The usable past
the imagination of history in recent fiction of the Americas
Our rough guess is there are 64,250 words in this book.
At a pace averaging 250 words per minute, this book will take 4 hours and 17 minutes to read. With a half hour per day, this will take 9 days to read.
How long will it take you?
This book will take an estimated to read at a reading speed averaging words per minute. With 30 minutes per day, this will take to read.
Enter your reading speedYou can take one of our WPM reading speed tests to find your reading speed.
Create a free account to track your reading progress, build your reading list, and set reading goals.
We earn a commission on purchases
Author
Publication
1997 - Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England
Language
English
Word Count
64,250 words, Guess
Page Count
257 pages
Identifiers
- Open LibraryOL1010690M
- ISBN-100521582539
- OCLC Control Number36011700
- OCLC Control Numberusablepastimagin00zamo
- Library of Congress Control Number96051160
and 2 more
- LibraryThing422869
- Goodreads1106894
Classifications
- DDC863
- LCCPQ7082.N7 Z35 1997
Description
The Usable Past presents a comparative discussion of American literary modes of historical imagining. Taking America in its hemispheric sense, Lois Parkinson Zamora presents a broad-ranging discussion of essential American voices - among them Borges, Hawthorne, Emerson, Williams, Paz, Carpentier, Cather, Fuentes, Cortazar, Rulfo, Cisneros, Puig, Vargas Llosa, Morrison. These writers dramatize the convergences and divergences of history and fiction as they question the nature of both. Zamora argues that they are impelled by a peculiarly American energy - what she calls an "anxiety of origins"--To search for precursors and connect to (or invent) usable traditions and histories. They conceive of originality not as novelty but as a complicated and enriched relation to their cultural traditions. How American writers thematize usable American pasts, and how their work itself becomes part of the usable past, is Zamora's overarching concern.
Subjects
Topics
Places
Times
Other Editions
- The usable past: the imagination of history in recent fiction of the Americas
Reader Reviews
No reviews yet for this book.
Be the first to share your thoughts!