Understood Betsy, Understood Nation: Dorothy Canfield Fisher and Willa Cather Queer America

Cummins argues that Dorothy Canfield Fisher's classic text, Understood Betsy, stands outside of other books about the transformative effects of nature by linking the transformation of the heroine with her newfound identity as an American and leading, ultimately, to the transformation of the rea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Children's literature (Storrs, Conn.) Conn.), 2004, Vol.32 (1), p.15-40
Main Author: Cummins, June
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cather, Willa (1873-1947)
Childrens literature
Childrens novels
Females
Fiction
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield (1879-1958)
Gender Issues
Literary criticism
Novels
Personality
Self Actualization
United States History
Writers
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Summary:Cummins argues that Dorothy Canfield Fisher's classic text, Understood Betsy, stands outside of other books about the transformative effects of nature by linking the transformation of the heroine with her newfound identity as an American and leading, ultimately, to the transformation of the reader's own understanding of what it means to be an American. By placing shifting identity in this novel in the context of queer theory, she forces readers to rethink the significance of children's literature in the development of "a complex and multivalent Americanism."
ISSN:0092-8208
1543-3374
1543-3374
DOI:10.1353/chl.2004.0009