New Essays on 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'

These essays on Huckleberry Finn will enrich our understanding of the novel's topical impact.

The essays in this volume represent a wide range of approaches to one of the most popular of all American novels, Huckleberry Finn. Some of the topics and issues discussed are romanticism versus realism, Twain's use of the vernacular and how humour is used throughout the book.The essays in this volume represent a wide range of approaches to one of the most popular of all American novels. Michael Bell re-examines the crucial issue of romanticism versus realism in the book. Janet McKay discusses the linguistic subtleties of the novel, showing the social implications inherent in Twain's brilliant use of the vernacular. Lee Mitchell draws on post-structuralist theories to question Huck's own assumption that words themselves can represent the social world. Steven Mailloux combines sociopolitical perspectives and the methods of contemporary 'reader-response' analysis to identify how humour is generated in Huckleberry Finn and to enrich our understanding of the novel's topical impact.