The Color of Democracy in Women's Regional WritingAn exciting addition to the ongoing debate about the place of regionalism in American literary history. American regionalism has become a contested subject in literary studies alongside the ubiquitous triad of race, class, and gender. The Color of Democracy in Women's Regional Writing enters into the heart of an ongoing debate in the field about the significance of regional fiction at the end of the 19th century. Jean Griffith presents the innovative view that regional writing provided Edith Wharton, Ellen Glasgow, and Willa Cather with the means to explore social transformation in a form of fiction already closely associated with women readers and writers. Griffith provides new readings of texts by these authors; she places them alongside the works of their contemporaries, including William Faulkner and Langston Hughes, to show regionalism's responses to the debate over who was capable of democratic participation and reading regionalism's changing mediations between natives and strangers as reflections of the changing face of democracy. This insightful work enriches the current debate about whether regionalism critiques hierarchies or participates in nationalist and racist agendas and will be of great interest to those invested in regional writing or the works of these significant authors. |
Contents
Writing Region in the New Century | 1 |
Is New York Such a Labyrinth? Street Life and Amalgamation in Whartons and Glasgows City | 19 |
Virginia Is Not Dead but Sleepeth Segregation and the Family Black and White in Glasgows and Cathers South | 71 |
Fortunate Country Old Immigrants and New Women in Cathers and Whartons West | 129 |
Notes | 183 |
| 201 | |
| 213 | |
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Common terms and phrases
African Americans Alexandra Anglo Anglo—Saxon Antonia argued associated Beaufort black and white cabarets characters Chesnutt’s cited parenthetically citizenship city’s color culture dance defined democracy democratic despite Dorinda Edith Wharton elite Ellen Ellen Glasgow ethnic eugenicists European family black fiction figure find first fixed Gabriella gender genteel Glasgow Harlem Harlem Renaissance hired girls husband immigrants influence interracial jazz Jim’s lack Lily Lily’s Lita Lita’s marriage Marrow of Tradition Michael miscegenation mother Nancy Nancy’s narrator nation native Negro Nick Nick’s Nigger Nigger Heaven Nordic novel O’Hara ofher ofhis ofthe Old New York one’s Parry past Pauline Pauline’s pioneers political race racial reflect Regina regional relationship role Rosedale Rosedale’s Sapphira segregation servant sexual Shimerdas slavery slaves Slavs social society South status Stoddard Subsequent references tells tion turn—of—the—century Twilight Sleep Undine Vechten’s Virginia West western Wharton white American white women Willa Cather woman working—class writing York’s Yorkers