scholarly journals Greatness and the Convertibility of Literary Capital: W. D. Howells and Black Writers

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-89
Author(s):  
Florian Sedlmeier
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Pierre Bourdieu ◽  
Black Writers ◽  
Color Line ◽  
Paul Laurence Dunbar ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
Poetic Practice ◽  
Racial Divide

Abstract Opening with James Weldon Johnson’s discourse on artistic greatness, I discuss William Dean Howells’s assessment of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Charles W. Chesnutt through the lens of the convertibility of literary capital, developed with Pierre Bourdieu. From within the racial taxonomy and with white middle-class readers as implied addressees, Howells conceives of both writers as participating in a literary market, a field structured by the tenets of realism. Howells endows Dunbar with universal literary capital and creates a regional affiliation that breaches the color line, before he singles out his poems written in vernacular notation as lasting contributions and asserts the valence of such notation as general poetic practice. On Chesnutt he bestows literary capital by marking and converting two innovations: the genre of the short story and the representation of a world in-between the racial divide. In turn, the convertibility of that world is secured by a comparison of social class habits.

1 “The circle in which you move”

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
Candace Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Women Of Color ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Social Diversity ◽  
Enslaved Women ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
Musical Practices

The use of music as a sign of prestige extended across a wide spectrum, from enslaved women of color to the white daughters of affluent planters, and Part 1 reveals this social diversity by demonstrating how women employed binder’s volumes, etiquette guides, and other signs of cultural capital in the parlor to position themselves within a particular social class. Although it includes the historical actors who confirm currently-held views about social class and music in this period (the white middle-class), it juxtaposes these with examples across race and occupationally-defined status (barbers, farmers, mechanics, and planters) to bring to the fore a fuller view of women’s musical practices.

Real, but Not Too Real: A Hierarchy of Reality for Recreational Middle-Class Boxers

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis D. Satterlund
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
White Middle Class

This article looks at how the (mostly) white, middle-class recreational boxers at KO Gym constructed an authentic boxing experience from which they could derive identity rewards from accomplishing a type of masculinity without stigma or injury. Gender, as we will see, was a central part of the story. Furthermore, social class complicated matters considerably, creating dilemmas for the white, middle-class male recreational boxers who sought risk—albeit a “pseudo-risk”—but were concerned about signifying hypermasculinity. It was thus vital for them to manage their conduct to express a certain situated kind of masculinity. In essence, class means there is a different style of self-presentation when men and women attempt to do gender.

Engaging Social Justice Methods to Create Palliative Care Programs That Reflect the Cultural Values of African American Patients with Serious Illness and Their Families: A Path Towards Health Equity

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-230
Author(s):  
Ronit Elk ◽  
Shena Gazaway
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
African American ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Serious Illness ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
Healing Power

AbstractCultural values influence how people understand illness and dying, and impact their responses to diagnosis and treatment, yet end-of-life care is rooted in white, middle class values. Faith, hope, and belief in God’s healing power are central to most African Americans, yet life-preserving care is considered “aggressive” by the healthcare system, and families are pressured to cease it.

Inadvertent Exemplars: Life History Portraits of Two Socially Just Principals

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Scanlan
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Life History ◽  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Public Elementary Schools ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking

This study creates life history portraits of two White middle-class native-English-speaking principals demonstrating commitments to social justice in their work in public elementary schools serving disproportionately high populations of students who are marginalized by poverty, race, and linguistic heritage. Through self-reported life histories of these principals, I create portraits that illustrate how these practitioners draw motivation, commitment, and sustenance in varied, complicated, and at times contradictory ways.

Social Class and Ethnicity Effects on Clinical Judgments

1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph D. Norman ◽  
Ricardo Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Treatment Recommendations ◽  
Clinical Judgments ◽  
Involuntary Hospitalization ◽  
Professional Help ◽  
Class Bias ◽  
Psychotic Behavior

To resolve conflict between earlier studies finding contradictory recommendations on need for professional help of middle- vs lower-class persons given normal, neurotic, and psychotic behavior descriptions, and to explore ethnicity effects, 92 students (70 Anglo, 22 Chicano) rated fictitious biographical vignettes. A pro-middle-class bias was found consistent with Routh and King's study but inconsistent with that by Schofield and Oakes. Also contrary to the latter, treatment recommendations agreed with ratings. Ethnicity bias appeared, since Anglos recommended Chicanos more often for involuntary hospitalization. Inconsistency between the two earlier studies results from a methodological variation, discussed in this study.

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