About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100195041194

ISBN-139780195041194

eBay Product ID (ePID)73249

Product Key Features

Number of Pages256 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameSensational Designs : the Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860

SubjectGeneral, American / General, Subjects & Themes / General

Publication Year1986

TypeTextbook

AuthorJane Tompkins

Subject AreaLiterary Criticism

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.6 in

Item Weight11.9 Oz

Item Length8.6 in

Item Width5.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceCollege Audience

LCCN86-002492

Reviews"Wide-ranging, clearly written, cogently argued.... One of thosestimulating and significant seminal studies sure to be frequentlycited."--Choice., "One of the important works of the year....Contains some of the best arguments I know on the conventionality of canon formation."--Michael J. Hoffman, American Literary Scholarship "Wide-ranging, clearly written, cogently argued.... One of those stimulating and significant seminal studies sure to be frequently cited."--Choice. "A major reassessment of nineteenth-century 'sentimental' novels...Force[s] us to reconsider on every page our usual notions of literary valuation, interpretive bias, and canon formation."--Western Humanities Review "Sensational Designs...is an eye-opener for those too much obsessed by their own academic and cultural investments to understand the true stylistic and ideological complexity of nineteenth-century American fiction."--Philip F. Gura, Esquire "A cogently argued redefinition of the entire process of literary study."--Women's Review of Books, "One of the important works of the year....Contains some of the best arguments I know on the conventionality of canon formation."--Michael J. Hoffman, American Literary Scholarship"Wide-ranging, clearly written, cogently argued.... One of those stimulating and significant seminal studies sure to be frequently cited."--Choice."A major reassessment of nineteenth-century 'sentimental' novels...Force[s] us to reconsider on every page our usual notions of literary valuation, interpretive bias, and canon formation."--Western Humanities Review"Sensational Designs...is an eye-opener for those too much obsessed by their own academic and cultural investments to understand the true stylistic and ideological complexity of nineteenth-century American fiction."--Philip F. Gura, Esquire"A cogently argued redefinition of the entire process of literary study."--Women's Review of Books"One of the important works of the year....Contains some of the best arguments I know on the conventionality of canon formation."--Michael J. Hoffman, American Literary Scholarship"Wide-ranging, clearly written, cogently argued.... One of those stimulating and significant seminal studies sure to be frequently cited."--Choice."A major reassessment of nineteenth-century 'sentimental' novels...Force[s] us to reconsider on every page our usual notions of literary valuation, interpretive bias, and canon formation."--Western Humanities Review"Sensational Designs...is an eye-opener for those too much obsessed by their own academic and cultural investments to understand the true stylistic and ideological complexity of nineteenth-century American fiction."--Philip F. Gura, Esquire"A cogently argued redefinition of the entire process of literary study."--Women's Review of Books"Tompkins has added a powerful voice for a new kind of literary history...[she] raises important questions in an informative and wonderfully provocative manner."--Studies in the Novel"[Tompkins's] reading of 'sensational' texts in light of her own new strategies is nothing less than brilliant."--Legacy"Tompkins' study demonstrates the value of the contextual approach."--Centennial Review"Her work cannot help but encourage a healthy reexamination of the presumptions we bring to...literature."--South Central Review"Controversial...extremely provocative...intellectually challenging yet accessible."--American Quarterly"An important contribution to the study of literature written by American women."--Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature"In this lively and engaging book, Jane Tompkins addresses theoretical questions of importance to all readers of American literature while presenting a series of provocative essays on individual works of fiction by Charles Brockden Brown, James Fenimore Cooper, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Susan Warner."--Early American Literature"One of the few original studies of American literature to appear in the last twenty years. Tompkins' clear and committed style should insure that she will be understood and vigorously debated."--Frank Lentricchia, Duke University"The place to start in any investigation of the way in which rhetoric shapes and creates culture: novels we thought we knew emerge as different texts as she teaches us how to read them afresh."--Signs, "One of the important works of the year....Contains some of the best arguments I know on the conventionality of canon formation."--Michael J. Hoffman, American Literary Scholarship "Wide-ranging, clearly written, cogently argued.... One of those stimulating and significant seminal studies sure to be frequently cited."