In the early years of the nineteenth century, the burgeoning cultural pride of white Creoles in New Orleans intersected with America's golden age of print, to explosive effect. Imagining the Creole City reveals the profusion of literary output -- histories and novels, poetry and plays -- that white Creoles used to imagine themselves as a unified community of writers and readers.
Rien Fertel argues that Charles Gayarré's English-language histories of Louisiana, which emphasized the state's dual connection to America and to France, provided the foundation of a white Creole print culture predicated on Louisiana's exceptionalism. The writings of authors like Grace King, Adrien Rouquette, and Alfred Mercier consciously fostered an image of Louisiana as a particular social space, and of themselves as the true inheritors of its history and culture. In turn, the forging of this white Creole identity created a close-knit community of cosmopolitan Creole elites, who reviewed each other's books, attended the same salons, crusaded against the popular fiction of George Washington Cable, and worked together to preserve the French language in local and state governmental institutions. Together they reimagined the definition of "Creole" and used it as a marker of status and power.
By the end of this group's era of cultural prominence, Creole exceptionalism had become a cornerstone in the myth of Louisiana in general and of New Orleans in particular. In defining themselves, the authors in the white Creole print community also fashioned a literary identity that resonates even today.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Rien Fertel is a visiting professor of history at Tulane University.
"A delightful deconstruction of the self-image of the 'white' Creoles of New Orleans and their mythological city." --Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, author of Slavery and African Ethnicities in the Americas: Restoring the Links
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0807158232-2-1
Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0807158232-new
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Feb2416190213346
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0807158232
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0807158232
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # I-9780807158234
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # 0807158232
Book Description hardback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780807158234
Book Description HRD. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # IB-9780807158234
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0807158232