A fresh exploration of the representation of poverty and class in American literature and film, through the juxtaposition of films, writings and the unusual lives of Zora Neale Hurston, Stephen Crane, Henry Miller and Michel Foucault. The book argues for Hurston's centrality, not merely to the African-American canon, but to the American tradition.

"This provocative study looks at the intersection of the literary and filmic in terms of what Richard Sennett and Jonathan Cobb called "the hidden injuries of class".....a stimulating discussion that should generate further examination by scholars of class in American literature and society." - Choice"In this highly original study Gandal demonstrates how preoccupations with race and gender not only obscure but, in fact, contribute to the class-based exploitation that is a staple of modern American culture, whether in iconoclastic figures such as Zora Neale Hurston and Henry Miller or in Hollywood blockbusters.This unusual and provocative book deserves a wide audience." - Eric J. Sundquist, UCLA

"Uniquely blending film criticism and literary analysis, Gandal s book offers one of the most nuanced accounts yet of the archetypal patterns that have shaped our stories about the poor, and the way these patterns get reflected and refracted in contemporary movies. This is an important contribution not only to the growing awareness of poverty and class inequality in American society and culture but also to our critical capacity to decode the intricate politics of form that underlies popular media representation." - Gavin Jones, Stanford University

Autorentext
KEITH GANDAL is Professor of English at Northern Illinois University, USA.

Inhalt
An Apology for Studying Class, not Culture PART I: SLUMMING DRAMA Award-Winning Hollywood Blockbusters A Shameful Look at Zora Neale Hurston PART II: ClASS AND STATUS TRAUMA Nauseating Indie Films A Spiritual Autopsy of Stephen Crane PART III: SLUMMING TRAUMA The Cult Film Fight Club Henry Miller and the Embrace of Defilement Michel Foucault's Shame: Epistemology in a Closet