Mythologia Americana - Willa Cather's Nebraska Novels and the Myth of the Frontier

Mythologia Americana - Willa Cather's Nebraska Novels and the Myth of the Frontier

Author: Bernhard Wenzl

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2008-09

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 3640149092

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Diploma Thesis from the year 2001 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: Sehr gut, University of Vienna, 115 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: America's collective memory rests on mythic regions: the planter's South, the Puritan's East, and the pioneer's West. It is the latter which covers a genuinely American experience. For almost three hundred years the westward expansion determined the nation's thought and action. Millions of pioneers were pouring into the Great West. By settling the country those people brought civilization to the wilderness. Their efforts at cultivating the virgin land helped to transform the prairie region into an agricultural empire. The pioneer age had a great influence on American history and its spirit was a vital factor in the formation of the national character. The effects of the frontier heritage are still strongly felt in American society and culture. As one of the three mythic regions, the pioneer's West forms an integral part of America's identity today. Willa Cather made her contribution to it in literature. Often regarded as among the best imaginative accounts of frontier life in American letters, O Pioneers (1913), My ntonia (1918), and A Lost Lady (1923) demonstrate Cather's poetic responses to the prairie West. These three novels illustrate her adaptation of the pioneering theme to the Great Plains region and reveal her preoccupation with history, memory, and identity on a national, regional, and individual scale. Their stories reflect her creative use of the popular myth of the frontier and the literary figure of the pioneer. As a rule, the novelist presents pioneer characters against a Nebraska background and places them at the centre of collective and private conflicts. Her artistic imagination turns to aspects usually left out from celebrations of the frontier experience in the rural West.


Book Synopsis Mythologia Americana - Willa Cather's Nebraska Novels and the Myth of the Frontier by : Bernhard Wenzl

Download or read book Mythologia Americana - Willa Cather's Nebraska Novels and the Myth of the Frontier written by Bernhard Wenzl and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2008-09 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diploma Thesis from the year 2001 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: Sehr gut, University of Vienna, 115 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: America's collective memory rests on mythic regions: the planter's South, the Puritan's East, and the pioneer's West. It is the latter which covers a genuinely American experience. For almost three hundred years the westward expansion determined the nation's thought and action. Millions of pioneers were pouring into the Great West. By settling the country those people brought civilization to the wilderness. Their efforts at cultivating the virgin land helped to transform the prairie region into an agricultural empire. The pioneer age had a great influence on American history and its spirit was a vital factor in the formation of the national character. The effects of the frontier heritage are still strongly felt in American society and culture. As one of the three mythic regions, the pioneer's West forms an integral part of America's identity today. Willa Cather made her contribution to it in literature. Often regarded as among the best imaginative accounts of frontier life in American letters, O Pioneers (1913), My ntonia (1918), and A Lost Lady (1923) demonstrate Cather's poetic responses to the prairie West. These three novels illustrate her adaptation of the pioneering theme to the Great Plains region and reveal her preoccupation with history, memory, and identity on a national, regional, and individual scale. Their stories reflect her creative use of the popular myth of the frontier and the literary figure of the pioneer. As a rule, the novelist presents pioneer characters against a Nebraska background and places them at the centre of collective and private conflicts. Her artistic imagination turns to aspects usually left out from celebrations of the frontier experience in the rural West.

Willa Cather My Antonia

Willa Cather My Antonia

Author: Willa Cather

Publisher: BoD - Books on Demand

Published: 2017-05-02

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 2322145521

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Willa Cather My Ántonia : Unabridged Text with Introduction, Biography and Analysis My Ántonia is a novel published in 1918 by American writer Willa Cather, considered one of her best works. It is the final book of her "prairie trilogy" of novels, preceded by O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark. The novel tells the stories of an orphaned boy from Virginia, Jim Burden, and the elder daughter in a family of Bohemian immigrants, Ántonia Shimerda, who are each brought as children to be pioneers in Nebraska towards the end of the 19th century. Both the pioneers who first break the prairie sod for farming, as well as of the harsh but fertile land itself, feature in this American novel. The first year in the very new place leaves strong impressions in both children, affecting them lifelong. This novel is considered Cather's first masterpiece. Cather was praised for bringing the American West to life and making it personally interesting. This edition includes the full original version of the Willa Cather's book and provides other valuable features under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, including a commented introduction, helpful bibliography, author's biography, notes, references, and much more.


