Public Sentiments: Structures of Feeling in Nineteenth-Century American Literature

287 Pages·2001·0.98 MB·English

by  Glenn Hendler

Public Sentiments
Public
Sentiments
 
of
-
in
 
 
     
  & 
©
TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress
Allrightsreserved
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ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperinthisbookmeetstheguidelinesforpermanenceanddurability
oftheCommitteeonProductionGuidelinesforBookLongevityoftheCouncil
onLibraryResources.
Earlierversionsofportionsofthisbookwerepreviouslypublishedunderthe
followingtitles:‘‘TheStructureofSentimentalExperience,’’YaleJournalof
Criticism,no.():–;‘‘BloatedBodiesandSoberSentiments:
MasculinityinsTemperanceFiction,’’inSentimentalMen:Masculinityandthe
PoliticsofAffectinAmericanCulture,ed.MaryChapmanandGlennHendler
(BerkeleyandLosAngeles:UniversityofCaliforniaPress,):–;
‘‘PanderinginthePublicSphere:MasculinityandtheMarketinHoratioAlger,’’
AmericanQuarterly,no.(September):–;‘‘TomSawyer’s
Masculinity,’’ArizonaQuarterly,no.(Winter):–;‘‘TheLimitsof
Sympathy:LouisaMayAlcottandtheSentimentalNovel,’’AmericanLiterary
History,no.(Winter):–.Allreprintedbypermission.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Hendler,Glenn,–
Publicsentiments:structuresoffeelinginnineteenth-centuryAmerican
literature/GlennHendler.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
---(alk.paper)—---(pbk.:alk.paper)
.Americanliterature—thcentury—Historyandcriticism. .Emotions
inliterature. .Didacticfiction,American—Historyandcriticism.
.Sentimentalisminliterature. .Sympathyinliterature. .Sexrolein
literature. I.Title.
. 
'.—dc -
         
Formymotherandmybrother,
inmemoryofmysisterandmyfather


Acknowledgments,ix
Introduction.
StructuresofFeelinginNineteenth-CenturyAmerica,
. ofthe 
 SentimentalExperience:
WhiteManhoodinsTemperanceNarratives,
 CivilityandCitizenship:
MartinDelany’sBlackPublicSphere,
 PanderinginthePublicSphere:
MasculinityandtheMarketinHoratioAlger’sFiction,
.
 AnUnequaledSystemofPublicity:
TheLogicofSympathyinWomen’sSentimentalFiction,
 PublicityIsPersonal:
FannyFern,NathanielParkerWillis,andHenryJames,
 GrowingUpinPublic:
TheBadBoyandHisAudiences,
Coda.
TowardaHistoryofIdentification,
Notes,
Index,


