A thick and darksome veil
Subtitle: the rhetoric of Hawthorne's sketches, prefaces, and essays
By: Thomas R. Moore.
Publisher: Northeastern University Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 158
Subjects: Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864 -- Technique.; English language -- United States -- Rhetoric.; English language -- 19th century -- Rhetoric.
Description: Much has been written on Nathaniel Hawthorne's novels and tales, but his sketches, prefaces, and essays have been generally overlooked. Thomas R. Moore considers these lesser-known works to be the central battleground for Hawthorne's struggle to balance "the demands of his readership for a sentimental and nostalgic style and his own demands for a more truthful discourse and subject matter." This tension is a major concern of any publishing writer, but it was particularly relevant for the writers of the American Renaissance: Emerson eloquently distinguished between the "partial and noisy readers of the hour" and "an eternal public." As they sought to forge a literary tradition, American writers met with the artistic obstacle of the public preference for sentimental novels and stories of the past.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-151) and index.