ENG 273: American Novel — Gothic Edition: Reference Collection

"Comprehensive and wide-ranging, this book brings together over 200 newly-commissioned essays by leading scholars writing on all aspects of the Gothic as it is currently taught and researched, along with challenging insights into the development of the genre and its impact on contemporary culture. The A-Z entries provide comprehensive coverage of relevant authors, national traditions, critical developments, and notable texts that continue to define, shape, and inform the genre. The volume's approach is truly interdisciplinary, with essays by specialist international contributors whose expertise extends beyond Gothic literature to film, music, drama, art, and architecture." - Publisher description

Librarian's Note: Contains complete articles on Herman Melville, H.P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Henry James, as well as an index entry for Toni Morrison. See the main article on "American Gothic," pp. 15-23 as well as the list of subheadings under the American Gothic index entry.

The Gothic is wildly diverse. It can refer to ecclesiastical architecture, supernatural fiction, cult horror films, and a distinctive style of rock music. It has influenced political theorists and social reformers, as well as Victorian home décor and contemporary fashion. This Very Short Introduction captures the history of the Gothic from ancient times to the present. It covers the sack of Rome by the barbarian tribes, medieval architecture, popular culture in the sixteenth century (including ballads and Revenge Tragedy), political theories of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the rise of the Gothic novel, the Victorian Gothic Revival, and the influence of Gothic culture on film, music, and fashion. It includes familiar Gothic novels such Frankenstein and Dracula, while also covering Gothic gardening, slasher movies, and the current Goth scene. It is the only account of the Gothic that describes the entire history of the term, presenting it in all its richly complex and perversely contradictory glory.

"The Gothic has become in recent years an enormously popular and respected field of study. Courses dealing wholly or partly with Gothic writing are now standard in English and cultural studies departments across the world. As well as providing a series of stimulating insights into Gothic writing, its history and genealogy, the volume also offers comprehensive coverage of criticism of the Gothic and of the various theoretical approaches it has inspired and spawned."--Jacket.

"Art of Darkness is an ambitious attempt to describe the principles governing Gothic literature. Ranging across five centuries of fiction, drama, and verse—including tales as diverse as Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, Shelley's Frankenstein, Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Freud's The Mysteries of Enlightenment—Anne Williams proposes three new premises: that Gothic is "poetic," not novelistic, in nature; that there are two parallel Gothic traditions, Male and Female; and that the Gothic and the Romantic represent a single literary tradition." - Publisher description

"This book presents more than 350 biographies of men and women who have devoted their lives to studying, debating, and organizing controversial environmental issues over the last 200 years. In addition to the scientists who have analyzed how human actions affect nature, we are introduced to poets, landscape architects, presidents, painters, activists, even sanitation engineers, and others who have forever altered how we think about the environment. The easy to use A-Z format provides instant access to these individuals, and frequent cross references indicate others with whom individuals worked (and sometimes clashed). End of entry references provide users with a starting point for further research." - Publisher description

"The field of environmental ethics is a new but now well-established sub-discipline of philosophy. Emerging in the mid-1970s, the field coalesced with the inaugural volume of the journal Environmental Ethics in 1979 and developed rapidly. By the turn of the century, most colleges and universities offered courses, if not major programs of study, in this important discipline. The Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy addresses the needs of upper high school students, undergraduate researchers, teachers and professors, as well as general readers by examining the philosophical and ethical issues underlying contemporary and historical environmental issues, policies, and debates. More than 300 peer-reviewed articles cover concepts, institutions, topics, events and people, including global warming, animal rights, environmental movements, alternative energy, green chemistry, industrial ecology, and eco-sabotage. Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy joins the suite of other Macmillan applied ethics titles: Encyclopedia of Bioethics and the Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Additional features include 200 photographs and illustrations, thematic outline, annotated bibliography, and a comprehensive index." - Publisher description

"The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature is a landmark work in the burgeoning field of religion and nature. [...] The Encyclopedia critically explores the relationships among human beings, their environments, and the religious dimensions of life. This wide-ranging work, chronologically, geographically, and religiously, includes 1,000 entries from 520 international contributors. In addition to the standard, scholarly entry, this highly-accessible reference is creatively enriched through two unique, additional genres: scholarly perspectives articles wherein authors advance an argument or reflect on their own role in or views regarding the religion and nature field; and practitioner entries, which are written by well-known figures who have had an impact in the issues the encyclopedia engages." - Publisher description

