Homicide in American Fiction, 1798–1860

A Study in Social Values

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American, Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 19th Century
Cover of the book Homicide in American Fiction, 1798–1860 by David Brion Davis, Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David Brion Davis ISBN: 9781501726224
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: March 15, 2018
Imprint: Cornell University Press Language: English
Author: David Brion Davis
ISBN: 9781501726224
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: March 15, 2018
Imprint: Cornell University Press
Language: English

Homicide has many social and psychological implications that vary from culture to culture and which change as people accept new ideas concerning guilt, responsibility, and the causes of crime. A study of attitudes toward homicide is therefore a method of examining social values in a specific setting. Homicide in American Fiction, 1798–1860 is the first book to contrast psychological assumptions of imaginative writers with certain social and intellectual currents in an attempt to integrate social attitudes toward such diverse subjects as human evil, moral responsibility, criminal insanity, social causes of crime, dueling, lynching, the "unwritten law" of a husband's revenge, and capital punishment. In addition to works of literary distinction by Cooper, Hawthorne, Irving, and Poe, among others, Davis considers a large body of cheap popular fiction generally ignored in previous studies of the literature of this period. This is an engrossing study of fiction as a reflection of and a commentary on social problems and as an influence shaping general beliefs and opinions.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Homicide has many social and psychological implications that vary from culture to culture and which change as people accept new ideas concerning guilt, responsibility, and the causes of crime. A study of attitudes toward homicide is therefore a method of examining social values in a specific setting. Homicide in American Fiction, 1798–1860 is the first book to contrast psychological assumptions of imaginative writers with certain social and intellectual currents in an attempt to integrate social attitudes toward such diverse subjects as human evil, moral responsibility, criminal insanity, social causes of crime, dueling, lynching, the "unwritten law" of a husband's revenge, and capital punishment. In addition to works of literary distinction by Cooper, Hawthorne, Irving, and Poe, among others, Davis considers a large body of cheap popular fiction generally ignored in previous studies of the literature of this period. This is an engrossing study of fiction as a reflection of and a commentary on social problems and as an influence shaping general beliefs and opinions.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book When Small States Make Big Leaps by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book The Military Enlightenment by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Who Cares? by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book 41 by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Transforming the Clunky Organization by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Achieving Workers' Rights in the Global Economy by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Fragile Conviction by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Reckoning with the Imagination by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Enlightening the World by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book State Erosion by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Raja Yudhisthira by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Holy Legionary Youth by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Alias Olympia by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book On Deconstruction by David Brion Davis
Cover of the book Erotic Exchanges by David Brion Davis
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy