Inaugurates a new field of disability studies by framing disability as a minority discourse rather than a medical one, revising oppressive narratives and revealing liberatory ones. The book examines disabled figures in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Rebecca Harding Davis's Life in the...

Inaugurates a new field of disability studies by framing disability as a minority discourse rather than a medical one, revising oppressive narratives and revealing liberatory ones. The book examines disabled figures in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Rebecca Harding Davis's Life in the Iron Mills, in African-American novels by Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde, and in the popular cultural ritual of the freak show.

This volume explores the lives and works of nine Northern women who wrote during the Civil War period, examining the ways in which, through their writing, they engaged in the national debates of the time. Lyde Sizer shows that from the 1850 publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin through Reconstruction...

This volume explores the lives and works of nine Northern women who wrote during the Civil War period, examining the ways in which, through their writing, they engaged in the national debates of the time. Lyde Sizer shows that from the 1850 publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin through Reconstruction, these women, as well as a larger mosaic of lesser-known writers, used their mainstream writings publicly to make sense of war, womanhood, Union, slavery, republicanism, heroism, and death.

Among the authors discussed are Lydia Maria Child, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sara Willis Parton (Fanny Fern), Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, Mary Abigail Dodge (Gail Hamilton), Louisa May Alcott, Rebecca Harding Davis, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Although direct political or partisan power was denied to women, these writers actively participated in discussions of national issues through their sentimental novels, short stories, essays, poetry, and letters to the editor.

Sizer pays close attention to how these mostly middle-class women attempted to create a "rhetoric of unity, " giving common purpose to women despite differences in class, race, and politics. This theme of unity was ultimately deployed to establish a white middle-class standard of womanhood, meant to exclude as well as include.

Although they wrote in the same historical milieu as their male counterparts, women writers of the 19th- and early 20th-centuries have generally been "ghettoized" by critics into a separate canonical sphere. These original essays argue in favor of reconciling male and female writers, both...

Although they wrote in the same historical milieu as their male counterparts, women writers of the 19th- and early 20th-centuries have generally been "ghettoized" by critics into a separate canonical sphere. These original essays argue in favor of reconciling male and female writers, both historically and in the context of classroom teaching.

While some of the essays pair up female and male authors who write in a similar style or with similar concerns, others address social issues shared by both men and women, including class tensions, economic problems, and the Civil War experience. Rather than privileging particular genres or certain well-known writers, the contributors examine writings ranging from novels and poetry to autobiography, utopian fiction, and essays. And they consider familiar figures like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Emily Dickinson, and Ralph Waldo Emerson alongside such lesser-known writers as Melusina Fay Peirce, Susie King Taylor, and Mary Gove Nichols.

Each essay revises the binary notions that have been ascribed to males and females, such as public and private, rational and intuitive, political and domestic, violent and passive. Although they do not deny the existence of separate spheres, the contributors show the boundary between them to be much more blurred than has been assumed until now.

This unique collection of primary documents examines the evolution of concern about environmental degradation, pollution, and resource conservation in America from the colonial period to the end of the twentieth century. These documents, ranging from government reports and court cases to the...

This unique collection of primary documents examines the evolution of concern about environmental degradation, pollution, and resource conservation in America from the colonial period to the end of the twentieth century. These documents, ranging from government reports and court cases to the writings of naturalists, economists, and novelists, offer a broad array of perspectives about such major environmental issues as population growth, air pollution, land and water use, toxins and waste disposal, and the use of timber and mining resources. The historical introductions to each part and to each document provide a context for analyzing each document and will aid readers of the book to better understand the various debates over how, why and if our environment needs to be protected. Students and other interested in environmental problems are encouraged to consider all sides of these complex issues before drawing their own conclusions.

This reference includes alphabetically arranged biographical and critical entries for more than 120 American Realistic and Naturalistic novelists, including Henry Adams, Sherwood Anderson, Saul Bellow, Theodore Dreiser, Sinclair Lewis, and Jack London. Each entry includes basic biographical...

This reference includes alphabetically arranged biographical and critical entries for more than 120 American Realistic and Naturalistic novelists, including Henry Adams, Sherwood Anderson, Saul Bellow, Theodore Dreiser, Sinclair Lewis, and Jack London. Each entry includes basic biographical information and a narrative overview of the writer's educational background, professional career, and published works. These works are briefly discussed to show how they fit within the Realistic and Naturalistic traditions.

As the American literary canon has undergone revision and expansion in recent years, the influence of women writers of the nineteenth century has been reevaluated. The first book of its kind, this reference provides alphabetically arranged entries for more than 70 nineteenth-century American women...

As the American literary canon has undergone revision and expansion in recent years, the influence of women writers of the nineteenth century has been reevaluated. The first book of its kind, this reference provides alphabetically arranged entries for more than 70 nineteenth-century American women writers, such as Louisa May Alcott, Margaret Fuller, Emma Lazarus, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and includes a biography, a discussion of the author's major works and themes, an overview of the critical studies examining the writer's works, and a bibliography of works for further consultation.

Whether for browsing or research, readers will reap rewards from this entertaining and enlightening compendium of the persons, events, institutions, and ideas of the era. Gale focuses on writers and their works, but also represented in the 500 entries are painters and politicians, social workers and...

Whether for browsing or research, readers will reap rewards from this entertaining and enlightening compendium of the persons, events, institutions, and ideas of the era. Gale focuses on writers and their works, but also represented in the 500 entries are painters and politicians, social workers and industrialists, composers and inventors, explorers and evangelists; topics like crime, immigration, medicine, motion pictures, sports, and universities; and landmark events like the Panic of 1893, the Spanish-American War, and the World's Columbian Exposition. Fully cross-referenced and indexed, the dictionary also includes a chronology and a bibliography.