"Explores the origins, development, influence, and interrelations of the many faiths practiced in North America, including major world religions and emerging sects, cults and movements." - Publisher description

"The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature is a landmark work in the burgeoning field of religion and nature. [...] The Encyclopedia critically explores the relationships among human beings, their environments, and the religious dimensions of life. This wide-ranging work, chronologically, geographically, and religiously, includes 1,000 entries from 520 international contributors. In addition to the standard, scholarly entry, this highly-accessible reference is creatively enriched through two unique, additional genres: scholarly perspectives articles wherein authors advance an argument or reflect on their own role in or views regarding the religion and nature field; and practitioner entries, which are written by well-known figures who have had an impact in the issues the encyclopedia engages." - Publisher description

"In nearly 700 entries, this set documents the full range of the African American experience during the period from the arrival of the first slave ship to the death of Frederick Douglass, and shows how all aspects of American culture, history, and national identity have been profoundly influenced by the experience of African Americans." - Publisher description

"The history of the enslavement of African Americans in North America stretches from the beginning of European colonization and lasted until the end of the Civil War. Slavery in America recounts this history by examining, chapter by chapter, many of its aspects: the slave catchers and their coffles in Africa, the crowded slave ships that transported Africans along the triangular trade routes to America, slave auctions, life and labor on a plantation, escape attempts and insurrections, and finally the Civil War and eventual emancipation. The authors capture the complexities and the extent of slavery and document the wide differences in the ways people reacted to this terrible institution."--Jacket.

"This dictionary is the first comprehensive reference on Afro-American slavery to appear since the 1960s. It fills a great gap in the historiography of slavery that has been created by the proliferation of modern slavery studies in the past twenty-five years, and provides the opportunity for synthesizing the best literature on the many and diverse topics relating to the slavery experience in North America. Miller and Smith include essays on the social, institutional, intellectual, and political aspects of slavery, written by leading experts in the field. The book covers a wide selection of materials in almost 300 articles that examine regional and geographical differences and changes in slavery from the first English settlement in North America to Reconstruction. The contributors offer both narrative summaries and interpretive arguments, and the editors have provided an explanatory introduction and a comprehensive subject index. Special care has been taken to include suggestions for further reading for each entry, and the topics have been selected for their importance to both specialists and nonspecialists." - Publisher description

"This book includes hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on persons, places, events, institutions, battles, and campaigns of the Civil War. A detailed, 39-page chronology begins with the acceptance by Congress of the Missouri Compromise in 1820 and ends with the surrender of the Confederate ship Shenandoah in fall 1865. The introduction offers a concise overview of the subject, ending with a 3-page discussion of the legacy of the war. The 1,700 entries in the dictionary section include obvious inclusions, such as Gettysburg and Robert E. Lee, to those that are more obscure, such as the ill-fated Mud March and the Quaker guns." - Publisher description

Librarian's Note: See Volume 17, pp. 389 for a listing of women Abolitionists and what volume and page numbers to find them.

"Few realize that the origin of the discussion on women's rights emerged out of the anti-slavery movement of the 19th century, and that suffragists were active in the peace and labor movements long after the right to vote was granted. Thus began the confluence of activism in our country, where the rights of women both followed―and led―the social and political discourse in America. Through 4 volumes and more than 800 entries, editor Tiffany K. Wayne, with advising editor Lois Banner, examine the issues, people, and events of women's activism, from the early period of American history to the present time. This comprehensive reference not only traces the historical evolution of the movement, but also covers current issues affecting women, such as reproductive freedom, political participation, pay equity, violence against women, and gay civil rights." - Publisher description

Summary"Offering comprehensive coverage of women of a diverse range of cultures, classes, ethnicities, religions, and sexual identifications, this four-volume set identifies the many ways in which women have helped to shape and strengthen the United States."-- Publisher description

"The first A to Z reference volume to offer a panoramic presentation of American women during the Civil War era." - Publisher description

Librarian's Note: See Volume, pp.544-547 for a listing of Suffragists and what volume and page number to find them.

Librarian's Note: "Herman Melville," pp. 249-267. Extensive article including bibliography of Melville's primary texts, detailed biographical essay, and a bibliography of Melville letters, bibliographies, biographies, and secondary sources.

