From "one nation under God" to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," what we say about being American is closely linked to how we understand ourselves as Americans. Through a close examination of four representative post-World War II novels, Christopher Douglas illuminates the complex relationship between being American and reciting American discourses. 
Reciting America provides fresh readings of Russell Banks's Continental Drift, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, Maxine Hong Kingston's Woman Warrior, and T. Coraghessan Boyle's East Is East, as well as other texts such as the cartoons of Matt Groening and the inaugural poems of Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. Considering these works in light of theories of Mikhail Bakhtin, Sacvan Bercovitch, and others, Douglas suggests that the American Dream and several other national vocabularies have become inflexible forms of language that disallow apprehension of the real. He explores how these novels and other texts confront national discourse and strive, though with inconclusive results, to open America up to new subject positions by offering alternatives to the dominant ideology. 
Douglas finds contemporary intellectual and political life, against the backdrop of a mythology enshrined in proclamations, pledges, and public documents, to be impoverished by the pervasive use of clichés, which he identifies as figures of speech that stimulate emotion or action while shortcircuiting reflection. In its extreme clichéd form, the American Dream consists of nothing more than advertising slogans and popular culture images; yet these pronouncements retain a powerful hold on the will and imagination of U.S. citizens. 
Probing the limits of public discourse, the power of the American Dream cliché, and the complexity of identity in the United States, Reciting America is a sophisticated look at the range of motion available to individuals trying to act on the official texts that produce them as social beings.

Reciting America: Culture and Cliche in Contemporary U.S. Fiction

Literature & Fiction

Douglas, Christopher

History & Criticism

University of Illinois Press

Jardine

Biographies & Memoirs

Methuen Publishing, Ltd.

A Genealogy of Literary Multiculturalism

As an anthropology student studying with Franz Boas, Zora Neale Hurston recorded African American folklore in rural central Florida, studied hoodoo in New Orleans and voodoo in Haiti, talked with the last ex-slave to survive the Middle Passage, and collected music from Jamaica. Her ethnographic work would serve as the basis for her novels and other writings in which she shaped a vision of African American Southern rural folk culture articulated through an antiracist concept of culture championed by Boas: culture as plural, relative, and long-lived. Meanwhile, a very different antiracist model of culture learned from Robert Park's sociology allowed Richard Wright to imagine African American culture in terms of severed traditions, marginal consciousness, and generation gaps. 
In A Genealogy of Literary Multiculturalism, Christopher Douglas uncovers the largely unacknowledged role played by ideas from sociology and anthropology in nourishing the politics and forms of minority writers from diverse backgrounds. Douglas divides the history of multicultural writing in the United States into three periods. The first, which spans the 1920s and 1930s, features minority writers such as Hurston and D'Arcy McNickle, who were indebted to the work of Boas and his attempts to detach culture from race. The second period, from 1940 to the mid-1960s, was a time of assimilation and integration, as seen in the work of authors such as Richard Wright, Jade Snow Wong, John Okada, and Ralph Ellison, who were influenced by currents in sociological thought. The third period focuses on the writers we associate with contemporary literary multiculturalism, including Toni Morrison, N. Scott Momaday, Frank Chin, Ishmael Reed, and Gloria Anzaldúa. Douglas shows that these more recent writers advocated a literary nationalism that was based on a modified Boasian anthropology and that laid the pluralist grounds for our current conception of literary multiculturalism.
Ultimately, Douglas's "unified field theory" of multicultural literature brings together divergent African American, Asian American, Mexican American, and Native American literary traditions into one story: of how we moved from thinking about groups as races to thinking about groups as cultures―and then back again.

