Historical Guide to Emily Dickinson / Edition 1

by Vivian R. Pollak

Overview

One of America's most celebrated women, Emily Dickinson was virtually unpublished in her own time and unknown to the public at large. Today her poetry is commonly anthologized and widely praised for its precision, its intensity, its depth and beauty. Dickinson's life and work, however, remain in important ways mysterious. This collection of essays, all of them previously unpublished, represent the best of contemporary scholarship and points the way toward exciting new directions for the future. The volume includes a biographical essay that covers some of the major turning points in the poet's life, especially those emphasized by her letters. Other essays discuss Dickinson's religious beliefs, her response to the Civil War, her class-based politics, her place in a tradition of American women's poetry, and the editing of her manuscripts. A Historical Guide to Emily Dickinson concludes with a rich bibliographical essay describing the controversial history of Dickinson's life in print, together with a substantial bibliography of relevant sources.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900195151359
Publication date:	01/29/2004
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Vivian R. Pollak is Professor of English and Women and Gender Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She is a past president of the Emily Dickinson International Society.

Table of Contents

Introduction1. Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886: A Brief Biography, Vivian R. Pollak and Marianne Noble2. Emily Dickinson in Her Time3. "Is Immortality True?": Salvaging Faith in an Age of Upheavals, Jane Donahue Eberwein4. History, Language, and God: Emily Dickinson's War Poetry, Shira Wolosky5. Dickinson and the Art of Politics, Betsy Erkkila6. Dickinson in Context: Nineteenth-Century American Women Poets, Cheryl Walker7. The Sound of Shifting Paradigms, or Hearing Dickinson in the Twenty-First Century, Cristanne MillerIllustrated ChronologyBibliographical Essay, Jonathan MorseContributors

Editorial Reviews

"This collection will be useful to students as they embark on the arduous yet rewarding task of beginning to understand Emily Dickinson. These essays offer perspectives that encourage thought, demand close reading, and highlight important scholarship."—Emily Dickinson International Society Bulletin

From the Publisher