Counterfeit Gentlemen
Manhood and Humor in the Old South
Published on 29. March 2009
208 pages
978-0-8130-5936-5 (ISBN)
Description
What does it mean to be a man in the pre-Civil War South? And how can we answer the question from the perspective of the early twenty-first century? John Mayfield does so by revealing how early nineteenth-century Southern humorists addressed the anxieties felt by men seeking to chart a new path between the old honor culture and the new market culture. Lacking the constraints imposed by journalism or proper literature, these writers created fictional worlds where manhood and identity could be tested and explored.
More details
Person
John Mayfield, professor of history at Samford University, is the author of The New Nation, 1800-1845 and Rehearsal for Republicanism: Free Soil and the Politics of Antislavery.
Content
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Negotiating Manhood in the Old South
- Chapter 1: The Conception and Estimate of a Gentleman
- Chapter 2: Georgia Theatrics, Georgia Yankees
- Chapter 3: Counterfeit Presentments
- Chapter 4: Useful Alloys
- Chapter 5: Swamp Fevers
- Chapter 6: Notes from the Underground
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- About author
