American Drama

A revisionist study of the cultural neglect of American drama.

Susan Harris Smith here looks at the many often conflicting cultural and academic reasons for the neglect and dismissal of American drama as a legitimate literary form. Smith's study is a contentious and revisionist historical inquiry into the troubled cultural and canonical status of American drama.In this book, Susan Harris Smith looks at the many often conflicting cultural and academic reasons for the neglect and dismissal of American drama as a legitimate literary form. Covering a wide range of topics such as theatrical performance, the rise of nationalist feeling, the creation of academic disciplines, and the development of sociology, Smith's study is a contentious and revisionist historical inquiry into the troubled cultural and canonical status of American drama, both as a literary genre and as a mirror of American society.