Romantic Education in Nineteenth-Century American Literature by Elbert, Monika; Ginsberg, Lesley;

Short description:

The essays in this collection examine the on-going influence of Romanticism in the long nineteenth century on American thinking about education, as depicted in literary texts, in historical accounts of classroom dynamics, or in pedagogical treatises.

Long description:

American publishing in the long nineteenth century was flooded with readers, primers, teaching-training manuals, children’s literature, and popular periodicals aimed at families. These publications attest to an abiding faith in the power of pedagogy that has its roots in transatlantic Romantic conceptions of pedagogy and literacy.

The essays in this collection examine the on-going influence of Romanticism in the long nineteenth century on American thinking about education, as depicted in literary texts, in historical accounts of classroom dynamics, or in pedagogical treatises. They also point out that though this influence was generally progressive, the benefits of this social change did not reach many parts of American society. This book is therefore an important reference for scholars of Romantic studies, American studies, historical pedagogy and education.

"This fascinating collection provides a rich range of well-researched and clearly written essays focusing on Romanticism, pedagogy, and the child in nineteenth-century United States literatures and culture. These smart, inviting essays will change the ways that readers think about United States education movements in the nineteenth century and today." -- Laura Laffrado, Department of English, Western Washington University, USA

'Here, the aim of Elbert and Ginsberg is to offer “a sustained analysis of the interrelationships among pedagogies, Romanticism, and the figure of the child” (7). This they achieve masterfully.' - Cynthia Schoolar Williams, Wentworth Institute of Technology, European Romantic Review, 27:4

Table of Contents:

Introduction Monika M. Elbert and Lesley Ginsberg  Part I: Transcendental Education  1. Romantic Reform and Boys: Bronson Alcott’s Materialist Pedagogy Ken Parille and Anne Mallory  2. Teaching Transcendentalism in Elizabeth Palmer Peabody’s Aesthetic Papers Ricardo Miguel Alfonso  3. Educating Jo March: Plumfield, Romanticism, and the Tomboy Trajectory in the Alcott Trilogy Kristen Proehl  4. Imagination and Apocalypse: Christopher Cranch’s Novels for Young Readers Bruce Ronda  Part II: Romantic Education: Origins and Legacies  5. Susanna Rowson and Early Romantic Pedagogies Lorinda B. Cohoon  6. Puppetmasters and Their Toys: Transformation of Tabula Rasa in Tales of Hoffmann, Hawthorne, Alcott, and Baum Holly Blackford  7. Storytelling and the Law: Performance Pedagogy in the Novels of E.D.E.N. Southworth Joyce Warren  8. ‘What has the artist done about it?’: Jane Addams, Educational Reform, and the Work of Art Anne Bruder  Part III: Race and Romantic Pedagogies  9. Race and Romantic Pedagogies in the Works of Lydia Maria Child Lesley Ginsberg  10. Rhetoric or Romance? Opposition and Progress in Frederick Douglass’s Re-Presentations of Literacy Wendy Ryden  11. Upholding and Subverting Didacticism: Antislavery Iconography and the Abolitionist Poetry of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Valerie D. Levy  12. The ‘Indian Problem’ in Elaine Goodale Eastman’s Authorship: Gender and Racial Identity Tensions Unsettling a Romantic Pedagogy Sarah Ruffing Robbins  Part IV: Romantic Pedagogies and the Resistant Child  13. Engendering Fantasy in Romantic Children’s Fiction Derek Pacheco  14. Nineteenth-Century Pedagogies of Unruly Childhood: Emerson, Hawthorne, Stowe, Alcott, Twain Carol Singley  15. Lessons Learned: Genre and Paternal Desire in Martha Finley’s Elsie Dinsmore Series Allison Giffen  16. Narratives of Teaching and Disability in Nineteenth-Century Children’s Literature Monika M. Elbert