Book Synopsis Willa Cather My Antonia by : Willa Cather

Download or read book Willa Cather My Antonia written by Willa Cather and published by BoD - Books on Demand. This book was released on 2017-05-02 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Willa Cather My Ántonia : Unabridged Text with Introduction, Biography and Analysis My Ántonia is a novel published in 1918 by American writer Willa Cather, considered one of her best works. It is the final book of her "prairie trilogy" of novels, preceded by O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark. The novel tells the stories of an orphaned boy from Virginia, Jim Burden, and the elder daughter in a family of Bohemian immigrants, Ántonia Shimerda, who are each brought as children to be pioneers in Nebraska towards the end of the 19th century. Both the pioneers who first break the prairie sod for farming, as well as of the harsh but fertile land itself, feature in this American novel. The first year in the very new place leaves strong impressions in both children, affecting them lifelong. This novel is considered Cather's first masterpiece. Cather was praised for bringing the American West to life and making it personally interesting. This edition includes the full original version of the Willa Cather's book and provides other valuable features under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, including a commented introduction, helpful bibliography, author's biography, notes, references, and much more.

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Author: Willa Cather

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2011-08-24

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0307805220

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Willa Cather's best known novel is an epic—almost mythic—story of a single human life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert. In 1851 Father Jean Marie Latour comes to serve as the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. What he finds is a vast territory of red hills and tortuous arroyos, American by law but Mexican and Indian in custom and belief. In the almost forty years that follow, Latour spreads his faith in the only way he knows--gently, all the while contending with an unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness. Out of these events, Cather gives us an indelible vision of life unfolding in a place where time itself seems suspended. BONUS: The edition includes an excerpt from The Selected Letters of Willa Cather.


Book Synopsis Death Comes for the Archbishop by : Willa Cather

Download or read book Death Comes for the Archbishop written by Willa Cather and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-08-24 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Willa Cather's best known novel is an epic—almost mythic—story of a single human life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert. In 1851 Father Jean Marie Latour comes to serve as the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. What he finds is a vast territory of red hills and tortuous arroyos, American by law but Mexican and Indian in custom and belief. In the almost forty years that follow, Latour spreads his faith in the only way he knows--gently, all the while contending with an unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness. Out of these events, Cather gives us an indelible vision of life unfolding in a place where time itself seems suspended. BONUS: The edition includes an excerpt from The Selected Letters of Willa Cather.

My Antonia

My Antonia

Author: Willa Cather

Publisher: Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing

Published: 2021-01-08

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13:

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My Antonia is a novel by an American writer Willa Cather. It is the final book of the "prairie trilogy" of novels, preceded by O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark. The novel tells the stories of an orphaned boy from Virginia, Jim Burden, and Antonia Shimerda, the daughter of Bohemian immigrants. They are both became pioneers and settled in Nebraska in the end of the 19th century. The first year in the very new place leaves strong impressions in both children, affecting them lifelong. The narrator and the main character of the novel My Antonia, Jim grows up in Black Hawk, Nebraska from age 10 Eventually, he becomes a successful lawyer and moves to New York City.


