When Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in April of 1861, Walt Whitman declared it "the volcanic upheaval of the nation"--the bloody inception of a war that would dramatically alter the shape and character of American culture along with its political, racial, and social landscape. Prior to the war, America's leading writers had been integral to helping the young nation imagine itself, assert its beliefs, and realize its immense potential. When the Civil War erupted, it forced them to witness not only unimaginable human carnage on the battlefield, but also the disintegration of the foundational symbolic order they had helped to create. The war demanded new frameworks for understanding the world and new forms of communication that could engage with the immensity of the conflict. It fostered both social and cultural experimentation.
Now available in paperback, From Battlefields Rising explores the profound impact of the war on writers including Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, and Frederick Douglass. As the writers of the time grappled with the war's impact on the individual and the national psyche, their responses multiplied and transmuted. Whitman's poetry and prose, for example, was chastened and deepened by his years spent ministering to wounded soldiers; off the battlefield, the anguish of war would come to suffuse the austere, elliptical poems that Emily Dickinson was writing from afar; and Hawthorne was rendered silent by his reading of military reports and talks with soldiers. Calling into question every prior presumption and ideal, the war forever changed America's early idealism-and consequently its literature-into something far more ambivalent and raw.
An absorbing group portrait of the period's most important writers, From Battlefields Rising flashes with forgotten historical details and elegant new ideas. It alters previous perceptions about the evolution of American literature and how Americans have understood and expressed their common history.
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Randall Fuller is the Chapman Professor of English at the University of Tulsa.
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Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Hardback. Condition: Very Good. This book considers the effects of the American civil war on those who helped a young nation imagine itself, the writers and artists of the early to mid-nineteenth century. One of the war's many traumas was the pain of witnessing the disintegration of a symbolic order they had helped construct in previous decades. If Emerson, Whitman, Hawthorne and Melville grounded their writing on a coherent national myth, aimed at a familiar audience, the civil war challenged every prior presumption and called on the writers to confront novel exigencies with a suitable new style and form. Put another way, it forced them to engage anew with the language and symbols that had shaped America's previous conception of itself. As a result, poetry became more important for Emerson and Melville, while the prose form re-emerged in Whitman's undervalued Memoranda During the War. It energized the poetry of Emily Dickinson and seemed to silence Hawthorne, who could no longer organize romance amid the wartime reports he read and the military camps he visited.Fuller shows how the war shaped and influenced poetic language and narrative during a time of full scale national crisis. In so doing, his book takes up where very few literary historians have previously ventured. Seeking to change the way scholars and students read the late work of major writers such as Hawthorne, Emerson, Melville, and others, this study will challenge easy conclusions and earlier notions about the differences between ante- and postbellum writing. It uncovers a host of continuities extending from the 'Romantic' to the 'Realist' periods of American writing while also revealing previously unseen ruptures and tensions within the work of individual writers. It offers a literary history from the era that forever changed America's early idealism into something rawer - and something more American - that set the stage for a new model of literary social engagement and experimentation. Seller Inventory # 00099060334
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Hardback. Condition: Good. This book considers the effects of the American civil war on those who helped a young nation imagine itself, the writers and artists of the early to mid-nineteenth century. One of the war's many traumas was the pain of witnessing the disintegration of a symbolic order they had helped construct in previous decades. If Emerson, Whitman, Hawthorne and Melville grounded their writing on a coherent national myth, aimed at a familiar audience, the civil war challenged every prior presumption and called on the writers to confront novel exigencies with a suitable new style and form. Put another way, it forced them to engage anew with the language and symbols that had shaped America's previous conception of itself. As a result, poetry became more important for Emerson and Melville, while the prose form re-emerged in Whitman's undervalued Memoranda During the War. It energized the poetry of Emily Dickinson and seemed to silence Hawthorne, who could no longer organize romance amid the wartime reports he read and the military camps he visited.Fuller shows how the war shaped and influenced poetic language and narrative during a time of full scale national crisis. In so doing, his book takes up where very few literary historians have previously ventured. Seeking to change the way scholars and students read the late work of major writers such as Hawthorne, Emerson, Melville, and others, this study will challenge easy conclusions and earlier notions about the differences between ante- and postbellum writing. It uncovers a host of continuities extending from the 'Romantic' to the 'Realist' periods of American writing while also revealing previously unseen ruptures and tensions within the work of individual writers. It offers a literary history from the era that forever changed America's early idealism into something rawer - and something more American - that set the stage for a new model of literary social engagement and experimentation. Seller Inventory # 00099059368
Seller: BooksRun, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1. With dust jacket. It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting. Seller Inventory # 0195342305-11-6-29
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: As New. No Jacket. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0195342305I2N00
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Former library book; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0195342305I5N10
Seller: -OnTimeBooks-, Phoenix, AZ, U.S.A.
