附註:Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-233) and index.
Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Scientific racism, character, and American fiction -- Thomas Dixon and the rhetorical mulatto -- Pudd'nhead Wilson's phrenological photograph -- Howells and Chesnutt: the racial uses of genre -- Character and black art in The autobiography of an ex-Coloured man -- Epilogue: race and representation -- Notes -- Works cited -- Index.
摘要:"In A Question of Character, Cathy Boeckmann establishes a strong link between racial questions and the development of literary traditions at the end of the 19th century in America. This period saw the rise of "scientific racism," which claimed that the races were distinguished not solely by exterior appearance but also by a set of inherited character traits. As Boeckmann explains, this emphasis on character meant that race was not only a thematic concern in the literature of the period but also a generic or formal one as well." "Boeckmann explores the intersections between race and literary history by tracing the language of character through both scientific and literary writing."--Jacket
