Books speaking to books
Subtitle: a contextual approach to American fiction
By: by William T. Stafford.
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 1981
Place of publication: Chapel Hill
Language: eng
Number of pages: 165
Subjects: American fiction -- History and criticism.; Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
Description: "Stafford introduces the rich interpretive possibilities in a contextual analysis of literature. He finds in Moby Dick, The Wings of the Dove, and Absalom, Absalom! three symbolic Americas linked through images of whiteness that are collectively prophetic. Three novels of the 1920s (by Faulkner, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald) are linked by themes of innocence; three of the 1970s (by Bellows, Malamud, and Updike), by black-white pairs. His flexible method also examines film." --Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: listening.; title: A whale, an heiress, and a southern demigod: three symbolic Americas.; title: Benjy Compson, Jake Barnes, and Nick Carraway: replication in three "innocent" American narrators of the 1920s.; title: The obverse relation: some western flights eastward (in literature and film).; title: The black/white continuum: some recent examples in Bellow, Malamud, and Updike.; title: Three applications: Truth's ragged edges: Melville's loyalties in Billy Budd; title: the commitment of form in the digressions. "The birthplace": James's Fable for critics? Faulkner's revolt against the 1920s: parody and transcendence, continuation and innovation.; title: Afterword: Knower, doer, and sayer; title: the James family view of Emerson.