Description
Embodiment in Nineteenth-century American Literature investigates the critical role of the physical body in shaping literary expression during America’s formative decades. Matthew Rebhorn argues that nineteenth-century American authors deliberately engaged with embodied experience—including sensations, gestures, and physical vulnerability—as a fundamental narrative strategy.
The study traces how writers from this period used bodily representation to explore themes of identity, agency, and social change. Rather than treating the body as merely a subject, Rebhorn demonstrates how embodiment functioned as a literary technique for addressing pressing cultural questions about citizenship, race, gender, and American selfhood.
Part of the prestigious Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture series, this volume offers scholars, students, and literary enthusiasts a sophisticated framework for understanding how physical experience informed some of America’s most significant literary works.
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