Librarian's Note: "Herman Melville, 1819-1891," vol. 3, pp. 74-98. Long biographical essay along with a bibliography of primary texts, critical and biographical studies, and special topics in Melville studies.

Librarian's Note: See "Melville in the Dark," by Kenneth W. Warren pp. 358-362 as well as "Melville, Herman" in index.

Librarian's Note: "Herman Melville," pp. 429-447. Biographical and critical essay.

Librarian's Note: "Herman Melville", pp. 750-757. Biographical essay and bibliography of notable scholarly books on Melville.

Traces Melville's life from his childhood in New York, through his adventures abroad as a sailor, to his creation of "Moby-Dick," and forty years later, to his death, in obscurity.

Librarian's Note: "Louisa May Alcott," pp. 29-45. Bibliography of primary texts (including anonymous novels), a biographical essay about Louisa May Alcott, and a bibliography of Alcott letters, bibliographies, biographies, secondary sources, and papers. Alcott entries may also be found in DLB 1: The American Renaissance in New England, DLB 42: American Writers for Children Before 1900, DLB 79: American Magazine Journalists, and DLB 239: American Women Prose Writers, 1820-1870.

"One of America's most adored juvenile fiction writers, Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) also penned anonymous and pseudonymous sensation stories for popular magazines. Her spellbinding tales of intrigue and suspense, violence and evil, jealousy and revenge, were uncovered by the detective work of Madeleine Stern and others, who scrutinized published and unpublished sources for clues to Alcott's secret literary life. Now Alcott's known thrillers are available for the first time in a single volume. Originally published between 1863 and 1870, these twenty-nine tales illuminate Alcott's versatility as a writer and her storytelling talents. The sensation stories, which feature a succession of powerful and passionate heroines, also reveal Alcott's feminist convictions. Alcott wrote for various magazines geared toward different groups of readers, and her works were tailored to conform to the standards and perceived interests of each audience. Serials carried by Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, with its mass readership, were sensational shockers that contained violent themes of narcotics addiction and brutal murder, while the stories for Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine required genteel overtones and less violent plots. The toned-down sensationalism, however, did not preclude feminist heroines, or the titillation of sexual exchanges and the excitement of sexual power struggles. All the tales in Louisa May Alcott Unmasked are engaging potboilers with vivid characters, exotic backdrops, and complex plots that will beguile today's readers." - Publisher's description

"A coherent history of Louisa May Alcott's life beginning with her private journal entries at 13 and those continuing throughout her remarkable life, filled with the vibrant spirit and vital intellect that characterized both her life and work. Although these journals were never intended for publication but were judiciously preserved after Alcott's death, despite her explicit instructions that they be destroyed, they provide a wonderful narrative today - revealing the writer's personal thoughts about her family, her work, and the society in which she lived." - Publisher's description

"The beloved author of Little Women was torn between pleasing her idealistic father and planting her feet in the material world. Now, Louisa May Alcott's name is known universally; yet, during her youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson--an eminent teacher, lecturer, and friend of Emerson and Thoreau. Willful and exuberant, Louisa flew in the face of all her father's theories of child rearing. She, in turn, could not understand the frugal life Bronson preached, which reached its epitome in the failed utopian community of Fruitlands. In a family that insisted on self-denial and spiritual striving, Louisa dreamed of wealth and fame. At the same time, like most daughters, she wanted her father's approval. This story of their tense yet loving relationship adds dimensions to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters." -From publisher description.

Librarian's Note: "Lovecraft, H.P." v. 13, pp. 953-954. Biographical essay on H.P. Lovecraft together with a compact overview of the best places to start researching Lovecraft by eminent Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi.

"This new and exhaustively updated comprehensive bibliography from the University of Tampa Press presents, for the first time, a systematic catalog of Lovecraft's writings from his first appearance in a newspaper in 1906 down to the end of 2007. All of his book publications--the great majority of them posthumous--are listed, along with their contents; appearances of his work in magazines and anthologies are tallied; and information is supplied on apocryphal works, texts edited by Lovecraft, and other miscellany. . . . The work is divided into three parts: Works by Lovecraft in English; Works by Lovecraft in Translation; and Works about Lovecraft. There are also an introduction and a preface by Joshi, as well as exhaustive indexes for easy reference." - Publisher description