Book Synopsis My Antonia by : Willa Cather

Download or read book My Antonia written by Willa Cather and published by Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing. This book was released on 2021-01-08 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My Antonia is a novel by an American writer Willa Cather. It is the final book of the "prairie trilogy" of novels, preceded by O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark. The novel tells the stories of an orphaned boy from Virginia, Jim Burden, and Antonia Shimerda, the daughter of Bohemian immigrants. They are both became pioneers and settled in Nebraska in the end of the 19th century. The first year in the very new place leaves strong impressions in both children, affecting them lifelong. The narrator and the main character of the novel My Antonia, Jim grows up in Black Hawk, Nebraska from age 10 Eventually, he becomes a successful lawyer and moves to New York City.

The Spell Cast by Remains

The Spell Cast by Remains

Author: Patricia Ross

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-05-23

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 1135505039

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First published in 2006. Examining the constituting mechanism of the American wilderness myth in Modern American literature, Patricia Ross probes the various purposes for which 'wilderness' is constructed. Considering the work of Hemingway, Faulkner, and Cather, she states that the idea of wilderness is just that, an idea, and not a real entity or something that deserves to be wasted in the chasm of deconstruction. Discovering how literature can help us to understand how we can exert causative control of the myths we create about ourselves, this book is an important contribution to the field.


Book Synopsis The Spell Cast by Remains by : Patricia Ross

Download or read book The Spell Cast by Remains written by Patricia Ross and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-05-23 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2006. Examining the constituting mechanism of the American wilderness myth in Modern American literature, Patricia Ross probes the various purposes for which 'wilderness' is constructed. Considering the work of Hemingway, Faulkner, and Cather, she states that the idea of wilderness is just that, an idea, and not a real entity or something that deserves to be wasted in the chasm of deconstruction. Discovering how literature can help us to understand how we can exert causative control of the myths we create about ourselves, this book is an important contribution to the field.

One of Ours

One of Ours

Author: Willa Cather

Publisher: e-artnow

Published: 2022-01-04

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13:

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Claude Wheeler is a young man who was born after the American frontier has vanished. The son of a successful farmer and an intensely pious mother, Wheeler is guaranteed a comfortable livelihood. Nevertheless, Wheeler views himself as a victim of his father's success and his own inexplicable malaise.Thus, devoid of parental and spousal love, Wheeler finds a new purpose to his life in France, a faraway country that only existed for him in maps before the First World War. Will Wheeler ever succeed in his new goal? The novel is inspired from real-life events and also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1923.


Book Synopsis One of Ours by : Willa Cather

Download or read book One of Ours written by Willa Cather and published by e-artnow. This book was released on 2022-01-04 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Claude Wheeler is a young man who was born after the American frontier has vanished. The son of a successful farmer and an intensely pious mother, Wheeler is guaranteed a comfortable livelihood. Nevertheless, Wheeler views himself as a victim of his father's success and his own inexplicable malaise.Thus, devoid of parental and spousal love, Wheeler finds a new purpose to his life in France, a faraway country that only existed for him in maps before the First World War. Will Wheeler ever succeed in his new goal? The novel is inspired from real-life events and also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1923.

Under the Sun

Under the Sun

Author: Barbara Howard Meldrum

Publisher:

Published: 1985

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13:

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"The scholarly standard of the contributions is uniformly high. Professor Meldrum has put forth a stimulating book on a central theme in Western literary studies."Western American Literature


Book Synopsis Under the Sun by : Barbara Howard Meldrum

Download or read book Under the Sun written by Barbara Howard Meldrum and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The scholarly standard of the contributions is uniformly high. Professor Meldrum has put forth a stimulating book on a central theme in Western literary studies."Western American Literature

O Pioneers!

O Pioneers!

Author: Willa Cather

Publisher: Union Square & Co.

Published: 2024-06-25

Total Pages: 127

ISBN-13: 1454954582

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When the Bergson family leave their home in Sweden to travel to the United States in search of a better life, they, like many immigrants, are awed by the beautiful harshness of their new life in Nebraska. When their father, John Bergson, grows sick and dies, he leaves the farm in the hands of his eldest daughter Alexandra Bergson. Resourceful and determined, Alexandra devotes her life to her family's farm, determined to prosper even as her neighbors are overwhelmed by the unremitting demands of pioneer life. But when she falls in love with her childhood friend, Carl Linstrum, Alexandra must choose between her duty to the land, and to her heart. A spirited celebration of the immigrants who have shaped the United States, O Pioneers! is a masterpiece by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.


