Berkely, CA:, University of California Press, 1994
AND
Our Own Snug Fireside:
Images of the New England Home
Jane C. Nylander
New Haven, CT:, Yale University Press, 1993
As I remarked in class on Wednesday, October 18, I have reached the conclusion that it makes more sense to work in these two texts simultaneously. Home and Community, after all, represent opposite sides of the same coin: we are at the same time private and social -- members of families and communities. Frequently our community position is a product of our membership in the same family.
These two books pair quite well. Each represents a distinct methodology, and each author takes particular pains to explain what her methodological approach is. Consequently, our first task will be to understand these methodologies. Each author uses a range of materials, as well. Some types appear in both, some are unique to one or the other. The differences in the sources used means that the populations investigated are not quite the same. Nylander's book represents, by and large, a population significantly wealthier, more intellectual (which is not the same as more intelligent), and more socially prominent than Hansen's. This means we'll have to approach generalization with some care.
READ: in Nylander,
The Preface, pp. ix-xiv
Introduction, pp. 1-19
"This book explores the intersection between realty and reminiscence"
Nylander's beginning seems uniquely appropriate to succeed Joseph Wood's study of the New England Village, for here too, we look at New England life as it was and as it was imagined to be. Pay particular attention to the illustrations in these early pages. I want to you to be mindful of three things in addition to the content of them. First, note the date of the illustration. Second, note the source of the illustration. Third, note the current repository of the illustration. When you've pondered them individually, see if you can theorize about what this evidence may be telling us. The content may be giving us the same message.
Read, in Hansen, A Very Social Time,
Acknowledgements, Author's Note, pp. xi-xv
Chapter I. Making the Social Central, an Introduction pp. 1-29.
Take some time to look at the illustrations, gathered together following p. 112.
The acknowledgements and author's note will explain the author's interests and methodology, including the editorial process (remember we considered this in the case of William Wood's book).
Chapter one suggests that while we normally divide human activity into private and public spheres, there are, in actually three spheres rather than two. We need to consider the social sphere apart from the public and the private. Make sure that you understand how Ms. Hansen defines these. The key section begins on p. 7.
When you look at the illustrations, try to develop both empathy with and curiousity about the subjects posing in them. Note that the sources of these illustrations are similar to those in Ms. Nylander's book, but the content of them is different. We'll perhaps want to discuss this a bit.
Read, in Hansen,
Chapter II, "I Never Forger What I Remember" Delving into Antebellum New England
pp. 29-52
This chapter continues the methodological concerns begun in Chapter I. The first two pages present the questions Hansen wishes to raise and the reasons she wishes to raise them. The chapter also presents the groups upon which Hansen will focus. You should be able to compare her subject population with the subject population upon which Nylander focusses. The last section of the chapter is interesting both for the introduction it gives to a number of the persons whose stories are at the core of this study and for the way Hansen shares her initial reaction to the persons she encounters as she reads through the diaries and autobiographies which form her principal sources.
The Preface, pp. ix-xiv