Thefirstreadersofpartsofthisbookwerethemembersof‘‘thedisserta-
tiongroup’’atNorthwestern,NinaMillerandNancyRing.Thoughonly
somepiecesofwhattheyreadremain,andeventhosehavebeenputinto
adifferentframe,Iamsuretheycanrecognizetheirinvaluableinfluence,
andIhopetheyknowhowmuchIappreciateit.BobFanuzzi,LaurieMil-
ner,DougPayne,andMattRobertswerealsogreatcolleaguesandcom-
patriotsduringthiswork’searlystages.Thanksforsupportandintellec-
tualinspirationarealsoduetoMichalGinsburg,MimiWhite,andNancy
Fraser.Ihadsure-handedguidancefromJohnBrenkman,GeraldGraff,
KenWarren,andespeciallyMichaelWarner.
Sustainingmethroughtheyearsofadjunctworkthatseemtohavebe-
comeprerequisitesforamorestableacademiccareerwerefriendsandcol-
leaguesattheUniversityofWesternOntario,includingTomCarmichael,
JulieDiCresce,JacquelineJenkins,SarahKing,MartyKreiswirth,Alison
Lee,JeffOgborne,andNicholasWatson.Thanksareduetothem,andto
othersfrommytimeinCanada,whichtaughtmetolookwithamoredis-
tancedeyeatpolitics,culture,andthepublicsphereintheUnitedStates.
As this project has grown and mutated over the years, my debts to
friendsandcolleagueshaveproliferated,andIworryaboutleavingsome-
oneoffthislist.Butitfeelstomelikeacontinuationofanongoingintellec-
tualconversation,andthosewhohaveparticipatedcan,Ihope,seetheir
contributions in the text itself. Special thanks are due to the members
of twowriting groups,one at Notre Dame (Doris Bergen, Kathy Bid-
dick,JuliaDouthwaite,BarbaraGreen,SandraGustafson,andChristian
Moevs)andanotherinChicago(LisaBrawley,ChrisCastiglia,LucyRine-
hart,andSandraGustafsonagain).Icanonlyhopethatallscholarshave
athandsuchagenerousandcriticallocalpublicfortheirwork.
ThanksaswelltoMaryChapman,mycoconspiratorintheessaycol-
lectiontitledSentimentalMen,notonlybecauseIcouldnotthankherin
thosepages,butalsobecauseherresponsestomyideashavealwaysmade
myworkbetter.GordonHutnerhelpedturnamassivechapteronAlcott
intoarelativelyconcisearticle;thoughIhavenowturneditintosome-
thingelseagain,hissuggestionsmadeitbetterthanitotherwisewould
havebeen.ManythankstoLoriMerishforsomegreatconversationsand
readings.MuchappreciationisduetoRobertLevineforintellectualhelp,
professionalsupport,andsoundadvice.Severalaudienceshaveresponded
totalksbasedonthisbook;suchdialoguenotonlymakestheworkbetter,
italsomakesitpleasurable.Inthatregard,especiallyworthmentioningare
audiencesatWesternOntario’sCentrefortheStudyofTheoryandCriti-
cismandtheCentreforAmericanStudies,andcolleaguesandstudents
whoparticipatedincolloquiasponsoredbyNotreDame’sGenderStudies
Program.AlsoatNotreDame,Ihavebenefitedgreatlyfromconversa-
tions with Gail Bederman, JayWalton, Jeanne Kilde, Mark Behr, John
Waters,LauraWinkiel,andespeciallyGloria-JeanMasciarotte,aswellas
withgraduatestudentsintwocoursesItaughton‘‘FictionsofthePub-
licSphere.’’ThankstoKatherineEldredforhelpwithclassicalreferences.
BruceBurgetthelpedmemorethanIdeserved;Icouldnothavedone
itwithouthim.ThankstoElizabethHelsingerforinvitingmetoteach
agraduatecourseonthismaterialattheUniversityofChicago,andto
thosestudentsforallowingmeanotheropportunitytotestoutmyideas.
HibacktoBrian,finally.Andthankstomymother,ConnieHendler,for
beingasupportiveandintellectuallycriticalreader.Initslaterstages,this
bookowesagreatdealtotwoanonymousreadersfortheUniversityof
NorthCarolinaPress,andespeciallytoSianHunteratthePress,whois
everythingonecouldaskforinaneditor.Moreinformalthanksaredue
toeveryoneattheHopleaf,aswellastoBillSavage,forhelpingtoputthe
pubinthepublicsphere.
WorkonthisbookwasfacilitatedbyfinancialsupportfromtheSocial
SciencesandHumanitiesResearchCouncilofCanadaandfromtheInsti-
tuteforScholarshipintheLiberalArtsattheUniversityofNotreDame.
Iamgratefultotheseorganizationsfortheirsupport.
Earlyinthisproject,mysisterdied;justasIcompletedit,Ilostmy
father to cancer.The usual frustrations and satisfactions entailed in the
longprocessofwritingabookwerethusovershadowedatcrucialtimesby
other,verydifferentfeelings.Thoughitmaybesentimentalitythatmakes
methinkso,IfeeltheabsenceofDadandKimsharply,atunexpectedmo-
ments,inreadingandrereadingthisbook.Itisdedicatedtotherestof
myfamily—mymother,ConnieHendler,andmybrother,DavidSloo—
inmemoryofmysister,KimHendler,andmyfather,GlennHendler.
x} Acknowledgments