Discusses the use of satire by American novelists in terms of works dealing with American themes.

Excerpt from The Satirical Element in the American Novel: A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Satire being a compounding of three distinct elements, it follows that there will be great variation in what may properly be classed as satire. It may be decidedly indirect, where the criticism is merely implied in the situa tion; it may be less indirect, where the author puts the criticism into the mouth of one of his characters; or it may be still less indirect, where the author himself speaks ironically. In every case, however, there is insinua tion, rather than direct attack. Likewise with regard to the other two elements, wit and criticism, there may be wide variation. We must necessarily come upon some writing Which contains an infinitesimal amount of criticism, with a great deal of wit. Conversely, we shall find writing in which the criticism is strong, and the wit almost negligible. So long, however, as the three elements, wit, criticism, and indirectness of treatment, are present, we have satire, though it is often advisable to use, not the noun, but the adjective, and to say that the writing is satirical, or has a satirical quality. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Bonded Leather binding

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2014 In Poe and the Subversion of American Literature, Robert T. Tally Jr. argues that Edgar Allan Poe is best understood, not merely as a talented artist or canny magazinist, but primarily as a practical joker who employs satire and fantasy to poke fun at an emergent nationalist discourse circulating in the United States. Poe's satirical and fantastic mode, on display even in his apparently serious short stories and literary criticism, undermines the earnest attempts to establish a distinctively national literature in the nineteenth century. In retrospect, Poe's work also subtly subverts the tenets of an institutionalized American Studies in the twentieth century. Tally interprets Poe's life and works in light of his own social milieu and in relation to the disciplinary field of American literary studies, finding Poe to be neither the poète maudit of popular mythology nor the representative American writer revealed by recent scholarship. Rather, Poe is an untimely figure whose work ultimately makes a mockery of those who would seek to contain it. Drawing upon Gilles Deleuze's distinction between nomad thought and state philosophy, Tally argues that Poe's varied literary and critical writings represent an alternative to American literature. Through his satirical critique of U.S. national culture and his otherworldly projection of a postnational space of the imagination, Poe establishes a subterranean, nomadic, and altogether worldly literary practice.

Ranging from the laudatory to the openly hostile, 15 essays by prominent African American scholars and critics examine the novel's racist elements and assess the degree to which Twain's ironies succeed or fail to turn those elements into a satirical attack on racism. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR