Wharton Sessions at American Literature Association 2011

Thursday, May 26, 4:30-5:50 pm

Session 6-B: Edith Wharton and the Aesthetic

Organized by the Edith Wharton Society

Chair: Gary Totten, North Dakota State University


1. “‘Our Literary Aristocrat‘: Edith Wharton, Social Class, and The Writing of Fiction,”‖ Julie Olin-Ammentorp, Le Moyne College

2. “Wharton, Atherton, and the Aesthetics of Age,”‖ Melanie Dawson, College of William and Mary

3. “Wharton‘s Guide to Novel-writing: Hudson River Bracketed and The Gods Arrive,”‖ Ann L. Patten, Trinity College Dublin

4. “Edith Wharton and the Problem of Progress,”‖ Rafael Walker, University of Pennsylvania





Friday, May 27, 9:40-11:00 am

Session 8-B: Realism, Naturalism, and the Powers of Horror in Edith Wharton's Writing

Organized by the Edith Wharton Society

Chair: Meredith Goldsmith, Ursinus College



1. "Mountain Iconography: Charity's Uphill Descent in Edith Wharton's Summer," Bill Hardwig, University of Tennessee

2. "Queering the Uncanny: The Psychic Vampire in Viereck's The House of the Vampire and Wharton's "The Eyes," Sharon Kehl Califano, Hesser College

3. “The ‘Habit(u)s and Tastes’ of Edith Wharton's Gothic: Class, Ghosts, and Architecture in "Afterward" and "The Lady's Maid's Bell," Gillian Nelson Bauer, Loyola University Chicago

Friday, May 27, 11:10 am-12:30 pm

Session 9-N: Business Meeting: Wharton Society