Cornell University Press

As an anthropology student studying with Franz Boas, Zora Neale Hurston recorded African American folklore in rural central Florida, studied hoodoo in New Orleans and voodoo in Haiti, talked with the last ex-slave to survive the Middle Passage, and collected music from Jamaica. Her ethnographic work would serve as the basis for her novels and other writings in which she shaped a vision of African American Southern rural folk culture articulated through an antiracist concept of culture championed by Boas: culture as plural, relative, and long-lived. Meanwhile, a very different antiracist model of culture learned from Robert Park's sociology allowed Richard Wright to imagine African American culture in terms of severed traditions, marginal consciousness, and generation gaps.In A Genealogy of Literary Multiculturalism, Christopher Douglas uncovers the largely unacknowledged role played by ideas from sociology and anthropology in nourishing the politics and forms of minority writers from diverse backgrounds. Douglas divides the history of multicultural writing in the United States into three periods. The first, which spans the 1920s and 1930s, features minority writers such as Hurston and D'Arcy McNickle, who were indebted to the work of Boas and his attempts to detach culture from race.The second period, from 1940 to the mid-1960s, was a time of assimilation and integration, as seen in the work of authors such as Richard Wright, Jade Snow Wong, John Okada, and Ralph Ellison, who were influenced by currents in sociological thought. The third period focuses on the writers we associate with contemporary literary multiculturalism, including Toni Morrison, N. Scott Momaday, Frank Chin, Ishmael Reed, and Gloria Anzaldúa. Douglas shows that these more recent writers advocated a literary nationalism that was based on a modified Boasian anthropology and that laid the pluralist grounds for our current conception of literary multiculturalism.Ultimately, Douglas's "unified field theory" of multicultural literature brings together divergent African American, Asian American, Mexican American, and Native American literary traditions into one story: of how we moved from thinking about groups as races to thinking about groups as cultures―and then back again.

Ed Reardon (played by Christopher Douglas) is a failed writer, fare-dodger, and master of the abusive email. Living with his cat in a one-bedroom flat, this bearded divorcee grumbles at a modern world seemingly run by 12-year-olds, while churning out books such as Jane Seymour’s Household Hints and Pet Peeves (to pay the bills) and trying to live off the royalties of his 1982 episode of Tenko (£17 per annum). We track Ed’s attempts to gain the literary success he feels is due in this painfully funny and extraordinarily clever sitcom. Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds, Ed Reardon’s Week includes marvelous supporting roles from Stephanie Cole, John Fortune, and Sally Hawkins. Ed Reardon’s Week was voted Best Radio Programme by the Broadcasting Press Guild.
3 CDs. 3 hrs.

Ed Reardon's Week: The Complete First Series

Nickolds, Andrew

Humor & Satire

BBC Books

Ed Reardon (Christopher Douglas)—author, pipe smoker, fare-dodger, and master of the abusive email—returns for a fourth series. In these six episodes, Ed surprises the literary world by still being alive and finding romance. He also, finally, comes up with a once-in-a-lifetime idea—but then loses it. And in the last episode, 'Trimarans That Pass in the Night', love is in the air for Ed. But it’s far from plain sailing. Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds, this complete fourth series of Ed Reardon's Week includes guest appearances by Morwenna Banks and Geoffrey McGivern. Ed Reardon's Week was voted Best Radio Programme by the Broadcasting Press Guild.3 CDs. 3 hrs.

Ed Reardon's Week: The Complete Fourth Series

Ed Reardon's Week

This hilarious fictional diary tracks the world of Ed Reardon and his flawed attempts to escape poverty and gain the literary success that is surely his due. A writer and liver of life at the cutting edge, Ed resides in a one-bedroom flat over a hairdresser's in Berkhamsted, where he has lived on his own since his family left him. His first, and only, published novel was bought by Hollywood and turned into a movie in the mid-70's. Though stuck in a career rut with a growing pile of rejection slips, Ed remains stubbornly optimistic. He may only own one pair of pants and a seven-figure Amazon sales ranking, but no writer knows more about stealing his agent's stationery than Ed.

