The American nineteenth century witnessed a media explosion unprecedented in human history. New communications technologies seemed to be everywhere, offering opportunities and threats that seem powerfully familiar to us as we experience today's digital revolution. Walt Whitman's poetry reveled in the potentials of his time: "See, the many-cylinder'd steam printing-press," he wrote, "See, the electric telegraph, stretching across the Continent, from the Western Sea to Manhattan." Still, as the budding poet learned, books neither sell themselves nor move themselves: without an efficient...
The American nineteenth century witnessed a media explosion unprecedented in human history. New communications technologies seemed to be everywhere, o...
This book is for students and scholars of American literature. Asking how Whitman can be relevant in the era of electronic communication and global political upheaval, it features essays from a variety of literary and historical approaches. It includes revelatory new work from both established and emerging Whitman scholars.
This book is for students and scholars of American literature. Asking how Whitman can be relevant in the era of electronic communication and global po...