After Franklin: The Emergence of Autobiography in Post-Revolutionary America, 1780 1830 (Becoming Modern: New Nineteenth-Century Studies (Paperback)) - Softcover

Arch, Stephen Carl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1584651326 ISBN 13: 9781584651321

Publisher: University Press of New England, 2001

Synopsis

Although much has been written about Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, other writers of what Stephen Arch calls "self-biographies" in post-revolutionary America have received scant scholarly attention. This rich variety of texts dramatically shows the complex nature of 19th-century concepts of identity. Arguing that "autobiography" is a modern invention, Arch shows its emergence in the older, conservative self-biographies of Alexander Graydon, Benjamin Rush, and Ethan Allen and in the newer, more progressive, and even radical self-biographies of K. White, Elizabeth Fisher, Stephen Burroughs, and John Fitch. Describing the evolution of a concept as elastic as "the self" is not easy, but Arch offers a unique and imaginative study of the emergence of a specifically modern American identity.

About this title

From the Publisher:

6 x 9 trim. LC 00-012126

From the Inside Flap:

“Clearly written and persuasive, this significant book sheds light on the contested nature of the emergence of 19th-century concepts of identity and will help to shape the growing field of literary studies of this era. Timely and necessary, it raises crucial issues about the formation of American selves.”—Brigitte Bailey, University of New Hampshire

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of New England
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1584651326
• ISBN 13: 9781584651321
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 255