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The Difficult Art of Giving : Patronage, Philanthropy, and the American Literary Market / Francesca Sawaya.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Haney Foundation SeriesPublisher: Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2014]Copyright date: ©2014Description: 1 online resource (264 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780812246308
  • 9780812290035
Subject(s): Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface. From the Harlem Renaissance -- Introduction. ''The Difficult Art of Giving'' -- Chapter 1. American Generosity: Philanthropy in Henry James -- Chapter 2. ''Livin' on My Money'': The Politics of Gratitude and Ingratitude in Howells -- Chapter 3. ''The Gospel of Self'': Philanthropy and Political Economy in Mark Twain -- Chapter 4. ''That Friendship of the Whites'': Patronage and Philanthropy in Charles Chesnutt -- Chapter 5. ''Inexplicable Tangles of Personality'': Patronage, Philanthropy, and Progressive Irony in Theodore Dreiser -- Afterword -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Acknowledgments
Summary: The Difficult Art of Giving rethinks standard economic histories of the literary marketplace. Traditionally, American literary histories maintain that the post-Civil War period marked the transition from a system of elite patronage and genteel amateurism to what is described as the free literary market and an era of self-supporting professionalism. These histories assert that the market helped to democratize literary production and consumption, enabling writers to sustain themselves without the need for private sponsorship. By contrast, Francesca Sawaya demonstrates the continuing importance of patronage and the new significance of corporate-based philanthropy for cultural production in the United States in the postbellum and modern periods.Focusing on Henry James, William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, Charles Chesnutt, and Theodore Dreiser, Sawaya explores the notions of a free market in cultural goods and the autonomy of the author. Building on debates in the history of the emotions, the history and sociology of philanthropy, feminist theory, and the new economic criticism, Sawaya examines these major writers' careers as well as their rich and complex representations of the economic world. Their work, she argues, demonstrates that patronage and corporate-based philanthropy helped construct the putatively free market in literature. The book thereby highlights the social and economic interventions that shape markets, challenging old and contemporary forms of free market fundamentalism.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface. From the Harlem Renaissance -- Introduction. ''The Difficult Art of Giving'' -- Chapter 1. American Generosity: Philanthropy in Henry James -- Chapter 2. ''Livin' on My Money'': The Politics of Gratitude and Ingratitude in Howells -- Chapter 3. ''The Gospel of Self'': Philanthropy and Political Economy in Mark Twain -- Chapter 4. ''That Friendship of the Whites'': Patronage and Philanthropy in Charles Chesnutt -- Chapter 5. ''Inexplicable Tangles of Personality'': Patronage, Philanthropy, and Progressive Irony in Theodore Dreiser -- Afterword -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Acknowledgments

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The Difficult Art of Giving rethinks standard economic histories of the literary marketplace. Traditionally, American literary histories maintain that the post-Civil War period marked the transition from a system of elite patronage and genteel amateurism to what is described as the free literary market and an era of self-supporting professionalism. These histories assert that the market helped to democratize literary production and consumption, enabling writers to sustain themselves without the need for private sponsorship. By contrast, Francesca Sawaya demonstrates the continuing importance of patronage and the new significance of corporate-based philanthropy for cultural production in the United States in the postbellum and modern periods.Focusing on Henry James, William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, Charles Chesnutt, and Theodore Dreiser, Sawaya explores the notions of a free market in cultural goods and the autonomy of the author. Building on debates in the history of the emotions, the history and sociology of philanthropy, feminist theory, and the new economic criticism, Sawaya examines these major writers' careers as well as their rich and complex representations of the economic world. Their work, she argues, demonstrates that patronage and corporate-based philanthropy helped construct the putatively free market in literature. The book thereby highlights the social and economic interventions that shape markets, challenging old and contemporary forms of free market fundamentalism.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021)