Working the Garden
American Writers and the Industrialization of Agriculture
William Conlogue
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 01/2003
Pages: 230
Subject: Literary Criticism, Social Science, Technology and Engineering
| University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9780807875056
DESCRIPTION
Conlogue refutes the critical tendency to treat farm-centered texts as pastorals, arguing that such an approach overlooks the diverse ways these works explore human relationships to the land. His readings of works by Willa Cather, Ruth Comfort Mitchell, John Steinbeck, Luis Valdez, Ernest Gaines, Jane Smiley, Wendell Berry, and others reveal that, through agricultural narratives, authors have addressed such wide-ranging subjects as the impact of technology on people and land, changing gender roles, environmental destruction, and the exploitation of migrant workers. In short, Conlogue offers fresh perspectives on how writers confront issues whose site is the farm but whose impact reaches every corner of American society.