Constructing Mark Twain: New Directions in ScholarshipMichael J. Kiskis, Laura E. Skandera-Trombley University of Missouri Press, 2001 - 252 pages The thirteen essays in this collection combine to offer a complex and deeply nuanced picture of Samuel Clemens. With the purpose of straying from the usual notions of Clemens (most notably the Clemens/Twain split that has ruled Twain scholarship for over thirty years), the editors have assembled contributions from a wide range of Twain scholars. As a whole, the collection argues that it is time we approach Clemens not as a shadow behind the literary persona but as a complex and intricate creator of stories, a creator who is deeply embedded in the political events of his time and who used a mix of literary, social, and personal experience to fuel the movements of his pen. The essays illuminate Clemens's connections with people and events not usually given the spotlight and introduce us to Clemens as a man deeply embroiled in the process of making literary gold out of everyday experiences. From Clemens's wonderings on race and identity to his looking to family and domesticity as defining experiences, from musings on the language that Clemens used so effectively to consideration of the images and processes of composition, these essays challenge long-held notions of why Clemens was so successful and so influential a writer. While that search itself is not new, the varied approaches within this collection highlight markedly inventive ways of reading the life and work of Samuel Clemens. |
From inside the book
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... enough not to celebrate (at least not too loudly) when I am wrong. I am a better reader and writer and teacher and person because of you. Constructing Mark Twain Introduction LAURA E. SKANDERA TROMBLEY AND MICHAEL ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
... readers and critics, his reputation has not suffered the typical dark corners that speckle the literary stage—the ... reader; "everybody," he wrote, "likes water."2 As we have moved through the twentieth century, critics have, in fact ...
... readers. They too, demanded Clemens, must participate in the dialogue. In all, Clemens was both a participant in and an instigator of the dialogue that is recognized as American culture. His novels, stories, travel writings, essays ...
... readers with more than " soci- olinguistic verisimilitude , " and exchanges about dialect are by their nature " politically charged . " Ann Ryan takes issue with critics and popular culture in her essay , " Black Genes and White Lies ...
... readers also has a claim, and the criticism published today will shape public perceptions. The symbiosis between reader and critic has always played a role in the public conception of Clemens-Twain. How will future readers come to know ...
Contents
13 | |
28 | |
To his preferred friends he revealed his true character | 50 |
Mark Twains Mechanical Marvels | 72 |
Steamboats Cocaine and Paper Money | 87 |
Mark Twain Isabel Lyon and the Talking Cure | 101 |
The Minstrel and the Detective | 122 |
Huck Jim and the BlackandWhite Fallacy | 139 |
Black Genes and White Lies | 169 |
Mark Twain in Large and Small | 191 |
Who Killed Mark Twain? Long Live Samuel Clemens | 218 |
CONTRIBUTORS | 239 |