Title The clubwomen's daughters : collectivist impulses in Progressive-era girl's fiction, 1890-1940 / Gwen Athene Tarbox

Published New York : Garland Pub., 2000

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Description 1 online resource (x, 162 pages) : illustrations Series Garland studies in American popular history and culture Garland studies in American popular history and culture. Contents Braving "sarcasm and sneers": the development of the American clubwomen's movement -- "The power to set things going": the rise of the collectivist impulse in American girls' fiction -- "Impersonating their citizen brothers": the college heroine's rehearsal for public life -- Four girls at cottage city: spiritual collectivism in Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins' fiction for African-American girls -- "Mama! Come an' see the suffragists': progressive-era girls' outdoor fiction and the public display of the collectivist impulse -- The secret of the girl sleuth: the women's community as focal point in depression-era girls' fiction Summary During the nineteenth-century, American women discovered that they could gain access to traditionally-male spaces such as the college campus, the playing field, and the political Woman's Suffrage Organization, the National Colored Women's Association, and the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Eager to pass on this strategy to the next generation of young women, Progressive-era clubwomen authors created narratives that featured community-minded protagonists who worked alongside their peers to achieve empowerment and self-actualization. Chapters One and Two trace the development and aims of the clubwomen's movement and include an analysis of the movement based on issues of race and class. They describe the economic factors that led culturally conservative book publishers to put aside their personal beliefs concerning women's rights in order to cash in on the lucrative girls' fiction market, and they analyze the way that young girls used their purchasing power to demand fiction that mirrored their desires for peer interaction and for access to the public realm. Chapters Three through Six demonstrate that each successive wave of progressive-era girls' fiction--from the college novel in the 1910s to the scouting novel in the 1920s to the detective novel in the 1930s--features heroines who move further into the public realm and who gain increasing autonomy and self-esteem in the process. Finally, a comparison of the lives of young readers to those of their fictional counterparts demonstrates that girls' fiction had a significant impact on its intended audience, encouraging them to create or to join peer groups and to strive for success beyond the traditional occupations of housewife and mother. Authors discussed include Christina Catrevis, Jessie Graham Flower (psued. of Josephine Chase), Frances E.W. Harper, Emma Dunham Kelley, Irene Elliot Benson, Laura Lee Hope (psued. of Lilian Garis), Carolyn Keene (psued. of Mildred Wirt Benson), and Margaret Sutton Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-154) and index Notes Print version record Subject Children's stories, American -- History and criticism Girls in literature. Young adult fiction, American -- History and criticism Feminism and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century Literature and society -- United States -- History -- 20th century Women and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century Women authors, American -- Political and social views Girls -- Books and reading -- United States Feminist fiction -- History and criticism Collectivism -- United States -- History Community life in literature. Progressivism in literature. Clubs in literature. LITERARY CRITICISM -- American -- General. Children's stories, American Clubs in literature Collectivism Community life in literature Feminism and literature Feminist fiction Girls -- Books and reading Girls in literature Literature and society Progressivism in literature Women and literature Young adult fiction, American United States Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781317776024 131777602X 9781315804934 131580493X

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