-- Choice . "A major reassessment of nineteenth-century 'sentimental' novels...Force[s] us to reconsider on every page our usual notions of literary valuation, interpretive bias, and canon formation."-- Western Humanities Review " Sensational Designs ...is an eye-opener for those too much obsessed by their own academic and cultural investments to understand the true stylistic and ideological complexity of nineteenth-century American fiction."--Philip F. Gura, Esquire "A cogently argued redefinition of the entire process of literary study."-- Women's Review of Books, "Sensational Designs...is an eye-opener for those too much obsessed by their own academic and cultural investments to understand the true stylistic and ideological complexity of nineteenth-century American fiction."--Philip F. Gura, Esquire, "One of the important works of the year....Contains some of the best arguments I know on the conventionality of canon formation."--Michael J. Hoffman, American Literary Scholarship"Wide-ranging, clearly written, cogently argued.... One of those stimulating and significant seminal studies sure to be frequently cited."--Choice."A major reassessment of nineteenth-century 'sentimental' novels...Force[s] us to reconsider on every page our usual notions of literary valuation, interpretive bias, and canon formation."--Western Humanities Review"Sensational Designs...is an eye-opener for those too much obsessed by their own academic and cultural investments to understand the true stylistic and ideological complexity of nineteenth-century American fiction."--Philip F. Gura, Esquire"A cogently argued redefinition of the entire process of literary study."--Women's Review of Books, "Her work cannot help but encourage a healthy reexamination of the presumptions we bring to...literature."--South Central Review, "Controversial...extremely provocative...intellectually challenging yetaccessible."--American Quarterly, "[Tompkins's] reading of 'sensational' texts in light of her own new strategies is nothing less than brilliant."--Legacy, "A major reassessment of nineteenth-century 'sentimental' novels...Force[s] us to reconsider on every page our usual notions of literary valuation, interpretive bias, and canon formation."--Western Humanities Review, "One of the important works of the year....Contains some of the best arguments I know on the conventionality of canon formation."--Michael J. Hoffman,American Literary Scholarship "Wide-ranging, clearly written, cogently argued.... One of those stimulating and significant seminal studies sure to be frequently cited."--Choice. "A major reassessment of nineteenth-century 'sentimental' novels...Force[s] us to reconsider on every page our usual notions of literary valuation, interpretive bias, and canon formation."--Western Humanities Review "Sensational Designs...is an eye-opener for those too much obsessed by their own academic and cultural investments to understand the true stylistic and ideological complexity of nineteenth-century American fiction."--Philip F. Gura,Esquire "A cogently argued redefinition of the entire process of literary study."--Women's Review of Books, "One of the important works of the year....Contains some of the bestarguments I know on the conventionality of canon formation."--Michael J.Hoffman, American Literary Scholarship, "Wide-ranging, clearly written, cogently argued.... One of those stimulating and significant seminal studies sure to be frequently cited."--Choice., "Controversial...extremely provocative...intellectually challenging yet accessible."--American Quarterly, "One of the important works of the year....Contains some of the best arguments I know on the conventionality of canon formation."--Michael J. Hoffman, American Literary Scholarship, "Tompkins has added a powerful voice for a new kind of literary history...[she] raises important questions in an informative and wonderfully provocative manner."--Studies in the Novel, "Tompkins has added a powerful voice for a new kind of literaryhistory...[she] raises important questions in an informative and wonderfullyprovocative manner."--Studies in the Novel, "Sensational Designs...is an eye-opener for those too much obsessed bytheir own academic and cultural investments to understand the true stylistic andideological complexity of nineteenth-century American fiction."--Philip F. Gura,Esquire, "A major reassessment of nineteenth-century 'sentimental'novels...Force[s] us to reconsider on every page our usual notions of literaryvaluation, interpretive bias, and canon formation."--Western HumanitiesReview, "Her work cannot help but encourage a healthy reexamination of thepresumptions we bring to...literature."--South Central Review, "[Tompkins's] reading of 'sensational' texts in light of her own newstrategies is nothing less than brilliant."--Legacy

SynopsisThis challenging book works towards a redefinition of literature and literary study. The texts the author examines are viewed not as works of art embodying enduring themes, but as attempts to redefine the social order., In this provocative book, Jane Tompkins seeks to move the study of literature away from the small group of critically approved texts that have dominated literary discussion over the decades, to allow inclusion of texts ignored or denigrated by the literary academy. Sensational Designs challenges comfortable assumptions about what makes a literary work a "classic."

LC Classification NumberPS374.S7T66 1986