Presenting a literary history of American writing (from 1492 to 1820) and a concise social and cultural history, Emory Elliott traces the impact of race, gender, and ethnic conflict on early American culture. He explores the centrality of American Puritanism in the formation of a distinctively American literature. This highly comprehensive study is essential reading for students of the literature, history and culture of early America.

Elliott demonstrates how America's first men of letters--Timothy Dwight, Joel Barlow, Philip Freneau, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and Charles Brockden Brown--sought to make individual genius in literature express the collective genius of the American people. Without literary precedent to aid them, Elliott argues, these writers attempted to convey a vision of what America ought to be; and when the moral imperatives implicit in their writings were rejected by the vast number of their countrymen they became pioneers of another sort--the first to experience the alienation from mainstream American culture that would become the fate of nearly all serious writers who would follow.

One of the earliest American novels, Wieland (1798) is a thrilling tale of suspense and intrigue set in rural Pennyslvania in the 1760s. Based on an actual case of a New York farmer who murdered his family, the novel employs Gothic devices and sensational elements such as spontaneous combustion, ventriloquism, and religious fanaticism. The plot turns on the charming but diabolical intruder Carwin, who exercises his power over the narrator, Clara Wieland, and her family, destroying the order and authority of the small community in which they live. Underlying the mystery and horror, however, is a profound examination of the human mind's capacity for rational judgement. The text also explores some of the most important issues vital to the survival of democracy in the new American republic. Brown further considers power and manipulation in his unfinished sequel, Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist, which traces Carwin's career as a disciple of the utopist Ludloe. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Presenting a literary history of American writing (from 1492 to 1820) and a concise social and cultural history, Emory Elliott traces the impact of race, gender, and ethnic conflict on early American culture. He explores the centrality of American Puritanism in the formation of a distinctively American literature. This highly comprehensive study is essential reading for students of the literature, history and culture of early America.

The essays collected in this volume examine the multidisciplinary and multicultural nature of the subject of aesthetics. The contributed articles address the vexed relation of the arts and criticism to contemporary social, political, and cultural issues of ethnicity, race, class, and gender in the United States today. These essays aim to resolve some of the issues of the so-called "culture wars" by bridging the gap that has existed for two decades between scholars and critics who generally hold conflicting views of the purposes of art and criticism. Accordingly, this volume provides a serious assessment of aesthetic theory and practices within the arts and letters of our multicultural society.

You don't know about me, without you have read a book by the name of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," but that ain't no matter.
So begins, in characteristic fashion, one of the greatest American novels. Narrated by a poor, illiterate white boy living in America's deep South before the Civil War, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the story of Huck's escape from his brutal father and the relationship that grows between him and Jim, the slave who is fleeing from an even more brutal oppression. As they journey down the Mississippi their adventures address some of the most profound human conundrums: the prejudices of class, age, and colour are pitted against the qualities of hope, courage, and moral character.
Enormously influential in the development of American literature, Huckleberry Finn remains a controversial novel at the centre of impassioned critical debate. This edition discusses all the current issues and the evolution of Mark Twain's penetrating genius.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The essays collected in this volume examine the multidisciplinary and multicultural nature of the subject of aesthetics. The contributed articles address the vexed relation of the arts and criticism to contemporary social, political, and cultural issues of ethnicity, race, class, and gender in the United States today. These essays aim to resolve some of the issues of the so-called "culture wars" by bridging the gap that has existed for two decades between scholars and crtics who generally hold conflicting views of the purposes of art and criticism. Accordingly, this volume provides a serious assessment of aesthetic theory and practices within the arts and letters of our multicultural society.

The first history of America's major literary form offers new views of our literary history and a sophisticated examination of areas of fiction that have only recently begun to receive attention.