Breaking Bounds: Whitman and American Cultural Studies

by Betsy Erkkila (Editor)

Breaking Bounds invigorates the study of Whitman and American culture by presenting essays that demonstrate Whitman's centrality to the widest range of social, political, literary, sexual, and cultural discourses of his time and ours. Bringing together a distinguished group of cultural critics working in the fields of literature, American studies, Latin American studies, European studies, art history, and gay/lesbian/queer studies, the volume persistently opens new vistas in the ways we see Whitman and provides a model for the newest and brightest intellectual efforts associated with "cultural studies." Central to the volume is a set of provocative essays in queer studies that break the bounds of decorum that have too long separated Whitman's sexuality from his politics, and his poetry from both. The Whitman that emerges from these collected essays is renewed for a new generation of literary scholars working to define the places and the functions of his poetic words in the world.
Taken as a whole, the volume points to the interdisciplinary future of American literary and cultural studies. Breaking Bounds is essential reading for anyone interested in Whitman both inside and outside the academy.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 1995

Reviews

[Nelson Minar]

I haven't actually read this, just skimmed it and read a couple of essays in particular. But want to make a note because it's quite an interesting collection of critical essays about Whitman and his role in American culture. And it's not the only topic, but the book is not shy about claiming Whitman as a queer American forefather (and mother). Ed Folsom's chapter on the photographs of Whitman with various young men and what they tell us about him is particularly interesting.