The literature of Reconstruction : not in plain black and white

Resource Information

The work The literature of Reconstruction : not in plain black and white represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Bowdoin College Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

The literature of Reconstruction : not in plain black and white

Title remainder

not in plain black and white

Statement of responsibility

Brook Thomas

Creator

• Thomas, Brook, 1947-

Author

• Thomas, Brook, 1947-

Subject

• American literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism
• Criticism, interpretation, etc
• HISTORY -- United States -- 19th Century
• HISTORY -- United States -- Civil War Period (1850-1877)
• History
• LITERARY CRITICISM -- American | General
• Literature and society
• Literature and society -- United States -- History -- 19th century
• 1800-1899
• Politics and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th century
• Race relations in literature
• Race relations in literature
• SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Discrimination & Race Relations
• United States
• Politics and literature
• American literature

Genre

• History
• Criticism, interpretation, etc

Language

eng

Summary

"In this groundbreaking new study, author Brook Thomas argues that literary analysis can enhance our historical understanding of race and Reconstruction. The standard view that Reconstruction ended with the Compromise of 1877 is a retrospective construction. Works of literature provide the perspective of those who continued to see possibilities for its renewal well past 1877. Historians have long tried to reconcile social history's emphasis on the local with political history's emphasis on the national. Literature creates national political allegories while focusing on events in a particular locale. Moreover, the debate over Reconstruction was a debate about state legitimacy as well as specific laws. It was a question of foundational myths as well as foundational legal principles. Literature's political allegories allow us to recreate those debates rather than view the end of Reconstruction as a foregone conclusion. Because many of the issues raised by Reconstruction remain unresolved, those debates continue into the present. Chapters treat how the racial issues raised by Reconstruction are interwoven with debates over state v. national authority, efforts to combat terrorism (the KKK), the paternalism of welfare, economic expansion, and the question of who should rightly inherit the nation's past. Thomas examines authors who opposed Reconstruction, authors who supported it, and authors who struggled with mixed feelings. This exciting text will set the standard in literary historical studies for decades to come"--

Assigning source

Provided by publisher

Cataloging source

DLC

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography