At Emerson's Tomb: The Politics of Classic American Literature

By John Carlos Rowe

Book Overview

Challenges the conventional critical reading of the American poetic project as an engagement with or reaction against Emersonian thought. Rowe demonstrates how ideals of individualism, intellectualism, and otherworldiness inevitably undermine any political effectiveness that a writer may seek to achieve.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231058950
• ISBN13: 9780231058957
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

More Than They Taught You in English Class

John Carlos Rowe takes a fascinating look at some of America's greatest literary minds and discusses their positions concerning the two major politcal movements of the 19th century: abolition and women's rights. Using Emerson as a starting point(hence the title), he details the writers' political comittment and efficacy.Authors discussed include Melville, Poe, Douglass, Whitman and Twain. This is a fascinating look at the writers, their times, and their politics.