History in American Literature and Culture, 1865-1900

Many critical analyses of the Gilded Age focus on its transitional status, and particularly on its relationship to the twentieth century and the future. But historical questions and themes were just as central to the period, and in this panel (and a potential collection of essays to follow), we’ll be considering constructions of the past in the cultural discourses of the era, including literature, history-writing, and popular and material culture. Sample topics include the way historical themes, issues, and debates function in: realism, regionalism, or naturalism; dialect writing; dime novels; Reconstruction or the rise of Jim Crow; the Philadelphia and Chicago Expositions; the suffragists and the women’s movement; Indian reform or the closing of the frontier; constructions of immigration, urbanization, or labor; the Populist Party. All approaches and methodologies welcome; interdisciplinary topics particularly encouraged. Please send queries and/or 250-word abstracts and brief CVs to Ben Railton, barailton@hotmail.com, by December 1, 2004.