From Gift to Commodity
Capitalism and Sacrifice in Nineteenth-Century American Fiction
Published on 11. October 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
296 pages
978-1-61168-310-3 (ISBN)
Description
In this rich interdisciplinary study, Hildegard Hoeller argues that nineteenth-century American culture was driven by and deeply occupied with the tension between gift and market exchange. Rooting her analysis in the period's fiction, she shows how American novelists from Hannah Foster to Frank Norris grappled with the role of the gift based on trust, social bonds, and faith in an increasingly capitalist culture based on self-interest, market transactions, and economic reason.
Placing the notion of sacrifice at the centre of her discussion, Hoeller taps into the poignant discourse of modes of exchange, revealing central tensions of American fiction and culture.
Placing the notion of sacrifice at the centre of her discussion, Hoeller taps into the poignant discourse of modes of exchange, revealing central tensions of American fiction and culture.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Durham
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
381 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-61168-310-3 (9781611683103)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Hildegard Hoeller is professor of English, College of Staten Island, USA and professor of English and women's studies, The Graduate Center, CUNY, USA. She is author of Edith Wharton's Dialogue with Realism and Sentimental Fiction and editor of the >Norton Critical Edition of Horatio Alger's