Routledge Grief and Genre in American Literature 1790-1870 - Routledge

Grief and Genre in American Literature, 1790-1870 by Routledge examines how literary genres shaped American understandings of death and mourning across two centuries. Desiree Henderson analyses novelistic portrayals of death by William Hill Brown, Susanna Rowson, and Hannah Webster, tracing how these authors borrowed from and challenged funeral sermon conventions. The study contrasts eulogies for George Washington with William Apess's "Eulogy for King Philip," revealing tensions between national ideology and indigenous history. This scholarly work explores literary texts and social spaces devoted to death and mourning in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century America, demonstrating the intricate relationship between genre conventions and cultural conceptions of dying. Essential reading for students of American literature, history, and cultural studies seeking to understand how writers negotiated grief, loss, and historical memory during the early American period.