In Russia and America a perceived absence of literature gave rise to grandiose notions of literature's importance. This book examines how two traditions worked to refigure cultural lack, not by disputing it but by insisting on it, by representing the nation's (putative) cultural deficit as a moral and aesthetic advantage. Through a comparative study of Gogol and Hawthorne, this book examines parallels that seem particularly striking when we consider that these traditions had virtually no points of contact. Yet the ...
Read More
In Russia and America a perceived absence of literature gave rise to grandiose notions of literature's importance. This book examines how two traditions worked to refigure cultural lack, not by disputing it but by insisting on it, by representing the nation's (putative) cultural deficit as a moral and aesthetic advantage. Through a comparative study of Gogol and Hawthorne, this book examines parallels that seem particularly striking when we consider that these traditions had virtually no points of contact. Yet the unexpected parallels between these authors are the result of historical similarities: Russians and Americans felt obliged to develop a manifestly national literature ex nihilo, and to do so in an age when an unprecedented diversity of printed texts were circulating among an ever more heterogeneous reading public. Responding to these conditions, Gogol and Hawthorne articulated ideas that would prove influential for their nations' literary development: that is, despite the culture's thinness and deviation from European norms, it would soon produce works that would surpass European literature in significance.
Read Less
Add this copy of Thin Culture, High Art: Gogol, Hawthorne, and to cart. $46.95, very good condition, Sold by Sequitur Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Boonsboro, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Harvard University Press.
Edition:
2007, Harvard University Department of Comparative Literature
Publisher:
Harvard University Department of Comparative Literature
Published:
02/2007
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
16932533377
Shipping Options:
Standard Shipping: $4.45
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very Good. Size: 7x4x1; Bound in red cloth. Hardcover. No dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Shelf wear. Clean, unmarked pages. "This interesting study of Gogol and Hawthorne points out the similarities in the works, ideas, and careers of the two authors. Lounsbery's book, as the first major comparison of the works, ideas, and careers of one of America's and one of Russia's most original nineteenth-century writers, is one of great importance to Gogol and Hawthorne specialists, as well as scholars of comparative literature."-Maya Zeigler, Slavic and East European Journal.
Add this copy of Thin Culture, High Art: Gogol, Hawthorne, and to cart. $89.17, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Harvard University Department.
Edition:
2007, Harvard University Department of Comparative Literature
