Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, and the Place of Culture

This comparative study of Edith Wharton and Willa Cather combines biographical, historical, and literary analyses with a focus on place and aesthetics to reveal the profound similarities in their theories of fiction, their understanding of the interconnectedness of place, culture, and experience, and their concerns about American culture. Edith Wharton and Willa Cather wrote many of the most enduring American novels from the first half of the twentieth century, including Wharton's The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and The Age of Innocence , and Cather's O Pioneers! , My Ántonia, and Death Comes for the Archbishop. Yet despite their perennial popularity and their status as major American novelists, Wharton (1862–1937) and Cather (1873–1947) have rarely been studied together. Indeed, critics and scholars seem to have conspired to keep them at a distance: Wharton is seen as "our literary aristocrat," an author who chronicles the lives of the East Coast, Europe-bound elite, while Cather is considered a prairie populist who describes the lives of rugged western pioneers. These depictions, though partially valid, nonetheless rely on oversimplifications and neglect the striking and important ways the works of these two authors intersect. The first comparative study of Edith Wharton and Willa Cather in thirty years, this book combines biographical, historical, and literary analyses with a focus on place and aesthetics to reveal Wharton's and Cather's parallel experiences of dislocation, their relationship to each other as writers, and the profound similarities in their theories of fiction. Julie Olin-Ammentorp provides a new assessment of the affinities between Wharton and Cather by exploring the importance of literary and geographic place in their lives and works, including the role of New York City, the American West, France, and travel. In doing so she reveals the two authors' shared concern about the culture of place and the place of culture in the United States. Edith Wharton and Willa Cather wrote many of the most enduring American novels from the first half of the twentieth century, including Wharton's 'The House of Mirth', 'Ethan Frome', and 'The Age of Innocence', and Cather's 'O Pioneers!', 'My Ántonia', and 'Death Comes for the Archbishop'. Yet despite their perennial popularity and their status as major American novelists, Wharton (1862-1937) and Cather (1873-1947) have rarely been studied together. Indeed, critics and scholars seem to have conspired to keep them at a distance: Wharton is seen as "our literary aristocrat," an author who chronicles the lives of the East Coast, Europe-bound elite, while Cather is considered a prairie populist who describes the lives of rugged western pioneers. These depictions, though partially valid, nonetheless rely on oversimplifications and neglect the striking and important ways the works of these two authors intersect.0The first comparative study of Edith Wharton and Willa Cather in thirty years, this book combines biographical, historical, and literary analyses with a focus on place and aesthetics to reveal Wharton's and Cather's parallel experiences of dislocation, their relationship to each other as writers, and the profound similarities in their theories of fiction. Julie Olin-Ammentorp provides a new assessment of the affinities between Wharton and Cather by exploring the importance of literary and geographic place in their lives and works, including the role of New York City, the American West, France, and travel. In doing so she reveals the two authors' shared concern about the culture of place and the place of culture in the United States ""Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, and the Place of Culture," the first comparative study of Wharton and Cather in thirty years, combines biographical, historical, and literary analyses with approaches focused on place and on aesthetics to reveal the profound similarities in their theories of fiction, their understanding of human nature, and their concerns about American culture. Employing the dual meanings of both "place" (as location and as status) and "culture" (as general culture and "high" culture), Julie Olin-Ammentorp offers a new view of the resonances between these two authors and their works, focusing on their shared concern about the culture of place and the place of culture in the United States."-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 18 Part 1 40 1. The “Literary Aristocrat” and the Plainspoken Pioneer 42 2. The Land of Letters, the Kingdom of Art 87 Part 2 120 3. New York City 122 4. The West 162 5. The Idea of France 210 6. Questions of Travel and Home 275 Notes 322 Bibliography 362 Index 384