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American Literature Commons

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Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in American Literature

State Killing, The Stage Of Innocence, And The Exonerated, Katy Ryan Feb 2011

State Killing, The Stage Of Innocence, And The Exonerated, Katy Ryan

Katy Ryan

This essay considers the innocence argument and sentimentality in Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s The Exonerated (2003), a documentary play based on interviews with people sentenced to die for crimes they had not committed. The play’s composition, performance, and reception reveal the challenges of art committed to social reform and confirm the difficulty in assessing the political function or, in Fredric Jameson’s sense, the political unconscious of American literature. As a celebrated example of political theatre, The Exonerated also provides a forum for thinking through the contemporary terms and framework of conversations about state killing. The play promotes reform and …


Permeable Borders And American Prisons: Malcolm Braly's On The Yard, Katy Ryan Aug 2008

Permeable Borders And American Prisons: Malcolm Braly's On The Yard, Katy Ryan

Katy Ryan

No abstract provided.


Horizons Of Grace In Marilynne Robinson And Simone Weil, Katy Ryan Sep 2005

Horizons Of Grace In Marilynne Robinson And Simone Weil, Katy Ryan

Katy Ryan

No abstract provided.


Falling In Public, Katy Ryan Dec 2003

Falling In Public, Katy Ryan

Katy Ryan

No abstract provided.


Revolutionary Suicide In Toni Morrison's Fiction, Katy Ryan Dec 1999

Revolutionary Suicide In Toni Morrison's Fiction, Katy Ryan

Katy Ryan

No abstract provided.