Awakenings

No other American book was so maligned, neglected for so long, and then embraced so quickly and with such enthusiasm as Kate Chopin's 1899 novel, The Awakening. And none has been so thoroughly redeemed. Considered vulgar, morbid, and disturbing in Chopin's time, it has for the past quarter of a century been seen as sensitive, passionate, and inspiring. Forgotten for two generations, it is today known by countless people in dozens of countries, and Kate Chopin has become among the most...
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No other American book was so maligned, neglected for so long, and then embraced so quickly and with such enthusiasm as Kate Chopin's 1899 novel, The Awakening. And none has been so thoroughly redeemed. Considered vulgar, morbid, and disturbing in Chopin's time, it has for the past quarter of a century been seen as sensitive, passionate, and inspiring. Forgotten for two generations, it is today known by countless people in dozens of countries, and Kate Chopin has become among the most widely read of classic American authors. para; For the twelve scholars, whose essays make up this collection, reading the novel was a life-changing event. They wrote books and articles about Kate Chopin, they gave talks about her to whatever groups would listen to them, they did interviews with newspapers and magazines, they taught her in their classes and urged their colleagues to teach her, and they helped build a network of teachers, students, editors, librarians, journalists, and others to promote Chopin's work. The essayist of Awakenings explain how, as graduate students and young college instructors, they carried out some of the basic research, thought through some of the critical approaches, and developed some of the present directions for reading, studying, and teaching Kate Chopin, a foundation narrative that focuses on what happened a generation ago and why-and how that looks today