American Drama

In this book, Susan Harris Smith looks at the many often conflicting cultural and academic reasons for the neglect and dismissal of American drama as a legitimate literary form. Covering a wide range of topics such as theatrical performance, the rise of nationalist feeling, the creation of academic disciplines, and the development of sociology, Smith’s study is a contentious and revisionist historical inquiry into the troubled cultural and canonical status of American drama, both as a literary genre and as a mirror of American society.

• Focuses critical attention on a neglected genre • Provides a revisionist perspective on American theatrical history • Examines the cultural history of American drama

Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction: the problem of American drama; 2. Generic hegemony: the exclusion of American drama; 3. No corner in her own house: what is American about American drama?; 4. Did she jump or was she pushed? American drama in the university curriculum; 5. Caught in the close embrace: sociology and realism; 6. Conclusion: beyond hegemony and canonicity; References; Index.