Papers by Heather Gilligan
Most of us have heard of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin and have learned, as part of our high school... more Most of us have heard of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin and have learned, as part of our high school history lessons, the critical role of the book in galvanizing public opinion against slavery in the 1850s. But despite the book’s prominent role in the watershed moment in African American history, African Americans have rejected it as untrue to their experience since it was first published.
Why has arch-capitalist Ayn Rand been so popular with populists, those champions of the common ma... more Why has arch-capitalist Ayn Rand been so popular with populists, those champions of the common man, for nearly two decades now?
Donald Trump loves her, as does a cadre of conservatives who’ve played outsized roles in national politics for years, like Paul Ryan, Clarence Thomas, Alan Greenspan, and Michelle Bachman. That list is growing: Trump’s picks for labor secretary, secretary of state, and director of the CIA are all Randians.
In this essay, I analyze the complex cultural role of the plantation fiction that appeared in eli... more In this essay, I analyze the complex cultural role of the plantation fiction that appeared in elite magazines. I argue that the genre reveals the struggle between sentimental and realistic modes of representing racial difference. I then use this analysis to situate Chesnutt’s “Uncle Julius” tales not in a tradition of folklore or subtle subversion, but rather at the heart of late nineteenth-century American literary culture.
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Papers by Heather Gilligan
Donald Trump loves her, as does a cadre of conservatives who’ve played outsized roles in national politics for years, like Paul Ryan, Clarence Thomas, Alan Greenspan, and Michelle Bachman. That list is growing: Trump’s picks for labor secretary, secretary of state, and director of the CIA are all Randians.
Donald Trump loves her, as does a cadre of conservatives who’ve played outsized roles in national politics for years, like Paul Ryan, Clarence Thomas, Alan Greenspan, and Michelle Bachman. That list is growing: Trump’s picks for labor secretary, secretary of state, and director of the CIA are all Randians.