Reforming Fictions : : Native, African, and Jewish American Women's Literature and Journalism in the Progressive Era / / Carol Batker.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Columbia University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Batker, Carol,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Columbia University Press, , [2000]; ©2000
• Year of Publication: 2000
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (256 p.)

Recovering a lost chapter of literary and political history, this fresh, multicultural reading of the work of women writers of the Progressive era situates their fiction in the context of their reform journalism and political activism. As Native, African, and Jewish American women gained access to education, developed women's clubs, and joined political organizations, they wrote to reform the nation, engaging themselves politically and creating a cross-cultural dialogue between journalism and fiction. Early in this century, writers such as Zitkala-Sa, Mourning Dove, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, and Anzia Yezierska developed their writing careers through affiliations with reform organizations. They worked for Pan-Indianism, racial uplift, immigrant aid, or social welfare. Carol Batker explores the impact of their journalism and political work on their fiction. She demonstrates points of contact among these women that suggest mutual influence and conversations across racial and ethnic lines-revealing important historical antecedents to contemporary debates about multiculturalism in America.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. "Her Rightful Place In The New Scheme Of Things": Native American Women'S Journalism In The Dawes Era -- 2. " 'Wantin' To Wear Th' Breeches And Boss Th' Hull Shebang'": Reservations And Romance In Mourning. Dove'S Cogewea -- 3. "The Democracy For Which We Have Paid": Jessie Fauset And World War I Controversies In The African American Press -- 4. "An 'Honest-To-God' American": Patriotism, Foreignness, And Domesticity In Jessie Fauset'S Fiction -- 5. "Why Should You Ask For Ease?": Jewish Women'S Journalism In The English-Language Press -- 6. "Mingling With Her People In Their Ghetto": Immigrant Aid And The New Woman In Jewish Women'S Fiction -- Afterword -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index