Nathaniel Hawthorne: Tradition and Revolution

Charles Swann

ISBN 10: 052136552X / ISBN 13: 9780521365529

Published by Cambridge, New York, Port Chester, Melbourne & Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 1993

About this Item

Condition Notes: A little age-spotting to the edges of the text block. Vertical mark to the front lining paper, possibly binders error with over-gluing. The contents complete, clean and tight otherwise. Dust wrapper over Black boards with Gilt titles to the Spine) Physically 9¼" x 6¼" (1 kg); (ix) 284pp; Index; In the Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture series; 2nd printing, first published 1991. Number 52 in the series. ISBN: 052136552X || The book is on the shelf, ready to be appropriately packed, and posted from the pastoral paradise of Peasedown St. John, Bath, by a real bookseller in a real book shop - with my personal guarantee and beady eye on the Consumer Contracts Regulations. REMEMBER! Buying my copy means the book shop Jack Russells get their supper! My Book #193266 ||. Seller Inventory # 193266

Bibliographic Details

Title: Nathaniel Hawthorne: Tradition and Revolution

Publisher: Cambridge, New York, Port Chester, Melbourne & Sydney: Cambridge University Press

Publication Date: 1993

Binding: Hardback in Dust Wrapper.

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+

About this title

Synopsis:

This is the first analysis of the fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne and his perception of history. In his study, Charles Swann examines the whole of Hawthorne's literary career and gives proper weight to the unfinished work. Hawthorne saw history as a struggle between the authoritative claims of tradition on the one hand and the conflicting but equally valid claims of the desires for revolutionary transformation on the other. To evaluate Hawthorne's view of history, Swann provides close readings of such key shorter works as Alice Doane's Appeal and Main Street, as well as the most detailed analysis to date of the unfinished works The American Claimant Mss and The Elixir of Life Mss (two works which exemplify the temptations of tradition and the exhilaration of the revolutionary moment). This study asks us to explore how Hawthorne presents and interprets history through his fiction: for example, the history of crucial sins of the past (and the contemporary placing of such sins) in Alice Doane's Appeal, the problematic nature of the American Revolution in The Elixir of Life Mss, and the role of society in The Scarlet Letter. Swann's innovative study will be of interest to students and scholars of American literature, history, cultural studies, and literary criticism.

Book Description:

This is the first analysis of the fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne and his perception of history. It examines the whole of Hawthorne's literary career and gives proper weight to the unfinished work; encouraging the reader to explore how Hawthorne presents and interprets history through his fiction.