"Ambrose Bierce and the Dance of Death "uses psychoanalytic theory in combination with ... more "Ambrose Bierce and the Dance of Death "uses psychoanalytic theory in combination with historical, cultural, and literary contexts to examine the complex motif of death in a full range of Bierce s writings. Scholarly interest in Bierce, whose work has long been undervalued, has grown significantly in recent years. This new book contributes to the ongoing reassessment by providing new contexts for joining the texts in his canon in meaningful ways. Previous attempts to consider Bierce from a psychological perspective have been superficial, often reductive Freudian readings of individual stories such as An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and The Death of Halpin Frayser. This new volume not only updates these interpretations with insights from post-Freudian theorists but uses contemporary death theory as a framework to analyze the sources and expressions of Bierce s attitudes about death and dying. This approach makes it possible to discern links among texts that resolve some of the still puzzling ambiguities that have until now precluded a fuller understanding of both the man and his writings. Lively and engaging, "Ambrose Bierce and the Dance of Death" adds valuable new insights not only to the study of Bierce but to that of nineteenth-century American literature in general."
This essay provides a critical introduction to Maria Jane McIntosh`s novel Two Pictures; or, What... more This essay provides a critical introduction to Maria Jane McIntosh`s novel Two Pictures; or, What We Think of Ourselves and What the World Thinks of Us. Published in the midst of the United States Civil War, this novel takes a strongly regional stance to frame the political issues and ideologies related to the war and southern society`s patriarchal structure in established literary contexts and a familiar narrative structure. As a result, when it was published, it appealed to a popular readership that was anxious to defend itself and retain faith in the possibility of cultural and social continuity. By recovering and reading Two Pictures today we can enrich our understanding of the time period and the role that such literature played in the ultimately unsuccessful effort to validate and sustain the Old South`s distinctive socioeconomic and cultural identity.
Predominantly darker than his other works, Cape Cod depicts Henry David Thoreau's interpretat... more Predominantly darker than his other works, Cape Cod depicts Henry David Thoreau's interpretation of life as a struggle for survival and a search for salvation in a stark New England setting. Representing Thoreau's greatest test of the goodness of God and nature, the book illustrates the centrality of the subject of death to Thoreau's philosophy of life. Contending that Thoreau's journey to the Cape originated from an intensely personal transcendental impulse connected with his brother's death, this study provides the first in-depth examination of Thoreau's use of the five senses in Cape Cod to reveal both the eccentricities inherent in his relationship with nature and his method of resolving his fears of mortality. Some of the sense impressions in Cape Cod--particularly those that center around human death and those that involve tactile sensations--suggest that Thoreau sometimes tried to master his fears by subconsciously altering painful historical facts or ...
In Cape Cod, Thoreau presents his journey to a stark and undomesticated New England setting that ... more In Cape Cod, Thoreau presents his journey to a stark and undomesticated New England setting that in his day offered bleak and foreign views far different from the homelike familiarity that his sojourn to Walden Pond afforded. Because many interpret Cape Cod as proof of Thoreau's loss of faith, they are unable to reconcile it with the philosophy of Walden. Offering an alternative to such readings, this study examines Thoreau's symbolic use of food and drink imagery in Cape Cod to support the view that rather than negating the writer's transcendental perspective, the book instead tests, reconfirms, and extends the convictions presented in Walden about the life cycle, the relationship between nature and humanity, and the spiritual benefits of a life lived close to nature. ********** Thoreau's concerns about mid-nineteenth-century American society e well known. His attitude toward dietary matters reflects his fundamental conviction that life is best lived simply, with mo...
Student Companion to Herman Melville provides a critical introduction to the life and literary wo... more Student Companion to Herman Melville provides a critical introduction to the life and literary works of Herman Melville, the nineteenth-century American author of Moby-Dick, as well as nine other novels and numerous short stories and poems. In addition to providing an overview of Melville's life in relation to his literary works, the book places his writings within their historical and cultural contexts, and then examines each of his major works fully, at the level of the nonspecialist and generalist reader. The chapters that address major works by Melville feature close readings of the literary texts that include analysis of point of view, setting, plot, characters, symbolism, themes, and historical contexts when appropriate. In addition, the four chapters devoted to individual novels, as well as the chapter on Melville's poetry, feature alternate readings to introduce the reader to postcolonial, feminist, genre, reader response, and deconstructionist approaches to literary...
In “The Pornography of Death,” an essay originally published in 1955 and later incorporated into ... more In “The Pornography of Death,” an essay originally published in 1955 and later incorporated into a book-length study, anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer was the first to document a dramatic shift between Victorian and contemporary attitudes toward sexuality and death. Victorian society viewed death as a natural, integral part of life, while sexuality was considered obscene and pornographic, a topic unfit for polite conversation and social discourse. In the 20th century, however, Gorer locates an “unremarked shift in prudery; whereas copulation has become more and more ‘mentionable,’ particularly in the Anglo-Saxon societies, death has become more and more ‘unmentionable’ as a natural process” (195). Responding to Gorer's provocative argument, other scholars have confirmed this cultural shift from acceptance to fear and denial of death, and as popular interest in this phenomenon has developed in the United States, a credible canon of study has formed to fill the previous void in schol...
