Richard Slotkin | |
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Born | Richard Sidney Slotkin November 8, 1942 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Cultural critic, historian, novelist |
Academic background | |
Education |
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Academic work | |
Institutions | Wesleyan University |
Richard Sidney Slotkin (born November 8,1942) [1] is a cultural critic and historian. He is the Olin Professor of English and American Studies,Emeritus at Wesleyan University in Middletown,Connecticut,and,since 2010,a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. [2] [3] Slotkin writes novels,predominantly historical ones,alongside his historical research,and uses the process of writing the novels to clarify and refine his historical work. [4]
Richard Sidney Slotkin was born on November 8,1942,in Brooklyn,New York. He received a B.A. degree from Brooklyn College in 1963 and a Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University in 1967. [3] [5]
He started teaching at Wesleyan University in 1966 and helped establish the school's American studies and film studies program. [6] He remained at Wesleyan until his retirement in 2009. [5]
Regeneration Through Violence received the Albert J. Beveridge Award of the American Historical Association as the Best Book in American History (1973) and was a Finalist for the National Book Award in 1974. [7] [8] Gunfighter Nation was a National Book Award Finalist in 1993. [9] In 1995,Slotkin received the Mary C. Turpie Award of the American Studies Association for his contributions to teaching and program-building. [10] His novel Abe:A Novel of the Young Lincoln won the 2000 Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction. [11]
In 1976,he received an honorary Master of Arts degree in Art Education from Wesleyan University. [5]
His 2024 book,A Great Disorder:National Myth and the Battle for America,was longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. [12]
A national myth is an inspiring narrative or anecdote about a nation's past. Such myths often serve as important national symbols and affirm a set of national values. A myth is a mixture of reality and fiction,and operates in a specific social and historical setting. Social myths structure national imaginaries. A national myth may take the form of a national epic,or it may be incorporated into a civil religion. A group of related myths about a nation may be referred to as the national mythos,from μῦθος,Greek for "myth".
American mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to America's most legendary stories and folktale,dating back to the late 1700s when the first colonists settled. "American mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations,and to the subject matter as represented in the literature and art of other cultures in any period.
Jeffrey M. "Jeff" Shaara is an American novelist and the son of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Shaara.
Michael Shaara was an American author of science fiction,sports fiction,and historical fiction. He was born to an Italian immigrant father in Jersey City,New Jersey,graduated in 1951 from Rutgers University,where he joined Theta Chi,and served as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division prior to the Korean War.
The Frontier Thesis,also known as Turner's Thesis or American frontierism,is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that the settlement and colonization of the rugged American frontier was decisive in forming the culture of American democracy and distinguishing it from European nations. He stressed the process of "winning a wilderness" to extend the frontier line further for U.S. colonization,and the impact this had on pioneer culture and character. Turner's text takes the ideas behind Manifest Destiny and uses them to explain how American culture came to be. The features of this unique American culture included democracy,egalitarianism,uninterest in bourgeois or high culture,and an ever-present potential for violence. "American democracy was born of no theorist's dream;it was not carried in the Susan Constant to Virginia,nor in the Mayflower to Plymouth. It came out of the American forest,and it gained new strength each time it touched a new frontier," wrote Turner.
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 20th century and Louis L'Amour from the mid-20th century. The genre peaked around the early 1960s,largely due to the popularity of televised Westerns such as Bonanza. Readership began to drop off in the mid- to late 1970s and reached a new low in the 2000s. Most bookstores,outside a few west American states,only carry a small number of Western fiction books.
The Killer Angels is a 1974 historical novel by Michael Shaara that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. The book depicts the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War,and the days leading up to it:June 29,1863,as the troops of both the Union and the Confederacy move into battle around the town of Gettysburg,Pennsylvania,and July 1,July 2,and July 3,when the battle was fought. The story is character-driven and told from the perspective of various historical figures from both the Confederacy and the Union. A film adaptation of the novel,titled Gettysburg,was released in 1993.
