engelska
  • Antal sidor: 186
  • Förlag: Associated University Presses
  • ISBN: 9781611462555
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Mer om författaren

Christopher K. Coffman is senior lecturer in humanities at Boston University.

Recensioner i media

Postmodernist literature has typically been viewed as lacking the ability to engage productively with the past. Theorists, Fredric Jameson among them, have seen postmodernist literature as nostalgic and marked by pastiche. Now Coffman argues for a revised understanding of the postmodernist project, an understanding of it as presenting a 'more reparative' historical interaction that accounts for previous blind spots with regard to American literary historiography. Coffman shows how selected authors—John Berryman, John Barth, Paul Muldoon, Thomas Pynchon, William T. Vollmann, Susan Howe, Toni Morrison—look back to early American history to address contemporary concerns. Throughout, Coffman makes his case with erudition and sensitivity to ongoing debates in the field about inclusivity in the cultural life of the US. One of the nice surprises for this reviewer was finding an Irish writer studied alongside American contemporaries, an inclusion that provides a unique perspective. . . . [A] welcome addition to the literature. Summing Up: Highly recommended.

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