In “The Pornography of Death,” an essay originally published in 1955 and later incorporated into ... more In “The Pornography of Death,” an essay originally published in 1955 and later incorporated into a book-length study, anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer was the first to document a dramatic shift between Victorian and contemporary attitudes toward sexuality and death. Victorian society viewed death as a natural, integral part of life, while sexuality was considered obscene and pornographic, a topic unfit for polite conversation and social discourse. In the 20th century, however, Gorer locates an “unremarked shift in prudery; whereas copulation has become more and more ‘mentionable,’ particularly in the Anglo-Saxon societies, death has become more and more ‘unmentionable’ as a natural process” (195). Responding to Gorer's provocative argument, other scholars have confirmed this cultural shift from acceptance to fear and denial of death, and as popular interest in this phenomenon has developed in the United States, a credible canon of study has formed to fill the previous void in scholarship regarding the historical, psychological, and cultural dimensions of death that simultaneously fascinate and silence Americans. As a result, death in recent decades has become an acceptable field of scholarly inquiry. However, although often viscerally aroused by abstract death and irresistibly drawn to its depiction, Americans as a society remain uncomfortable with death's immediate implications and, in many contexts, avoid contemplating its relationship to their own lives and the lives of those around them.In contrast, as Charles O. Jackson observes, “The popular mind of antebellum America was saturated with open concern about death,” a concern prompted not only “by ‘actuarial prevalence’ but by ‘existential proximity’ Life expectancy throughout the century remained limited, measured against today's standards, approximately forty years in 1850 and forty-seven at the close of the century” (61).
Ambrose Bierce, whose writings are replete with themes and images of violent death, is most remem... more Ambrose Bierce, whose writings are replete with themes and images of violent death, is most remembered today for his Civil War short stories, and especially for the much anthologized "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." A number of Bierce's tales and essays, however, feature family violence and parricide, suggesting that the author's obsessive concern with death may have earlier antecedents
"Ambrose Bierce and the Dance of Death "uses psychoanalytic theory in combination with ... more "Ambrose Bierce and the Dance of Death "uses psychoanalytic theory in combination with historical, cultural, and literary contexts to examine the complex motif of death in a full range of Bierce s writings. Scholarly interest in Bierce, whose work has long been undervalued, has grown significantly in recent years. This new book contributes to the ongoing reassessment by providing new contexts for joining the texts in his canon in meaningful ways. Previous attempts to consider Bierce from a psychological perspective have been superficial, often reductive Freudian readings of individual stories such as An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and The Death of Halpin Frayser. This new volume not only updates these interpretations with insights from post-Freudian theorists but uses contemporary death theory as a framework to analyze the sources and expressions of Bierce s attitudes about death and dying. This approach makes it possible to discern links among texts that resolve some of the still puzzling ambiguities that have until now precluded a fuller understanding of both the man and his writings. Lively and engaging, "Ambrose Bierce and the Dance of Death" adds valuable new insights not only to the study of Bierce but to that of nineteenth-century American literature in general."
This essay provides a critical introduction to Maria Jane McIntosh`s novel Two Pictures; or, What... more This essay provides a critical introduction to Maria Jane McIntosh`s novel Two Pictures; or, What We Think of Ourselves and What the World Thinks of Us. Published in the midst of the United States Civil War, this novel takes a strongly regional stance to frame the political issues and ideologies related to the war and southern society`s patriarchal structure in established literary contexts and a familiar narrative structure. As a result, when it was published, it appealed to a popular readership that was anxious to defend itself and retain faith in the possibility of cultural and social continuity. By recovering and reading Two Pictures today we can enrich our understanding of the time period and the role that such literature played in the ultimately unsuccessful effort to validate and sustain the Old South`s distinctive socioeconomic and cultural identity.
Predominantly darker than his other works, Cape Cod depicts Henry David Thoreau's interpretat... more Predominantly darker than his other works, Cape Cod depicts Henry David Thoreau's interpretation of life as a struggle for survival and a search for salvation in a stark New England setting. Representing Thoreau's greatest test of the goodness of God and nature, the book illustrates the centrality of the subject of death to Thoreau's philosophy of life. Contending that Thoreau's journey to the Cape originated from an intensely personal transcendental impulse connected with his brother's death, this study provides the first in-depth examination of Thoreau's use of the five senses in Cape Cod to reveal both the eccentricities inherent in his relationship with nature and his method of resolving his fears of mortality. Some of the sense impressions in Cape Cod--particularly those that center around human death and those that involve tactile sensations--suggest that Thoreau sometimes tried to master his fears by subconsciously altering painful historical facts or ...