Condition: good. A copy that has been read, remains in good condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. The spine and cover show signs of wear. Pages can include notes and highlighting and show signs of wear, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels or previous owner inscriptions. 100% GUARANTEE! Shipped with delivery confirmation, if you're not satisfied with purchase please return item! Ships via media mail. Seller Inventory # OTV.0195342305.G
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Hardback. Condition: Good. This book considers the effects of the American civil war on those who helped a young nation imagine itself, the writers and artists of the early to mid-nineteenth century. One of the war's many traumas was the pain of witnessing the disintegration of a symbolic order they had helped construct in previous decades. If Emerson, Whitman, Hawthorne and Melville grounded their writing on a coherent national myth, aimed at a familiar audience, the civil war challenged every prior presumption and called on the writers to confront novel exigencies with a suitable new style and form. Put another way, it forced them to engage anew with the language and symbols that had shaped America's previous conception of itself. As a result, poetry became more important for Emerson and Melville, while the prose form re-emerged in Whitman's undervalued Memoranda During the War. It energized the poetry of Emily Dickinson and seemed to silence Hawthorne, who could no longer organize romance amid the wartime reports he read and the military camps he visited.Fuller shows how the war shaped and influenced poetic language and narrative during a time of full scale national crisis. In so doing, his book takes up where very few literary historians have previously ventured. Seeking to change the way scholars and students read the late work of major writers such as Hawthorne, Emerson, Melville, and others, this study will challenge easy conclusions and earlier notions about the differences between ante- and postbellum writing. It uncovers a host of continuities extending from the 'Romantic' to the 'Realist' periods of American writing while also revealing previously unseen ruptures and tensions within the work of individual writers. It offers a literary history from the era that forever changed America's early idealism into something rawer - and something more American - that set the stage for a new model of literary social engagement and experimentation. Seller Inventory # CIN0195342305G
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Hardback. Condition: Very Good. This book considers the effects of the American civil war on those who helped a young nation imagine itself, the writers and artists of the early to mid-nineteenth century. One of the war's many traumas was the pain of witnessing the disintegration of a symbolic order they had helped construct in previous decades. If Emerson, Whitman, Hawthorne and Melville grounded their writing on a coherent national myth, aimed at a familiar audience, the civil war challenged every prior presumption and called on the writers to confront novel exigencies with a suitable new style and form. Put another way, it forced them to engage anew with the language and symbols that had shaped America's previous conception of itself. As a result, poetry became more important for Emerson and Melville, while the prose form re-emerged in Whitman's undervalued Memoranda During the War. It energized the poetry of Emily Dickinson and seemed to silence Hawthorne, who could no longer organize romance amid the wartime reports he read and the military camps he visited.Fuller shows how the war shaped and influenced poetic language and narrative during a time of full scale national crisis. In so doing, his book takes up where very few literary historians have previously ventured. Seeking to change the way scholars and students read the late work of major writers such as Hawthorne, Emerson, Melville, and others, this study will challenge easy conclusions and earlier notions about the differences between ante- and postbellum writing. It uncovers a host of continuities extending from the 'Romantic' to the 'Realist' periods of American writing while also revealing previously unseen ruptures and tensions within the work of individual writers. It offers a literary history from the era that forever changed America's early idealism into something rawer - and something more American - that set the stage for a new model of literary social engagement and experimentation. Seller Inventory # CIN0195342305VG
Seller: Better World Books: West, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
Condition: Very Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 325698-20
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 4892369-6