Grotesque Relations

Modernist Domestic Fiction and the U.S. Welfare State

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American, Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century
Cover of the book Grotesque Relations by Susan Edmunds, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Susan Edmunds ISBN: 9780190450779
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: August 14, 2008
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Susan Edmunds
ISBN: 9780190450779
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: August 14, 2008
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

In this book, Susan Edmunds explores he relationship between modernist domestic fiction and the rise of the U.S. welfare state. This relationship, which began in the Progressive era, emerged as maternalist reformers developed an inverted discourse of social housekeeping in order to call for state protection and regulation of the home. Modernists followed suit, turning the genre of domestic fiction inside out in order to represent new struggles on the border between home, market and state. Edmunds uses the work of Djuna Barnes, Jean Toomer, Tillie Olsen, Edna Ferber, Nathanael West, and Flannery O'Connor to trace the significance of modernists' radical reconstitution of the genre of domestic fiction. Using a grotesque aesthetic of revolutionary inversion, these writers looped their depictions of the domestic sphere through revolutionary discourses associated with socialism, consumerism and the avant-garde. These authors used their grotesque discourses to deal with issues of social conflict ranging from domestic abuse and racial violence to educational reform, public health care, eugenics, and social security. With the New Deal, the U.S. welfare state realized maternalist ambitions to disseminate a modern sentimental version of the home to all white citizens, successfully translating radical bids for collective social security into a racialized order of selective and detached domestic security. The book argues that modernists engaged and contested this historical trajectory from the start. In the process, they forged an enduring set of terms for understanding and negotiating the systemic forms of ambivalence, alienation and conflict that accompany Americans' contemporary investments in "family values."

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

In this book, Susan Edmunds explores he relationship between modernist domestic fiction and the rise of the U.S. welfare state. This relationship, which began in the Progressive era, emerged as maternalist reformers developed an inverted discourse of social housekeeping in order to call for state protection and regulation of the home. Modernists followed suit, turning the genre of domestic fiction inside out in order to represent new struggles on the border between home, market and state. Edmunds uses the work of Djuna Barnes, Jean Toomer, Tillie Olsen, Edna Ferber, Nathanael West, and Flannery O'Connor to trace the significance of modernists' radical reconstitution of the genre of domestic fiction. Using a grotesque aesthetic of revolutionary inversion, these writers looped their depictions of the domestic sphere through revolutionary discourses associated with socialism, consumerism and the avant-garde. These authors used their grotesque discourses to deal with issues of social conflict ranging from domestic abuse and racial violence to educational reform, public health care, eugenics, and social security. With the New Deal, the U.S. welfare state realized maternalist ambitions to disseminate a modern sentimental version of the home to all white citizens, successfully translating radical bids for collective social security into a racialized order of selective and detached domestic security. The book argues that modernists engaged and contested this historical trajectory from the start. In the process, they forged an enduring set of terms for understanding and negotiating the systemic forms of ambivalence, alienation and conflict that accompany Americans' contemporary investments in "family values."

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Responsible Conduct of Research by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Piracy: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Quantum Enigma : Physics Encounters Consciousness by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Spartan Women by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Epidemiology : An Introduction by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Listening on the Edge by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book The Politics of Energy Crises by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book The Meanings of Social Life by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Healthy Anger by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Adverse Events, Stress, and Litigation by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Prescription Drug Diversion and Pain by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Basic Structures of Reality by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Law 101 : Everything You Need To Know About The American Legal System by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Inventing the "American Way" by Susan Edmunds
Cover of the book Some Other Note by Susan Edmunds
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