Truth Stranger Than Fiction: Race, Realism, And The U.s. Literary Marketplace
by Augusta Rohrbach /
2002 / English / PDF
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Augusta Rohrbach broadens our understanding of the American
literary tradition by showing how African American literature and
culture greatly influenced the development of realism. Rohrbach
traces the influences of the slave narratives—such as the use of
authenticating details, as well as dialect, and a frank treatment
of the human body—in writings by Howells, Wharton, and others,
and explores questions about the shifting relationship between
literature and culture in the US from 1830-1930. Beginning with
the question, “How might slave narratives—heralded as the first
indigenous literature by Theodore Parker—have influenced the
development of American Literature?” Rohrbach develops
connections between an emerging literary marketplace, the rise of
the professional writer, and literary realism.
Augusta Rohrbach broadens our understanding of the American
literary tradition by showing how African American literature and
culture greatly influenced the development of realism. Rohrbach
traces the influences of the slave narratives—such as the use of
authenticating details, as well as dialect, and a frank treatment
of the human body—in writings by Howells, Wharton, and others,
and explores questions about the shifting relationship between
literature and culture in the US from 1830-1930. Beginning with
the question, “How might slave narratives—heralded as the first
indigenous literature by Theodore Parker—have influenced the
development of American Literature?” Rohrbach develops
connections between an emerging literary marketplace, the rise of
the professional writer, and literary realism.