Synopses & Reviews
The Cambridge History of American Literature addresses the spectrum of new and established directions in American writing. An interdisciplinary distillation of American literary history, it weds the voice of traditional criticism with the diversity of interests that characterize contemporary literary studies. Volume 1 covers the colonial and early national periods, discussing authors ranging from Renaissance explorers to the poets and novelists of the new republic. It should prove an indispensable guide for scholars and students in the fields of English and American literatures and American history.
Review
"...not simply a new departure in the study of American literature. It makes an independent contribution to the intellectual history of the book." The Book"What truly distinguishes this volume from other major histories of American literature in this century is the impressive level of scholarly energy and critical innovation that is sustained consistently across all 700 pages of the text...the first volume of the Cambridge History contains the most substantial and sophisticated set of essays to be published together as a comprehensive history of early American literature..." William and Mary Quarterly"The first volume of the Cambridge History contains the most substantial and sophisticated series of essays to be put together as a comprehensive history of Early American Literature. Each of these essays will introduce even experienced readers to important authors and works and will undoubtedly provoke further exploration in every period. In addition, by insisting that conflict, resistance, and difference pervade every aspect of American discourse rather than just marking its boundaries, these essays destroy the myth of a monolithic American nationality conceived, as Bercovitch claims, as a 'rhetorical battleground.'" Michael P. Clark, William and Mary Quarterly"Literature claims a remarkable breadth in the Cambridge History, and the utmost importance in virtually every aspect of American culture....As a tool for rethinking our understanding of what America is and how it got that way, it seems...indispensable." Harvard Review"...by far the best there is....Other multi-authored literary histories exist to be consulted, but the first volume of the Cambridge History exists to be read with sustained interest." Larzer Ziff, Modern Language Quarterly"...unlike earlier 'totalizing or encyclopedic' histories, this collection provides a forum in which 'American literary history unfolds through a polyphony of large-scale narratives'...What truly distinguishes this volume from other major histories of American literature in this century is the impressive level of scholarly energy and critical innovation that is sustained consistently across all 700 pages of the text...the first volume of the Cambridge History contains the most substantial and sophisticated set of essays to be published together as a comprehensive history of early American literature...these essays destroy the myth of a monolithic dominant culture and locate the struggle of marginalized voices at the heart of an American nationality conceived, as Bercovitch claims, as 'a rhetorical battleground'(p. 3)". Michael P. Clark, William and Mary Quarterly"I am convinced that the story of how we came to occupy this position in the modern world resides in the margins of Bercovitch's federated histories of American literatures." Leonard Tennenhouse, Modern Language Quarterly"To read the book in a fairly short period of time is exhila rating...Challenging us to reconfigure how we have taught certain canonical texts and introducing us to scores of others that deserve the same consideration is an important achievement [of this book]...this volume of the Cambridge History whets our taste for the volumes to come and sets a high standard for those, including the general editor, still laboring in its behalf." Philip F. Gura, The New England Quarterly"...This first volume of a projected eight augurs well for the success of this long-anticipated series." Thomas Wortham, Nineteenth-Century Literature"Scholarship is incremental and the last twenty years has seen an explosion of knowledge. The Cambridge History reflects this exponential growth of the field." American Studies
Review
"...by far the best there is....Other multi-authored literary histories exist to be consulted, but the first volume of the Cambridge History exists to be read with sustained interest." Modern Language Quarterly"What truly distinguishes this volume from other major histories of American literature in this century is the impressive level of scholarly energy and critical innovation that is sustained consistently across all 700 pages of the text...the first volume of the Cambridge History contains the most substantial and sophisticated set of essays to be published together as a comprehensive history of early American literature..." William and Mary Quarterly"...a bold enterprise. It promises to be the history of the subject for our generation..." Times Higher Education Supplement"The Cambridge History of American Literature [...] is, without doubt and without any serious rival, THE scholarly history for our generation." --Journal of American Studies
Synopsis
The Cambridge History of American Literature addresses the spectrum of changing directions in American writing; volume I covers the colonial and early national periods, and will be an indispensable guide for scholars and advanced students.
Synopsis
This 1997 volume addresses the spectrum of new and established directions in American writing.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. The literature of colonisation Myra Jehlen; 2. New England puritan literature Emory Elliott; 3. British-American belles lettres David S. Shields; 4. The American enlightenment 1750-1820 Robert A. Ferguson; 5. The literature of the revolutionary and early national periods Michael T. Gilmore; Chronology; Bibliography; Index.