An Unreceptive Audience: The Mixed Receptions of Mark Twain's and J.D.Salinger's Novels in the 1950s and 1960s

Authors

Marlene TovarFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Major/Program

English

First Advisor's Name

Nathaniel Cadle

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Michael Patrick Gillespie

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Martha Schoolman

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

Reception Theory, Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, Literature of Sociology

Date of Defense

11-2-2017

Abstract

This thesis examines how the sociopolitical contexts of the mid-twentieth century influenced readers’ interpretations of Mark Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” two controversial novels that were subjected to censorship activity. In particular, this thesis will focus on the reception of both of these novels during the 1950s and 1960s, a period marked by two major events: The Civil Rights Movement and the youth counterculture phenomenon. In this study, the reception of “Huckleberry Finn” will be analyzed in the context of the civil rights movement, using news articles published in the 1950s and 1960s to illustrate how the different interpretations of readers prompted school board directors to ban the book from junior high and high school reading lists.

Identifier

FIDC004021

Recommended Citation

Tovar, Marlene, "An Unreceptive Audience: The Mixed Receptions of Mark Twain's and J.D.Salinger's Novels in the 1950s and 1960s" (2017). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3545.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3545