"Maurice Lévy's book is a penetrating analysis of the themes running through the works of H. P. Lovecraft, the writer of horror and supernatural fiction. Broader than a thematic study, however, Lévy's analysis is unique in his use of Lovecraft's work as a model for fantastic writing in general and in his provocative theory as to why Lovecraft wrote the sort of works he did. At an early age, Lovecraft sloughed off all religious belief and came to adopt a bleak and nihilistic philosophy where humans have no importance in the cosmos but to serve as the playthings of incomprehensible and uncaring forces. Lévy sees Lovecraft's works as an attempt to purge himself of these feelings and to give himself a reason to love in a universe that cares nothing for him or for other human beings in general. It is this view of Lovecraft the writer, the thinker, and the man that sets Lévy's work apart from any Lovecraft criticism." - Publisher description

Described by S.T. Joshi as "the only full-length biography" (before his own) "which embodies a great deal of research but has been criticized for its failure to sympathize with Lovecraft's beliefs and motivations." (But does however discuss Lovecraft's antisemitic and racist views.)

Librarian's Note: Very lengthy two-volume biography of H.P. Lovecraft. The author is considered the world's foremost Lovecraft scholar and had access to Lovecraft's voluminous correspondence with a wide range of writers of his day. Criticized for neglecting to discuss Lovecraft's anti-semitic and racist views.

Librarian's Note: "Shirley Jackson (14 December 1919-8 August 1965)," pp. 161-167. A selected bibliography of Shirley Jackon's books followed by a biographical essay and bibliographies of Shirley Jackson bibliographies and secondary references.

"An examination of the novels and short stories of the modern American writer concentrates on such well-known works as The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House." - Publisher description

"This study examines representations and configurations of lesbianism in literary narrative and, in particular, three novels by American author Shirley Jackson (1916-1965). As recent scholarly work has demonstrated, representations of sexuality between women in literature tend toward the ghostly, the Gothic. Examining the ideological import of such representations, this study likewise considers what happens in narrative once lesbianism is "occulted" this way." "Central to this analysis is the issue of subjectivity, of who sees what, how, and why. In its examination of three novels by Shirley Jackson - Hangsaman (1951), The Haunting of Hill House (1959), and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962) - this study draws on theories of performativity and subjectivity as put forward by feminism/queer theory and, in particular, by Judith Butler. Central to this investigation is how these texts repeat and, simultaneously, fail to repeat literary conventions linking lesbian and Gothic, as well as how that repetition, and its failure, affect overall interpretation."--Jacket.

"This long-awaited biography establishes Shirley Jackson as a towering figure in American literature and revives the life and work of a neglected master. Still known to millions only as the author of the "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) remains curiously absent from the American literary canon. A genius of literary suspense, Jackson plumbed the cultural anxiety of postwar America better than anyone. Now, biographer Ruth Franklin reveals the tumultuous life and inner darkness of the author behind such classics as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Placing Jackson within an American Gothic tradition of Hawthorne and Poe, Franklin demonstrates how her unique contribution to this genre came from her focus on "domestic horror" drawn from an era hostile to women. Based on a wealth of previously undiscovered correspondence and dozens of new interviews, Shirley Jackson, with its exploration of astonishing talent shaped by a damaged childhood and a troubled marriage to literary critic Stanley Hyman, becomes the definitive biography of a generational avatar and an American literary giant."-- Provided by publisher.

"Intended for lay readers and scholars alike, this reference offers a convenient overview of Toni Morrison's life and achievements. The first book of its kind, this reference offers hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries on Morrison's works, major characters, themes, and other topics. Lengthier essays cover each of her novels, along with various approaches to her writings. Each of the entries was written by an expert contributor, and many close with suggestions for further reading. The volume concludes with a selected bibliography of major studies. All told, this book provides a remarkable overview of Morrison's primary concerns and achievements, charting a helpful course for readers who wish to venture deeper into the work of this extraordinary author."--Jacket.

"Essays in this volume provide a clear overview of Toni Morrison and her accomplishments to date, beginning with discussions of Morrison's life and influence, continuing with articles on the critical contexts of her works, and focusing on critical readings of Morrison's involves from The Bluest Eye to Love."--About this volume.

Librarian's Note: "Morrison, Toni (née Chloe Anthony Wofford)," pp. 539-542. Contains a biographical and critical summary of Toni Morrison's works up to 2018, followed by References and Further Reading.