| The Personal and the Political in American Working-Class Literature, 1850-1939: Defining the Radical Romance Contributor(s): Cella, Laurie J. C. (Author) |
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ISBN: 149858120X ISBN-13: 9781498581202 Publisher: Lexington Books OUR PRICE: $103.95 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: September 2019 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Subjects & Themes - Women - History | United States - 19th Century - Literary Criticism | American - General |
| Dewey: 813.009 |
| LCCN: 2019953802 |
| Series: Innovation and Activism in American Women's Writing |
| Physical Information: 0.56" H x 6" W x 9" (1.01 lbs) 196 pages |
| Themes: - Sex & Gender - Feminine - Chronological Period - 19th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: As working women invaded the public space of the factory in the nineteenth century, they challenged Victorian notions of female domesticity and chastity. With virtue at the forefront of discussions regarding working women, aspects of working-class women's culture-fashion, fiction, and dance halls-become vivid signifiers for moral impropriety, and attempts to censure these activities become overt attempts to censure female sexuality in the workplace. The Personal and the Political in American Working-Class Literature, 1850-1939 argues that these informal and often ignored "trifles" of female community provided the building blocks for female solidarity in the workplace. While most critical approaches to working-class fiction emphasize female suffering rather than agency, this book argues that working women themselves viewed aspects of consumer culture and new avenues for courtship as extensions of their rights as breadwinners. The strike itself is an intense moment of political upheaval that lends itself to more extensive personal and sexual freedoms. Through its analysis of strike novels, this book provides a fuller picture of working-class women as they simultaneously navigate new identities as "working ladies" and enter the dramatic and sometimes violent world of labor activism. This book is recommended for scholars of literary studies, women's studies, and US history. |