Literary Legacies, Folklore Foundations

"In this provocative study of eight novels, Karen E. Beardslee asserts that American writers often engage with folk traditions as a necessary part of their characters' journeys to wholeness. Focusing not only on African American, Native American, and Hispanic American cultures but also on women's culture, Beardslee traces the connections between folk legacies and the search for selfhood in both nineteenth- and twentieth-century works."--BOOK JACKET.