Mark Twain, the World, and Me
"Following the Equator," Then and Now
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- 26,99 €
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- 26,99 €
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE ELIZABETH AGEE PRIZE IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
A scholar accompanies Twain on his journey around the world
In Mark Twain, the World, and Me: “Following the Equator,” Then and Now, Susan K. Harris follows Twain’s last lecture tour as he wound his way through the British Empire in 1895–1896. Deftly blending history, biography, literary criticism, reportage, and travel memoir, Harris gives readers a unique take on one of America’s most widely studied writers.
Structured as a series of interlocking essays written in the first person, this engaging volume draws on Twain’s insights into the histories and cultures of Australia, India, and South Africa and weaves them into timely reflections on the legacies of those countries today. Harris offers meditations on what Twain’s travels mean for her as a scholar, a white woman, a Jewish American, a wife, and a mother. By treating topics as varied as colonial rule, the clash between indigenous and settler communities, racial and sexual “inbetweenness,” and species decimation, Harris reveals how the world we know grew out of the colonial world Twain encountered. Her essays explore issues of identity that still trouble us today: respecting race and gender, preserving nature, honoring indigenous peoples, and respecting religious differences.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mark Twain is a tough act for any writer to follow, but Harris (God's Arbiters), a professor emerita of English at the University of Kansas, does just that in this stimulating recreation of Twain's 1895 1896 lecture tour. The trip went through India, Australia, and South Africa, providing the basis for Twain's 1897 book Following the Equator. Harris doesn't retrace Twain's exact steps so much as bring a modern perspective to the countries and cultures he encountered in his travels. Thus, she looks at why some of the religious beliefs in India so perplexed Twain, and how he interpreted their funerary customs "through both Christian and capitalist narratives" of his time. Roaming farther afield, she uses the lack of wildlife Twain reports in Australia as a touchstone for commenting on contemporary ecotourism, and Twain's experience of racial and political ambiguity in South Africa to explore examples of characters in his fiction who are ethnically "inbetween." Writing with great a understanding and appreciation of Twain, Harris shows how the issues that engaged him in his travels still invite discussion today. This insightful book opens a window on a person and a past that continue to resonate.
