Shirley Jackson's American Gothic

Darryl Hattenhauer

Description

Best known for her short story "The Lottery" and her novel The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson produced a body of work that is more varied and complex than critics have realized. In fact, as Darryl Hattenhauer argues here, Jackson was one of the few writers to anticipate the transition from modernism to postmodernism, and therefore ranks among the most significant writers of her time. The first comprehensive study of all of Jackson's fiction, Shirley Jackson's American Gothic offers readers the chance not only to rediscover her work, but also to see how and why a major American writer was passed over for inclusion in the canon of American literature.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Shirley Jackson and Proto-Postmodernism

1. Some Conditions of Production

2. The Lottery or, The Adventures of James Harris (1949)

3. Come Along with Me: Part of a Novel, Sixteen Stories, and Three Lectures (1968)

4. Just an Ordinary Day (1996)

5. The Road Through the Wall (1948)

6. Hangsaman (1951)

7. The Bird’s Nest (1954)

8. The Sundial (1958)

9. The Haunting of Hill House (1959)

10. We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962)

Afterword

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780791487426
• Langue: English

Extrait

Shirley Jackson’s

American Gothic

This page intentionally left blank.

Shirley Jackson’s American Gothic

Darryl Hattenhauer

S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Yo r k P r e s s

Published by

S t at e U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Yo r k P r e s s , A l b a n y

© 2003 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Christine L. Hamel Marketing by Patrick J. Durocher

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hattenhauer, Darryl. Shirley Jackson’s American gothic / by Darryl Hattenhauer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5607-2—ISBN 0-7914-5608-0 (pbk.) 1. Jackson, Shirley, 1916–1965—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Horror tales, American—History and criticism. 3. Gothic revival (Literature)—United States. I. Title.

PS3519.A392 Z7 2003 813'.54—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2002075874

For Andy, John, Kim, and Laura

This page intentionally left blank.

Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction: Shirley Jackson and Proto-Postmodernism

1. Some Conditions of Production

2.The Lottery or, The Adventures of James Harris(1949)

3.Come Along with Me: Part of a Novel, Sixteen Stories, and Three Lectures(1968)

4.Just an Ordinary Day(1996)

5.The Road Through the Wall(1948)

6.Hangsaman(1951)

7.The Bird’s Nest(1954)

8.The Sundial(1958)

9.The Haunting of Hill House(1959)

10.We Have Always Lived in the Castle(1962)

Afterword

Notes

Works Cited

Index

vii

i

x

1

1

5

2

4

6

9

9

7

8

3

9

9

119

137

155

175

191

195

209

223

This page intentionally left blank.

Acknowledgments

Conversations with numerous fiction writers influenced this study: Russell Banks, Ron Carlson, Christina Garcia, Barry Hannah, William Kennedy, Steven Millhauser, Alberto Ros, Marilynne Robinson, Lynn Sharon Schwartz, Mona Simpson, Will Weaver, James Welch, and Hilma Wolitzer. Several participants in a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute at the University of California at Berkeley strength- ened this study’s theoretical underpinning: Stuart Culver, Wai-Chee Dimock, Michael Fried, Gregory S. Jay, David Lubin, Walter Benn Michaels, Richard H. Millington, Ross Posnock, Mark Seltzer, and Christopher Wilson. Also influential were conversations with Eugenia C. DeLamotte, Teresa L. Ebert, Philip Furia, Jan Nordby Gretlund, Edward M. Griffin, Hamlin Hill, Julio Jeha, Arthur Kinney, Thais Mor- gan, David W. Noble, David Nye, Donna Przbylowicz, Douglas Robin- son, Judith Sensibar, and Madelon Sprengnether. Several colleagues read all or part of the manuscript: Dorothy Broaddus, Joseph Comprone, Victoria Hay, Ian Moulton, Arthur Saba- tini, Cynthia Tompkins, Priscilla Van Dam, Eric Wertheimer, and William H. Young. The State University of New York Press’ outside readers provided everything from sources of Shirley Jackson’s allusions to rectifications of arguments. At the Library of Congress, Alice L. Birney, James H. Hutson, and Mary Wolfskill were invaluable. At Arizona State University West’s Fletcher Library, Joseph Buenker tracked down a lot of citation infor- mation missing from the newspaper clippings in the Shirley Jackson Papers; Dennis Isbell and Lisa Kammerlocher shepherded many litera- ture searches; and Sondra Brough, Milli Herrschaft, and Sharon

i

x