A question of character
Subtitle: scientific racism and the genres of American fiction, 1892-1912
By: Cathy Boeckmann.
Series: Studies in American literary realism and naturalism
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Tuscaloosa
Language: eng
Number of pages: 238
Subjects: American fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism; Racism in literature; American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism; Literature and science -- United States -- History; Characters and characteristics in literature; Racially mixed people in literature; Race discrimination in literature; Passing (Identity) in literature; African Americans in literature; Eugenics in literature; Literary form -- History -- 19th century; Literary form -- History -- 20th century
Description: "In A Question of Character, Cathy Boeckmann establishes a strong link between racial questions and the development of literary traditions at the end of the 19th century in America. This period saw the rise of "scientific racism," which claimed that the races were distinguished not solely by exterior appearance but also by a set of inherited character traits.

As Boeckmann explains, this emphasis on character meant that race was not only a thematic concern in the literature of the period but also a generic or formal one as well." "Boeckmann explores the intersections between race and literary history by tracing the language of character through both scientific and literary writing."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [227]-233) and index.
Table of contents: title: Acknowledgments; title: Introduction; title: Scientific racism, character, and American fiction; title: Thomas Dixon and the rhetorical mulatto; title: Pudd'nhead Wilson's phrenological photograph; title: Howells and Chesnutt: the racial uses of genre; title: Character and black art in The autobiography of an ex-Coloured man; title: Epilogue: race and representation; title: Notes; title: Works cited; title: Index.