Book Synopsis O Pioneers! by : Willa Cather

Download or read book O Pioneers! written by Willa Cather and published by Union Square & Co.. This book was released on 2024-06-25 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Bergson family leave their home in Sweden to travel to the United States in search of a better life, they, like many immigrants, are awed by the beautiful harshness of their new life in Nebraska. When their father, John Bergson, grows sick and dies, he leaves the farm in the hands of his eldest daughter Alexandra Bergson. Resourceful and determined, Alexandra devotes her life to her family's farm, determined to prosper even as her neighbors are overwhelmed by the unremitting demands of pioneer life. But when she falls in love with her childhood friend, Carl Linstrum, Alexandra must choose between her duty to the land, and to her heart. A spirited celebration of the immigrants who have shaped the United States, O Pioneers! is a masterpiece by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

American Women and Classical Myths

American Women and Classical Myths

Author: Gregory Allan Staley

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13:

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American women, in contrast to their European counterparts, have long engaged with and critiqued the myths of antiquity. American Women and Classical Myths is a collection of essays exploring the paradoxical attitudes that women in the U.S. have exhibited over a span of more than two centuries. Contributors address two broad topics. They examine the attempts of several influential American women, including Margaret Fuller, Edith Hamilton and Hilda Doolittle, to interpret myth for an audience that distrusted it. In addition, they show how American women have reinterpreted myths about women such as Antigone, Penelope, or the Amazons to create identities appropriate to women in the New World.


Book Synopsis American Women and Classical Myths by : Gregory Allan Staley

Download or read book American Women and Classical Myths written by Gregory Allan Staley and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American women, in contrast to their European counterparts, have long engaged with and critiqued the myths of antiquity. American Women and Classical Myths is a collection of essays exploring the paradoxical attitudes that women in the U.S. have exhibited over a span of more than two centuries. Contributors address two broad topics. They examine the attempts of several influential American women, including Margaret Fuller, Edith Hamilton and Hilda Doolittle, to interpret myth for an audience that distrusted it. In addition, they show how American women have reinterpreted myths about women such as Antigone, Penelope, or the Amazons to create identities appropriate to women in the New World.

The Nature of the Place

The Nature of the Place

Author: Diane Dufva Quantic

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 1995-06-01

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9780803288508

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The Great Plains has long been fertile ground for literature. The Nature of the Place is a comprehensive study of novels and stories by such Plains writers as Willa Cather, Wright Morris, Mari Sandoz, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frederick Manfred, Wallace Stegner, and Bess Streeter Aldrich. Throughout, Diane Dufva Quantic is aware of the region’s collective social and cultural history—aware of the immensely fruitful clash between that complex history and Plains myth (such as “Garden of the World” and “Great American Desert”). In the vast and changeable Great Plains, as Wright Morris once remarked, “Many things would come to pass, but the nature of the place would remain a matter of opinion.”


Book Synopsis The Nature of the Place by : Diane Dufva Quantic

Download or read book The Nature of the Place written by Diane Dufva Quantic and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 1995-06-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Great Plains has long been fertile ground for literature. The Nature of the Place is a comprehensive study of novels and stories by such Plains writers as Willa Cather, Wright Morris, Mari Sandoz, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frederick Manfred, Wallace Stegner, and Bess Streeter Aldrich. Throughout, Diane Dufva Quantic is aware of the region’s collective social and cultural history—aware of the immensely fruitful clash between that complex history and Plains myth (such as “Garden of the World” and “Great American Desert”). In the vast and changeable Great Plains, as Wright Morris once remarked, “Many things would come to pass, but the nature of the place would remain a matter of opinion.”