“Strange Sights and Sounds”: Indirection and the Rhetoric of the Feminine in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s Tales (1852-1930)
The following article analyzes the ways in which nineteenth-century regional writer Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930) composes supernatural tales that address in a very indirect fashion disturbing issues such as child abuse, domestic violence and frustrated female desires. In her gothic-like domes...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Association Française d'Etudes Américaines
2013-04-01
|
| Series: | Transatlantica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/6022 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832580644293574656 |
|---|---|
| author | Audrey Fogels |
| author_facet | Audrey Fogels |
| author_sort | Audrey Fogels |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The following article analyzes the ways in which nineteenth-century regional writer Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930) composes supernatural tales that address in a very indirect fashion disturbing issues such as child abuse, domestic violence and frustrated female desires. In her gothic-like domestic tales, the climax of revelation is indeed continually deferred, as if the female storyteller could simply not tell her secret. Such a rhetoric of indirection becomes all the more intricate as these stories are haunted by spectral but authoritarian male figures whose presence both facilitates and blocks the possibility of revelation. This results in the production of ever-elusive meanings, in which the interaction between the masculine and the feminine plays a key role. In the end, if trauma lies at the heart of Freeman’s texts, it can only be revealed indirectly, in a rhetoric that Freeman links to the feminine. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bf228e0030454e25b32fef090eb5b83d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1765-2766 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2013-04-01 |
| publisher | Association Française d'Etudes Américaines |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Transatlantica |
| spelling | doaj-art-bf228e0030454e25b32fef090eb5b83d2025-01-30T10:47:38ZengAssociation Française d'Etudes AméricainesTransatlantica1765-27662013-04-01110.4000/transatlantica.6022“Strange Sights and Sounds”: Indirection and the Rhetoric of the Feminine in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s Tales (1852-1930)Audrey FogelsThe following article analyzes the ways in which nineteenth-century regional writer Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930) composes supernatural tales that address in a very indirect fashion disturbing issues such as child abuse, domestic violence and frustrated female desires. In her gothic-like domestic tales, the climax of revelation is indeed continually deferred, as if the female storyteller could simply not tell her secret. Such a rhetoric of indirection becomes all the more intricate as these stories are haunted by spectral but authoritarian male figures whose presence both facilitates and blocks the possibility of revelation. This results in the production of ever-elusive meanings, in which the interaction between the masculine and the feminine plays a key role. In the end, if trauma lies at the heart of Freeman’s texts, it can only be revealed indirectly, in a rhetoric that Freeman links to the feminine.https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/6022traumaNineteenth-century American women writersregional writersindirectiondeferralsuspension |
| spellingShingle | Audrey Fogels “Strange Sights and Sounds”: Indirection and the Rhetoric of the Feminine in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s Tales (1852-1930) Transatlantica trauma Nineteenth-century American women writers regional writers indirection deferral suspension |
| title | “Strange Sights and Sounds”: Indirection and the Rhetoric of the Feminine in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s Tales (1852-1930) |
| title_full | “Strange Sights and Sounds”: Indirection and the Rhetoric of the Feminine in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s Tales (1852-1930) |
| title_fullStr | “Strange Sights and Sounds”: Indirection and the Rhetoric of the Feminine in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s Tales (1852-1930) |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Strange Sights and Sounds”: Indirection and the Rhetoric of the Feminine in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s Tales (1852-1930) |
| title_short | “Strange Sights and Sounds”: Indirection and the Rhetoric of the Feminine in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s Tales (1852-1930) |
| title_sort | strange sights and sounds indirection and the rhetoric of the feminine in mary e wilkins freeman s tales 1852 1930 |
| topic | trauma Nineteenth-century American women writers regional writers indirection deferral suspension |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/6022 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT audreyfogels strangesightsandsoundsindirectionandtherhetoricofthefeminineinmaryewilkinsfreemanstales18521930 |