Balancing the Centuries: The Literary Career of Margaret Deland
Balancing the Centuries: The Literary Career of Margaret Deland
Loading...
Files
Publication or External Link
Date
1989
Authors
Betz, Phyllis M.
Advisor
Bryer, Jackson
Citation
DRUM DOI
Abstract
Margaret Deland was once a widely recognized and
critically respected turn of the century American writer.
Today, Deland is hardly recognized except in specialized
studies of religious fiction. This study aims to
reacquaint the modern reader and critic with Deland's
diverse body of fiction and non-fiction. Deland's novels,
stories, and essays are strongly rooted in the cultural
and social issues of late nineteenth and early twentieth
century America. Deland felt the novelist's role as
social observer and commentator was vitally important to a
fiction' s composition and effect, and she consciously
incorporated a clear moral vision and program into her
work that sought to balance modern and traditional beliefs
and behaviors. Particularly through the stories of Old
Chester and Dr. Lavendar, her best known creations, Deland
illustrated how this balance could be achieved and its
impact felt in an individual's private and social
relationships. The development of Deland's moral view will be a major component of this study.
Also important to this study is the process of
Deland' s rise and fall from public and critical view. The
personal and public factors that contributed to Deland's
sudden appearance on the literary scene, her developing
appropriation of notice and acclaim, her eventual
disappearance from public memory will be discussed. To
accomplish this, extensive examination of Deland's
fiction , non-fiction, and correspondence will be included.
Finally, this study will apply various critical viewpoints
to her works, especially feminist literary theories, to
illustrate Deland's continuing value, not only as a
cultural representative, but as a literary voice.