Bad Land pastoralism in Great Plains fiction
By: Matthew J.C. Cella ; foreword by Wayne Franklin.
Contributors: Franklin, Wayne.
Series: American land and life series
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Iowa City
Language: eng
Number of pages: 416
ISBN-13: 9781587299056
Subjects: American fiction -- Great Plains -- History and criticism; Pastoral literature, American -- History and criticism; Place (Philosophy) in literature; Great Plains -- In literature
Description: How do historians represent the past? How do theatre historians represent performance events? The fifteen challenging essays in Representing the Past: Essays in Performance Historiography are unified by their investigations into how best to understand and then represent the past. These scholars of theatre history and performance studies offer insights into the abiding issues that all historians face in the task of representing human events and actions.

"Representing the Past is required reading for any serious scholar of theatre and performance historiography: original in its conception, global in its reach, thought-provoking and transformative in its effects."--Gay Gibson Cima, author, Early American Women Crities: Performance, Religion, Race.

"Unusually well conceived, this collection of essays by leading scholars in theatre studies exemplifies a back-to-the-basics approach that is as welcome as it is timely. We are reminded just how difficult it is to capture the most elusive of historical objects--a theatrical performance--but also that we must keep trying."--Martin Puchner, author, The Drama of Ideas: Platonic Provocations in Theater and Philosophy.

"This collection of essays will change the basic rules of theatre and performance historiography and establish some completely new ones. At the same time as it strengthens the bridges to the disciplines of general history and cultural history, it opens up many new venues and perspectives to the histories of the stage arts. It sets up the basic categories for performance historiography research and shows in depth how these categories can be applied. This book will become a central point of reference for students and teachers in the field for many years to come."--Freddie Rokem, author, Performing History: Theatrical Representations of the Past in Contemporary Theatre and Philosophers and Thespians: Thinking Performance --Book Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction:  Biocultural change and literary pastoralism in Great Plains fiction; title: 1. (Un)settling the Indian wilderness:  Tribal pastoralism in Cooper's "The Prairie" and Welch's "Fools crow"; title: 2. Pastoralism and enclosure:  Marriage and illegitimate children on the range-farm frontier in Eaton's "Cattle" and Richter's "Sea of grass"; title: 3. Harmonious fields and wild prairies:  Transcendental pastoralism in Willa Cather's Nebraska novels; title: 4. Patches of green and fields of dust:  Dust Bowl pastoralism in Olsen's "Yonnondio" and Manfred's "The golden bowl"; title: 5. Healing the wounds of history:  Buffalo commons pastoralism in Proulx's "That old ace in the hole" and King's "Truth and bright water"; title: Epilogue:  Pastoral art and the beautiful.