Proper Mark Twain
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Proper Mark Twain
University of Georgia Press, 1999
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-296) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Mark Twain is often seen as a transgressive humorist out to undermine the conventional. But there is another Twain, argues Leland Krauth, one who honours conventions, espouses commonplace notions and upholds the moralities of his time. This Twain stays within the boundaries of his culture. This study redefines the persona of the humorist to include this bounded Twain, who affirms the dominant values of Victorian America. It argues that the proper Twain informs all the writer's major works, appears in the early eastern writings, the personal courtship letters, and the final autobiographical dictations. The proper Twain confirms and upholds humorously what the transgressive Twain seems to subvert. Krauth finds manifestations of the conventional in Twain's cultural imperialism, literary domesticity, sentimentality, commitment to progress, and even his humour. Further, he argues that the bounded Twain speaks not only to appease his culture but to express deeply held convictions. This study aims to determine just how orthodox Twain was, and to what extent he was a product of the culture he seemed to oppose.
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