Gods and Generals is a novel which serves as a prequel to Michael Shaara's 1974 Pulitzer Prize–winning work about the Battle of Gettysburg,The Killer Angels. Written by Jeffrey Shaara after his father Michael's death in 1988,the novel relates events from 1858 through 1863,during the American Civil War,ending just as the two armies march toward Gettysburg. Shaara also wrote The Last Full Measure,published in 2000,which follows the events presented in The Killer Angels.
Conrad Michael Richter was an American novelist whose lyrical work is concerned largely with life on the American frontier in various periods. His novel The Town (1950),the last story of his trilogy The Awakening Land about the Ohio frontier,won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His novel The Waters of Kronos won the 1961 National Book Award for Fiction. Two collections of short stories were published posthumously during the 20th century,and several of his novels have been reissued during the 21st century by academic presses.
The Albert J. Beveridge Award is awarded by the American Historical Association (AHA) for the best English-language book on American history from 1492 to the present. It was established on a biennial basis in 1939 in memory of United States Senator Albert J. Beveridge (1862-1927) of Indiana,former secretary and longtime member of the Association,through a gift from his wife,Catherine Eddy Beveridge and donations from AHA members from his home state. The award has been given annually since 1945.
The March:A Novel is a 2005 historical fiction novel by E. L. Doctorow. It won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (2006) and the National Book Critics Circle Award/Fiction (2005).
The frontier myth or myth of the West is one of the influential myths in American culture. The frontier is the concept of a place that exists at the edge of a civilization,particularly during a period of expansion. The American frontier occurred throughout the 17th to 20th centuries as European Americans colonized and expanded across North America. This period of time became romanticized and idealized in literature and art to form a myth. Richard Slotkin,a prominent scholar on the subject,defines the myth of the frontier as "America as a wide-open land of unlimited opportunity for the strong,ambitious,self-reliant individual to thrust his way to the top."
Howard Bahr is an American novelist,born in Meridian,Mississippi.
Cornelia Nixon is an American novelist,short-story writer,and teacher. She has lived much of her mature life in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw,bank and train robber,guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie" area of Missouri,James and his family maintained strong Southern sympathies. He and his brother Frank James joined pro-Confederate guerrillas known as "bushwhackers" operating in Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War. As followers of William Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson,they were accused of committing atrocities against Union soldiers and civilian abolitionists,including the Centralia Massacre in 1864.
The Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction is an annual literary award awarded to the writer of a work of fiction related to the American Civil War. The award was started by Jeffrey ("Jeff") Shaara,,and named for his father,the writer of historical fiction Michael Shaara,(1928–1988),who won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for the 1974 novel of the American Civil War,The Killer Angels,about the Battle of Gettysburg,in Gettysburg,Pennsylvania,and later made into the Ted Turner-produced movie in 1993,Gettysburg,by director Ronald Maxwell. The original novel and movie later became the inspiration for son Jeff's prequel Gods and Generals,(1996),and sequel The Last Full Measure,(1998),set of novels of which Gods and Generals was also made into a film in 2003 by Turner and Maxwell focusing on the earlier part of the war with Confederate General Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson. The younger Shaara has also since written several other novels and series of historical fiction about the American Revolutionary War,Mexican–American War,World War I and World War II. He later returned to the theme of the Civil War with a set of works focusing on the western theatre of the war,.
Robin Oliveira is an American author,former literary editor,and nurse,who is most known for her debut novel,My Name is Mary Sutter,published in 2010. Her second novel,I Always Loved You, was published by Penguin on February 4,2014.
Ruth Gay was an American writer whose work concerned Jewish life. She won the 1997 National Jewish Book Award for non-fiction for Unfinished People:Eastern European Jews Encounter America (1996).
This is an English language bibliography of scholarly books and articles on the American frontier. It is a selection from tens of thousands of titles. See also:Bibliography of the Western United States
Bibliography of the Western United States is a small selection of the most useful books and articles on the Western United States.