Beyond understanding : appeals to the imagination, passions, and will in mid-nineteenth-century American women's fiction / [electronic resource]
Henning, Martha L.,1948-
New York : Peter Lang,
c1996.
To appreciate how and why America's first best-sellers so gripped the American soul, current readers need to recapture the era's cognitive paradigm. In Beyond Understanding, Dr. Henning introduces us to the nineteenth-century mind, influenced, in large part, by eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher, theologian, and rhetorician, George Campbell. Reading "feminine fifties" works in light of Campbell's faculty psychology helps reveal why this fiction so inspired its original readers; further, acknowledging and reevaluating marginalized reading methods supports an expanding literary canon. Finally, revisiting Campbell's "philosophy of rhetoric" encourages current lovers of discourse to experience literature and life holistically - beyond understanding.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [185]-201) and index.

To appreciate how and why America's first best-sellers so gripped the American soul, current readers need to recapture the era's cognitive paradigm. In Beyond Understanding, Dr. Henning introduces us to the nineteenth-century mind, influenced, in large part, by eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher, theologian, and rhetorician, George Campbell. Reading "feminine fifties" works in light of Campbell's faculty psychology helps reveal why this fiction so inspired its original readers; further, acknowledging and reevaluating marginalized reading methods supports an expanding literary canon. Finally, revisiting Campbell's "philosophy of rhetoric" encourages current lovers of discourse to experience literature and life holistically - beyond understanding.
Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
Campbell, George, 1719-1796.
American fiction
Literature and society
Women and literature
American fiction
Individuality in literature.
Psychology and literature.
Imagination in literature.
Emotions in literature.
Narration (Rhetoric)
Self in literature.
Will in literature.
Narration (Rhetoric)
American fiction
Self in literature
Will in literature
Literature and society
Women and literature
American fiction
Narration (Rhetoric)
Individuality in literature
Psychology and literature
Imagination in literature
Emotions in literature