Overview

During the Civil War and Reconstruction, popular magazines throughout the country published hundreds of short narratives that confronted or evaded the meaning of the Union's great crisis. Yet despite their importance as a measure of the era's cultural temper, these stories have remain largely unexamined in studies of Civil War literature. Where My Heart is Turning Ever seeks to recover the significance of this forgotten body of writing. Unearthing more than three hundred stories from sixteen magazines in the South and West as well as the culturally dominant Northeast, Kathleen Diffley examines the effort of popular writers and publications to contain the disruption caused by the war and its aftermath. That effort, she shows, proved especially precarious when writers took up matters of race, political section, and gender. ""Especially impressive is the innovative structure of this work, which interlaces the tasks of literary and cultural historian, editor, and literary critic. . . . Where My Heart Is Turning Ever is at once an impressive study and a genuinely good read."" -Priscilla Wald, Journal of American History

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9780820358819

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Reviews

A corrective to the all-too-common view that little significant literature emerged in response to the American Civil War.--Timothy Sweet College Literature An extremely well-crafted study, concentrating on some three hundred narratives.--S. M. Grant Journal of American Studies An original attempt to connect the popular fiction with the definitions of liberty that emerged from the war. . . . Writ large, Diffley essentially wants to explain how the destruction of slavery did not also lead to the legal emancipation and enfranchisement of women.--Gilbert Taylor Booklist By examining congressional debates alongside magazine fiction, Diffley shows that they inhabited the same rhetorical universe and underwent similar evolutions.--Stuart McConnell American Historical Review Rigorously researched and elegantly written . . . In her close and quite scholarly analysis, Diffley suggests that three thematic genres defined the period: 'Old Homestead' narratives, 'Romances, ' and 'Adventures.'--David Abrahamson Journalism History Scholars have largely accepted the idea that not much fiction came out of the Civil War. In part, that judgment has always meant fiction that critics consider worthy of treatment as outstanding literature. But to a degree it has also been taken literally as meaning not much fiction was written. Fortunately, Diffley's work will forever explode that myth.--Louis P. Masur Reviews in American History Timely and much-needed . . . Diffley deserves much praise for calling attention to this long-forgotten literature and its unprecedented examination.--Jacquelyn S. Nelson Historian Especially impressive is the innovative structure of this work, which interlaces the tasks of literary and cultural historian, editor, and literary critic. . . . Where My Heart Is Turning Ever is at once an impressive study and a genuinely good read.--Priscilla Wald Journal of American History

Author Information

Kathleen Diffley is an associate professor of English at the University of Iowa and director of the Civil War Caucus at the M/MLA.

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