Manly Arts

by Gerstner, David A.

• ISBN13: 9780822337751
• ISBN10: 0822337754
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-04-30
• Publisher: Duke Univ Pr

Summary

"Through a consideration of such seemingly disparate figures as Edwin Forrest, Theodore Roosevelt, Oscar Micheaux, Paul Strand, and Vincente Minnelli, David A. Gerstner subtly and cogently outlines the complex ways that literature, theater, cinema, and other arts created a fragile definition of nation: one predicated on white, working-class, masculine norms but also inflected by African American masculinities and queer subjectivities. Original and innovative, "Manly Arts" is sure to be a significant and lasting contribution to the fields of gender studies, film studies, and American arts and aesthetics."--Paula J. Massood, author of "Black City Cinema: African American Urban Experiences in Film"

Author Biography

David A. Gerstner is an associate professor of cinema studies at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xv
Nineteenth-Century Formulations of Masculinity and Realism: The Body of Edwin Forrest	1	(50)
The Battle Cry of Peace and the Spectacle of Realism	51	(32)
African American Realism: Oscar Micheaux, Autobiography, and the Ambiguity of Black Male Desire	83	(36)
Manhatta: A National Self-Portrait	119	(46)
The Queer Frontier: Vincente Minnelli's Cabin in the Sky	165	(47)
Epilogue	212	(3)
Notes	215	(66)
Bibliography	281	(24)
Index	305