2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Longfellow Reception in 19th-Century America : Iconization and Parodies
| Project/Area Number |
15520139
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
ヨーロッパ語系文学
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
SAWAIRI Yoji Tohoku University, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Associate Professor, 大学院・国際文化研究科, 助教授 (20261539)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2004
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| Keywords | Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth / American Popular Poetry / American Popular Culture / Phoebe Cary / Parody / "A Psalm of Life" / Clarence Budington Kelland / American Print Culture |
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| Research Abstract |
This research project has been pursued for two objectives. The first is to collect parodies of Longfellow's poems to analyze how parodists take advantage of the characteristics of his works. By examining parodies, this study has revealed that many parodists are acute critics who can pick up Longfellow's subtle peculiarities. At the same time, it has become apparent that not all parodies are intended to make fun of the popular poet Some parodists, like Bayard Taylor, are close friends of Longfellow's. It seems that they attempt to learn the secrets of his poetry by emulating his poems. Also, a special attention has been paid to a female poet Phoebe Cary. Her parodies show that contrary to the prevalent notion that parodists claim nothing except for demolishing their originals by partial modification, she uses parodies as a means to express a contention. In her case, she maintains that women should not flee from reality but get involved tactically with life.
The other aim of this research is to examine how Longfellow became idolized in his time by studying what are called ephemerae concerning the popular poet For instance, this study has investigated diaries that quote passages from Longfellow's poetry. They were often used as gift books, which, in the nineteenth century, served like today's greeting cards. These ephemerae helped reproduce Longfellow's popularity. Also this research has found Clarence Budington Kelland, a neglected popular novelist of the early 20th century, significant in the history of Longfellow criticism. Kelland wrote a novel "Opera Hat," whose protagonist is named Longfellow. This study indicates that Kelland idealizes a homogeneous culture like that of nineteenth century America in which culture was not stratified between high and popular. Longfellow, in Kelland's novel, epitomizes this kind of culture and struggles to bring it back to early 20th-century America.
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Research Products
(6 results)
