form and history in american literary naturalism

Fine in fine dust jacket. "Form and History in American Literary Naturalism" by June Howard is a hardcover First Edition in Fine (VG++) condition, accompanied by a crisp Fine dust jacket. The covers are well-preserved, exhibiting only a hint of rubbing to the spine ends. The binding is square and tight. A tiny faint stain on the bottom edge of the text block is barely noticeable. Light abrasion is present on the front flyleaf. The interior pages are clean and unmarked. June Howard's study focuses on American literary naturalism as a genre by examining the novels of prominent writers such as Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, Jack London, and others. She defines naturalism as a way of imagining the world and the relationship of the self to the world, providing a narrative structure for the comforts and discomforts of its historical moment. Arguing for a redefinition of naturalism, Howard suggests that it accommodates the sense of perilousness, uncertainty, and disorder felt by many Americans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her work combines accepted definitions of naturalism with a close analysis of literary texts, constructing a new description of the genre based on thematic antinomies, patterns of characterization, and narrative strategies. Howard uses the concept of genre not as a prescriptive straitjacket but as a category that allows the perception of significant similarities and differences among literary works. She coordinates textual analysis with the history of literary and social forces, presenting naturalism as a dynamic solution to the problem of generating narrative from particular historical and cultural materials available to authors. If you have any further questions or would like to see more pictures of the book, please feel free to contact us. 207 pages.

Price: $24.49 from Alibris