Title Bodies of reform : the rhetoric of character in Gilded Age America / James B. Salazar

Published New York : New York University Press, ©2010

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Description 1 online resource (x, 300 pages) : illustrations Series America and the long 19th century America and the long 19th century. Contents Introduction: the grandest thing in the world -- Philanthropic taste: race and character in Herman Melville's The confidence-man -- Character is capital: manufacturing habit in Mark Twain's character-factory -- Muscle memory: building the body politic of character in Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The National Police Gazette -- A story written on her face: Pauline Hopkins's unmaking of the inherited character of race -- Character's conduct: spaces of interethnic emulation in Jane Addams's charitable effort Summary Bodies of reform reconceives this pivotal category of nineteenth-century literature and culture by charting the development of the concept of "character" in the fictional genres, social reform movements, and political cultures of the United States from the mid 19th to the early 20th century. By reading novelists such as Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Pauline Hopkins, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman alongside a diverse collection of texts concerned with the mission of building character, including child-rearing guides, muscle-building magazines, libel and naturalization law, Scout handbooks, and success manuals, James B. Salazar uncovers how the cultural practices of representing character operated in tandem with the character-building strategies of social reformers. He offers a radical revision of this defining category in U.S. literature and culture, arguing that character was the keystone of a cultural politics of embodiment, a politics that played a critical role in determining - and contesting - the social mobility, political authority, and cultural meaning of the raced and gendered body. -- from back cover Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes English Print version record Subject American fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism Character in literature. Characters and characteristics in literature. National characteristics, American, in literature. Character -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 19th century Rhetoric -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 19th century Political culture -- United States -- History -- 19th century Politics and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th century LITERARY CRITICISM -- European -- English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh. American fiction Character in literature Characters and characteristics in literature National characteristics, American, in literature Political culture Politics and literature Rhetoric -- Political aspects Nationalcharakter -- amerikanischer -- Geschichte 19. Jh. Rhetorik -- amerikanische -- Geschichte 19. Jh. Nationalcharakter -- Motiv -- Literatur -- USA. Gesellschaft -- Motiv -- Literatur -- USA. Politik -- Motiv -- Literatur -- USA. Literatur -- USA -- Motiv -- Nationalcharakter. Literatur -- USA -- Motiv -- Gesellschaft. Literatur -- USA -- Motiv -- Politik. United States Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. History Form Electronic book LC no. 2010019202 ISBN 9780814741320 0814741320 0814741304 9780814741306 0814741312 9780814741313 9780814786536 0814786537

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