In Cape Cod, Thoreau presents his journey to a stark and undomesticated New England setting that ... more In Cape Cod, Thoreau presents his journey to a stark and undomesticated New England setting that in his day offered bleak and foreign views far different from the homelike familiarity that his sojourn to Walden Pond afforded. Because many interpret Cape Cod as proof of Thoreau's loss of faith, they are unable to reconcile it with the philosophy of Walden. Offering an alternative to such readings, this study examines Thoreau's symbolic use of food and drink imagery in Cape Cod to support the view that rather than negating the writer's transcendental perspective, the book instead tests, reconfirms, and extends the convictions presented in Walden about the life cycle, the relationship between nature and humanity, and the spiritual benefits of a life lived close to nature. ********** Thoreau's concerns about mid-nineteenth-century American society e well known. His attitude toward dietary matters reflects his fundamental conviction that life is best lived simply, with mo...
Student Companion to Herman Melville provides a critical introduction to the life and literary wo... more Student Companion to Herman Melville provides a critical introduction to the life and literary works of Herman Melville, the nineteenth-century American author of Moby-Dick, as well as nine other novels and numerous short stories and poems. In addition to providing an overview of Melville's life in relation to his literary works, the book places his writings within their historical and cultural contexts, and then examines each of his major works fully, at the level of the nonspecialist and generalist reader. The chapters that address major works by Melville feature close readings of the literary texts that include analysis of point of view, setting, plot, characters, symbolism, themes, and historical contexts when appropriate. In addition, the four chapters devoted to individual novels, as well as the chapter on Melville's poetry, feature alternate readings to introduce the reader to postcolonial, feminist, genre, reader response, and deconstructionist approaches to literary...
In “The Pornography of Death,” an essay originally published in 1955 and later incorporated into ... more In “The Pornography of Death,” an essay originally published in 1955 and later incorporated into a book-length study, anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer was the first to document a dramatic shift between Victorian and contemporary attitudes toward sexuality and death. Victorian society viewed death as a natural, integral part of life, while sexuality was considered obscene and pornographic, a topic unfit for polite conversation and social discourse. In the 20th century, however, Gorer locates an “unremarked shift in prudery; whereas copulation has become more and more ‘mentionable,’ particularly in the Anglo-Saxon societies, death has become more and more ‘unmentionable’ as a natural process” (195). Responding to Gorer's provocative argument, other scholars have confirmed this cultural shift from acceptance to fear and denial of death, and as popular interest in this phenomenon has developed in the United States, a credible canon of study has formed to fill the previous void in schol...
In “The Pornography of Death,” an essay originally published in 1955 and later incorporated into ... more In “The Pornography of Death,” an essay originally published in 1955 and later incorporated into a book-length study, anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer was the first to document a dramatic shift between Victorian and contemporary attitudes toward sexuality and death. Victorian society viewed death as a natural, integral part of life, while sexuality was considered obscene and pornographic, a topic unfit for polite conversation and social discourse. In the 20th century, however, Gorer locates an “unremarked shift in prudery; whereas copulation has become more and more ‘mentionable,’ particularly in the Anglo-Saxon societies, death has become more and more ‘unmentionable’ as a natural process” (195). Responding to Gorer's provocative argument, other scholars have confirmed this cultural shift from acceptance to fear and denial of death, and as popular interest in this phenomenon has developed in the United States, a credible canon of study has formed to fill the previous void in scholarship regarding the historical, psychological, and cultural dimensions of death that simultaneously fascinate and silence Americans. As a result, death in recent decades has become an acceptable field of scholarly inquiry. However, although often viscerally aroused by abstract death and irresistibly drawn to its depiction, Americans as a society remain uncomfortable with death's immediate implications and, in many contexts, avoid contemplating its relationship to their own lives and the lives of those around them.In contrast, as Charles O. Jackson observes, “The popular mind of antebellum America was saturated with open concern about death,” a concern prompted not only “by ‘actuarial prevalence’ but by ‘existential proximity’ Life expectancy throughout the century remained limited, measured against today's standards, approximately forty years in 1850 and forty-seven at the close of the century” (61).
Ambrose Bierce, whose writings are replete with themes and images of violent death, is most remem... more Ambrose Bierce, whose writings are replete with themes and images of violent death, is most remembered today for his Civil War short stories, and especially for the much anthologized "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." A number of Bierce's tales and essays, however, feature family violence and parricide, suggesting that the author's obsessive concern with death may have earlier antecedents
Talley, S. (2005). Following Thoreau's “Tracks in the Sand”: Tactile Impressions in Cape Cod.... more Talley, S. (2005). Following Thoreau's “Tracks in the Sand”: Tactile Impressions in Cape Cod. Am. Imago, 62:7-34. ... Sharon Talley. In the published version of the eulogy he gave for his best friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1862) praised Henry David Thoreau's acute senses: ...
Uploads
Books by Sharon Talley
Papers by Sharon Talley