Description
Book SynopsisOver the five decades of her writing career, Willa Cather responded to, and entered into dialogue with, shifts in the terrain of American life. Cather Studies, Volume 12 shows that Cather repeatedly engaged with multiple forms of art, and that even when writing about the past she was often addressing contemporary questions.
Trade Review"
Willa Cather and the Arts reveals a writer deeply embedded in, and curious about, her geographical, historical, and cultural moment."—Maura D'Amore,
Great Plains Quarterly"The collected essays within volume 12 of
Cather Studies offer an invaluable addition to every Cather scholar's library—just as it presents fresh and readable new insights for the more casual Cather enthusiast."—Kim Vanderlaan,
American Literary Realism"A must for Cather readers."—N. Birns,
Choice"This twelfth volume of Cather Studies continues an active conversation in Cather scholarship about the writer’s engagement with artistic traditions, such as painting and opera. One solid strength of this particular collection . . . is its expansive definition of the arts in Cather’s work—inclusive of both traditional arts like painting and music as well as domestic arts, Black vernacular in poetry, illustrations, and consumer objects."—Holly Blackford,
Western American LiteratureTable of ContentsContents
List of Illustrations
Introduction: Willa Cather and the Arts
Guy J. Reynolds
1. “A Lot of Things”: The Value of the Vernacular in Shadows on the Rock
Diane Prenatt
2. “Down by de Canebrake”: Willa Cather, Sterling A. Brown, and the Racialized Vernacular
Janis P. Stout
3. The Singer as Artist: Willa Cather, Olive Fremstad, and the Artist’s Voice
Sarah L. Young
4. Cather’s Evolving Ear: Music Reheard in the Late Fiction
John H. Flannigan
5. Memory and Image: Graphemics for a New Frontier Icon in My Ántonia
Joyce Kessler
6. “Paul’s Case” and Pittsburgh: Industry and Art in the Great Manufacturing Town
James A. Jaap
7. Under the White Mulberry Tree: Food and Artistry in Cather’s Orchards
Stephanie Tsank
8. “The Passionless Bride”: Love, Loss, and Lucretius in The Professor’s House
Matthew Hokum
9. Advertising Willa Cather as Product
Erika K. Hamilton
Contributors
Index
