American Classics

Evolutionary Perspectives

Judith P. Saunders (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

302 Seiten

2018
Academic Studies Press (Verlag)
978-1-61811-766-3 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

Examines selected works in the American literary tradition from an evolutionary perspective. Using an interdisciplinary framework to pose new questions about long admired, much discussed texts, the collection as a whole provides an introduction to Darwinian literary critical methodology.

This collection of essays examines selected works in the American literary tradition from an evolutionary perspective. Using an interdisciplinary framework to pose new questions about long admired, much discussed texts, the collection as a whole provides an introduction to Darwinian literary critical methodology. Individual essays feature a variety of figures—Benjamin Franklin to Billy Collins—targeting fitness-related issues ranging from sexual strategies and parental investment to cheating and deception. Attention is paid to the physical and social environments in which fictional characters are placed, including the influence of cultural–historical conditions on resource acquisition, status-building, competition, and reciprocity. The discussion throughout the volume makes connections to existing secondary comments, suggesting how Darwinian scrutiny can generate unexpected insight into long familiar works.

Judith P. Saunders is Professor of English at Marist College in New York State. She is the author of The Poetry of Charles Tomlinson: Border Lines and Reading Edith Wharton through a Darwinian Lens: Evolutionary Biological Issues in Her Fiction.

Introduction
1.The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: The Story of a Successful Social Animal
2 Nepotism in Hawthorne’s “My Kinsman, Major Molineux”
3 Biophilia in Thoreau’sWalden
4 Bateman’s Principle in “Song of Myself”: Whitman Celebrates Male Ardency
5 Maladaptive Behavior and Auctorial Design: Huck Finn’s Pap
6 Hell’s Fury: Female Mate-Retention Strategies in Wharton’s “Pomegranate Seed
andEthan Frome
7 Male Reproductive Strategies in Sherwood Anderson’s “The Untold Lie”
8.The Great Gatsby: An Unusual Case of Mate-Poaching
9 Female Sexual Strategies in the Poetry of Edna St
Vincent Millay
10 Philosophy and Fitness: Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and The Sun Also Rises
11 Paternal Confidence in Zora Neale Hurston’s “The Gilded Six-Bits”
12 The Role of the Arts in Male Courtship Display: Billy Collins’s “Serenade”
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	29.06.2018
Reihe/Serie	Evolution, Cognition, and the Arts
Zusatzinfo	Illustrations
Verlagsort	Brighton
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 234 mm
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Anthologien
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
ISBN-10	1-61811-766-1 / 1618117661
ISBN-13	978-1-61811-766-3 / 9781618117663
Zustand	Neuware