Simon Schuster(uk)

Ed Reardon, author, pipe smoker, consummate fare-dodger, and master of the abusive email, attempts to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and lying charlatans. In these six episodes, Ed and Mary Potter are in a record breaking second month of partnership bliss. But work isn’t going so well: it's time for Ed to drag out the old jeans, buy a mobile phone, and cut 10 years off the CV as the new Head of New Media Development is a genuine 12-year-old. And after a run-in with the Head of Stakeholder Communications Engagement at a local council meeting, Ed finds himself in anger management classes. Plus, Jaz suggests that Ed revive one of his old stage shows, Educating Peter; Ed finds himself writing for a local lifestyle magazine when everyone at the agency goes on holiday; and a visit from his new grandson Smile inspires him to write a children's book. However, his daughter is not at all impressed with his flat. Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds, Ed Reardon’s Week includes supporting roles from Stephanie Cole as Olive, John Fortune as Felix, and Barunka O’Shaughnessy as Ping. Ed Reardon's Week was voted Best Radio Programme by the Broadcasting Press Guild.3 CDs. 2 hrs 48 mins.

Ed Reardon's Week: The Complete Fifth Series

Ed Reardon, author, pipe smoker, consummate fare-dodger and master of the abusive email, attempts to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and lying charlatans. In these six episodes, Ed is now a happily-retired author. Not only that but he's well fed, warm, and happily ensconced in Berkhamsted's premier accommodation of choice for the financially distressed. He has a new member in his writing class, Clive, who is actually impressed by Ed's writing portfolio. But when an opportunity arises to go on a cruise with Jaz and the band, Ed takes up the offer in order to find creative reinvigoration at sea. In addition, Ed is a surprise hit when he takes part in a new Radio 4 "topical quiz with a tasty twist;" finds himself in the money when he sells most of his possessions to a themed wine bar owned by the lovely Violet Carson; and gets a job teaching grammar to some clumsy, apostrophe-ridden phishers. Meanwhile, Elgar finds fame when he becomes an internet hit with his blog. Could Elgar be a more successful writer than Ed? Quite probably. . . Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds, Ed Reardon’s Week includes supporting roles from Stephanie Cole as Olive, John Fortune as Felix, and Barunka O'Shaughnessy as Ping. Ed Reardon's Week was voted Best Radio Programme by the Broadcasting Press Guild.3 CDs. 3 hrs.

Ed Reardon's Week: The Complete Sixth Series

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

Radio 4’s most curmudgeonly author is back for a new series, complete with his trusty companion Elgar, his pipe, and his never ending capacity for scrimping and scraping at whatever scraps his agent, Ping, can offer him to keep body, mind, and cat together. In these four episodes, austerity has hit Ed hard. But things may be looking up as he starts working with the most disturbingly fresh and mesmerizingly compelling voice of his generation, Ben Herbert, and finds himself employed on a corporate video along with director and old sparring partner Jaz Milvane. He also enrolls on a writing course and learns a thing or two about setting up his very own Script Doctor service. Plus, Ed finds himself in the middle of some sibling rivalry when Ping’s sister, Py, undertakes some work experience at the agency. Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds, and guest starring Stephanie Cole as Olive, John Fortune as Felix, and Barunka O’Shaughnessy as Ping. 2 CDs, 120 minutes

Ed Reardon's Week: Series 7 (Episodes 1-4)

Radio

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Douglas, Christopher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Douglas, Christopher

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Douglas, Christopher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Reciting America: Culture and Cliche in Contemporary U.S. Fiction

Jardine

A Genealogy of Literary Multiculturalism

A Genealogy of Literary Multiculturalism

Ed Reardon's Week: The Complete First Series

Ed Reardon's Week: The Complete Fourth Series

Ed Reardon's Week

Ed Reardon's Week: The Complete Fifth Series

Ed Reardon's Week: The Complete Sixth Series

Ed Reardon's Week: Series 7 (Episodes 1-4)