New Directions in American Reception Study PDF
Preview New Directions in American Reception Study
New Directions in American Reception Study This page intentionally left blank New Directions in American Reception Study Edited by PHILIP GOLDSTEIN and JAMES L. MACHOR 3 2008 3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Th ailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2008 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York, 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. A portion of Barbara Hochman’s essay was fi rst published in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin at the World’s Columbian Exposition,” by Barbara Hochman, from Libraries & Culture 41:1, pp. 82–108. Copyright © 2006 by the University of Texas Press. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data New directions in American reception study / edited by Philip Goldstein and James L. Machor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-19-532087-9; 978-0-19-532088-6 (pbk.) 1. American literature—History and criticism—Th eory, etc. 2. Reader-response criticism—United States. 3. Books and reading—United States. 4. Mass media—Audiences. I. Goldstein, Philip. II. Machor, James L. PS62.A8 2007 810.9—dc22 2007013837 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Acknowledgment We wish to thank the University of Delaware, especially the Women’s Studies Program, the Black American Studies Program, the English Department, the Offi ce of the President, and the University Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events. Without their generous support, the conference on which this collection is based would not have been possible. This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction: Reception Study: Achievements and New Directions xi Philip Goldstein and James L. Machor I. (Re)Theorizing Reception Study Understanding an Other: Reading as a Receptive Form of Communicative Action 3 Patrocinio Schweickart Judging and Hoping: Rhetorical Eff ects of Reading about Reading 23 Steven Mailloux Activating the Multitude: Audience Powers and Cultural Studies 33 Jack Bratich Habitus Clivé: Aesthetics and Politics in the Work of Pierre Bourdieu 57 Tony Bennett II. Texts, Authors, and the Receptions of Literature Th e American Reception of Melville’s Short Fiction in the 1850s 87 James L. Machor Placing Readers at the Forefront of Nowhere: Reception Studies and Utopian Literature 99 Kenneth m. Roemer Richard Wright’s Native Son: From Naturalist Protest to Modernist Liberation and Beyond 119 Philip Goldstein Main Street Reading Main Street 139 Amy L. Blair Learning from Philistines: Suspicion, Refusing to Read, and the Rise of Dubious Modernism 159 Leonard Diepeveen Reception and Authenticity: Danny Santiago’s Famous All over Town 179 Marcial González Discourses in Dialogue: Th e Reception of Alix Kates Shulman’s Memoirs of an Ex–Prom Queen 195 Charlotte Templin III. Books, Print Culture, and Historical Sites of Reception Th e Power of Recirculation: Scrapbooks and the Reception of the Nineteenth-Century Press 211 Ellen Gruber Garvey Accuracy or Fair Play? Complaining about the Newspaper in Early Twentieth-Century New York 233 David Paul Nord Sentiment without Tears: Uncle Tom’s Cabin as History in the 1890s 255 Barbara Hochman viii CONTENTS IV. Audiences, Fans, and Viewers in Media and Cultural Studies Kiss Me Deadly: Cold War Th reats from Spillane to Aldrich, New York to Los Angeles, and the Mafi a to the H-Bomb 279 Janet Staiger Textual Poaching or Gamekeeping? A Comparative Study of Two Six Feet Under Internet Fan Forums 289 Rhiannon Bury Political Talk and the Flow of Ambient Television: Women Watching Oprah in an African American Hair Salon 307 Andrea Press and Camille Johnson-Yale V. Retrospective Prospects What’s the Matter with Reception Study? Some Th oughts on the Disciplinary Origins, Conceptual Constraints, and Persistent Viability of a Paradigm 327 Janice Radway Th e Reception Deception 353 Toby Miller Notes on Contributors 371 Index 375 CONTENTS ix
The list of books you might like
