Overview

Full Product Details

9780199375028

Table of Contents

Reviews

Lawson's book is therefore not just another addition to the project of the New Economic Criticism, but in fact a significant rewriting of literary history. Paul Crosthwaite, Peter Knight and Nicky Marsh, Years Work in Critical and Cultural Theory Downwardly Mobile is innovative in its approach, clearly and pleasingly written, and it will be of great interest not only to scholars of realism but, more generally, to those active in American literary and cultural studies. Amy Schrager Lang, author of The Syntax of Class: Writing Inequality in Nineteenth-Century America Downwardly Mobile is a strikingly original and erudite study: a significant accomplishment. Lawson's work represents one of the best instances I've seen of an emerging formation of scholarship that combines a variety of intellectual commitments that used to be thought incompatible: careful historicism (including local storytelling and big-picture analyses), loving attention to writerly style, respect for a greatly expanded canon, and easy interweaving of several strands of critical theory (Marxism/materialism, psychoanalysis, queer theory) without any intrusive terminology or apparatus. Nancy Glazener, author of Reading for Realism: The History of a U. S. Literary Institution, 1850-1910 Thoughtfully combines biography, economic history, and literary analysis to explore realism as a genre emerging from marketplace dislocations...Highly recommended. Choice Lawson's book reminds us of the crucial and fundamental questions that must be asked whenever we talk about realism. Review 19 [Lawson's] advanced argument is solidly supported, innovative, and valuable to those interested not only in American realism but in cultural materialism, history, and social and economic movements. Studies in American Naturalism Just as realist writers clarified the real, Lawson clarifies why realism emerged when it did. Like the IMF and its flowchart, or the realist novels themselves, Lawson helps us trace something - the origins of literary realism - that would otherwise remain obscure. The Journal of American Studies

Just as realist writers clarified the real, Lawson clarifies why realism emerged when it did. Like the IMF and its flowchart, or the realist novels themselves, Lawson helps us trace something - the origins of literary realism - that would otherwise remain obscure. * The Journal of American Studies * [Lawson's] advanced argument is solidly supported, innovative, and valuable to those interested not only in American realism but in cultural materialism, history, and social and economic movements. * Studies in American Naturalism * Lawson's book reminds us of the crucial and fundamental questions that must be asked whenever we talk about realism. * Review 19 * Thoughtfully combines biography, economic history, and literary analysis to explore realism as a genre emerging from marketplace dislocations...Highly recommended. * Choice * Downwardly Mobile is a strikingly original and erudite study: a significant accomplishment. Lawson's work represents one of the best instances I've seen of an emerging formation of scholarship that combines a variety of intellectual commitments that used to be thought incompatible: careful historicism (including local storytelling and big-picture analyses), loving attention to writerly style, respect for a greatly expanded canon, and easy interweaving of several strands of critical theory (Marxism/materialism, psychoanalysis, queer theory) without any intrusive terminology or apparatus. * Nancy Glazener, author of Reading for Realism: The History of a U. S. Literary Institution, 1850-1910 * Downwardly Mobile is innovative in its approach, clearly and pleasingly written, and it will be of great interest not only to scholars of realism but, more generally, to those active in American literary and cultural studies. * Amy Schrager Lang, author of The Syntax of Class: Writing Inequality in Nineteenth-Century America * Lawson's book is therefore not just another addition to the project of the New Economic Criticism, but in fact a significant rewriting of literary history. * Paul Crosthwaite, Peter Knight and Nicky Marsh, Years Work in Critical and Cultural Theory *

Downwardly Mobile is innovative in its approach, clearly and pleasingly written, and it will be of great interest not only to scholars of realism but, more generally, to those active in American literary and cultural studies. --Amy Schrager Lang, author of The Syntax of Class: Writing Inequalityin Nineteenth-Century America Downwardly Mobile is a strikingly original and erudite study: a significant accomplishment. Lawson's work represents one of the best instances I've seen of an emerging formation of scholarship that combines a variety of intellectual commitments that used to be thought incompatible: careful historicism (including local storytelling and big-picture analyses), loving attention to writerly style, respect for a greatly expanded canon, and easy interweaving of several strands of critical theory (Marxism/materialism, psychoanalysis, queer theory) without any intrusive terminology or apparatus. --Nancy Glazener, author of Reading for Realism: The History of a U. S. Literary Institution, 1850-1910 Thoughtfully combines biography, economic history, and literary analysis to explore realism as a genre emerging from marketplace dislocations...Highly recommended. --Choice Lawson's book reminds us of the crucial and fundamental questions that must be asked whenever we talk about realism. --Review 19 [Lawson's] advanced argument is solidly supported, innovative, and valuable to those interested not only in American realism but in cultural materialism, history, and social and economic movements. --Studies in American Naturalism Just as realist writers clarified the real, Lawson clarifies why realism emerged when it did. Like the IMF and its flowchart, or the realist novels themselves, Lawson helps us trace something -- the origins of literary realism -- that would otherwise remain obscure. --The Journal of AmericanStudies

Downwardly Mobile is innovative in its approach, clearly and pleasingly written, and it will be of great interest not only to scholars of realism but, more generally, to those active in American literary and cultural studies. Amy Schrager Lang, author of The Syntax of Class: Writing Inequality in Nineteenth-Century America Downwardly Mobile is a strikingly original and erudite study: a significant accomplishment. Lawson's work represents one of the best instances I've seen of an emerging formation of scholarship that combines a variety of intellectual commitments that used to be thought incompatible: careful historicism (including local storytelling and big-picture analyses), loving attention to writerly style, respect for a greatly expanded canon, and easy interweaving of several strands of critical theory (Marxism/materialism, psychoanalysis, queer theory) without any intrusive terminology or apparatus. Nancy Glazener, author of Reading for Realism: The History of a U. S. Literary Institution, 1850-1910 Thoughtfully combines biography, economic history, and literary analysis to explore realism as a genre emerging from marketplace dislocations...Highly recommended. Choice Lawson's book reminds us of the crucial and fundamental questions that must be asked whenever we talk about realism. Review 19 [Lawson's] advanced argument is solidly supported, innovative, and valuable to those interested not only in American realism but in cultural materialism, history, and social and economic movements. Studies in American Naturalism Just as realist writers clarified the real, Lawson clarifies why realism emerged when it did. Like the IMF and its flowchart, or the realist novels themselves, Lawson helps us trace something - the origins of literary realism - that would otherwise remain obscure. The Journal of American Studies

Author Information

Andrew Lawson is Lecturer in English at Leeds Metropolitan University. He is the author of Walt Whitman and the Class Struggle.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available