The Politics of Genre and Gender in Tabitha Gilman Tenney’s Female Quixotism
The present article focuses on transatlantic female quixotism, as enacted by Tabitha Tenney’s heroine, Dorcasina Sheldon. I argue that quixotism can be read as an interface between the events of the story and the Federalist conservative discourse that underlies them. In doing so, I claim that, in te...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Open Cultural Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2017-0043 |
| _version_ | 1818733600403619840 |
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| author | Ivana Dragoş |
| author_facet | Ivana Dragoş |
| author_sort | Ivana Dragoş |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The present article focuses on transatlantic female quixotism, as enacted by Tabitha Tenney’s heroine, Dorcasina Sheldon. I argue that quixotism can be read as an interface between the events of the story and the Federalist conservative discourse that underlies them. In doing so, I claim that, in terms of gender, the heroine’s misreading of romances transforms her into a political tool whereby the ideals of female freedom and agency, social mobility, gender equality, racial equity and abolitionism-effective under Thomas Jefferson’s administration-are satirically depicted and seen as delusory in post-Revolutionary America. In terms of generic categories, I will show how Female Quixotism blurs the epistemological boundaries between truth and fiction by juxtaposing novel and romance, used interchangeably, with history. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T23:52:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-74ab719aa4754d39a4c5a25b37a4cff1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2451-3474 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T23:52:03Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Cultural Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-74ab719aa4754d39a4c5a25b37a4cff12022-12-21T21:28:11ZengDe GruyterOpen Cultural Studies2451-34742017-12-011146847410.1515/culture-2017-0043culture-2017-0043The Politics of Genre and Gender in Tabitha Gilman Tenney’s Female QuixotismIvana Dragoş0Department of English, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, 010451, RomaniaThe present article focuses on transatlantic female quixotism, as enacted by Tabitha Tenney’s heroine, Dorcasina Sheldon. I argue that quixotism can be read as an interface between the events of the story and the Federalist conservative discourse that underlies them. In doing so, I claim that, in terms of gender, the heroine’s misreading of romances transforms her into a political tool whereby the ideals of female freedom and agency, social mobility, gender equality, racial equity and abolitionism-effective under Thomas Jefferson’s administration-are satirically depicted and seen as delusory in post-Revolutionary America. In terms of generic categories, I will show how Female Quixotism blurs the epistemological boundaries between truth and fiction by juxtaposing novel and romance, used interchangeably, with history.https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2017-0043early american novelromancethe female quixotemisreadingfederalism |
| spellingShingle | Ivana Dragoş The Politics of Genre and Gender in Tabitha Gilman Tenney’s Female Quixotism Open Cultural Studies early american novel romance the female quixote misreading federalism |
| title | The Politics of Genre and Gender in Tabitha Gilman Tenney’s Female Quixotism |
| title_full | The Politics of Genre and Gender in Tabitha Gilman Tenney’s Female Quixotism |
| title_fullStr | The Politics of Genre and Gender in Tabitha Gilman Tenney’s Female Quixotism |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Politics of Genre and Gender in Tabitha Gilman Tenney’s Female Quixotism |
| title_short | The Politics of Genre and Gender in Tabitha Gilman Tenney’s Female Quixotism |
| title_sort | politics of genre and gender in tabitha gilman tenney s female quixotism |
| topic | early american novel romance the female quixote misreading federalism |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2017-0043 |
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