Wharton and Cather

Abstract

Scholarship on Wharton is robust, with critics focusing on major novels as well as lesser known and later works. Six full-length studies, includ ing a volume of letters edited by Shafquat Towheed; a new biography by Hermione Lee; a critical anthology of 17 essays edited by Gary Totten; and book-length critical studies by Emily Orlando, Annette Benert, and Parley Ann Boswell, as well as 16 articles explore a range of subjects, including Wharton’s relationship to publishing and celebrity status, Gothic conventions, material culture, and European as well as American literary culture. Work continues to focus on Wharton’s modernism as well as her realism. Whereas past critics saw a decline in Wharton’s late writing, recent critics view it as evidence of bold, successful experimen tation. The year’s abundance of Cather scholarship includes books by major Cather scholars Janis P. Stout and Merrill Maguire Skaggs; the Scholarly Edition of Alexander’s Bridge; two fine collections, including nearly 50 essays; and 25 separate articles and book chapters. Explora tions of Cather’s sources and her historical contexts remain popular and scholars continue to examine Cather’s role in promoting her own work. There is an increase in both psychological and comparative studies, especially those dealing with Cather and Faulkner, and the debate about Cather’s regionalism and internationalism is ongoing. Moreover, interest in gender studies, which seemed to wane for a couple of years, is strong this year. The Wharton section of this chapter is contributed by Carol J. Singley, the Cather section by Ann Moseley.