Toward an Intellectual History of Women: Essays By Linda K. Kerber

by Linda K. Kerber

Overview

As a leading historian of women, Linda K. Kerber has played an instrumental role in the radical rethinking of American history over the past two decades. The maturation and increasing complexity of studies in women's history are widely recognized, and in this remarkable collection of essays, Kerber's essential contribution to the field is made clear. In this volume is gathered some of Kerber's finest work. Ten essays address the role of women in early American history, and more broadly in intellectual and cultural history, and explore the rhetoric of historiography. In the chronological arrangement of the pieces, she starts by including women in the history of the Revolutionary era, then makes the transforming discovery that gender is her central subject, the key to understanding the social relation of the sexes and the cultural discourse of an age. From that fundamental insight follows Kerber's sophisticated contributions to the intellectual history of women. Prefaced with an eloquent and personal introduction, an account of the formative and feminist influences in the author's ongoing education, these writings illustrate the evolution of a vital field of inquiry and trace the intellectual development of one of its leading scholars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469620404
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	12/10/2017
Series:	Gender and American Culture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Lexile:	1490L (what's this?)
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Linda K. Kerber is May Brodbeck Professor in the Liberal Arts and professor of history at the University of Iowa. She is coeditor of U. S. History as Women's History: New Feminist Essays

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This volume take[s] the reader on an intellectual journey through the historiography of both the American Revolution and women's history.—William and Mary Quarterly



[This] distinguished collection of essays . . . has something to offer every reader interested in revolutionary and early national America, or in women's history more generally. . . . It is a credit to Kerber that so many scholars are following her lead toward a richer and even more complex intellectual history of women.—Women's Review of Books



A convenient collection reflecting the thoughts of a superb scholar. It will be appreciated by feminist theorists and students of U. S. and women's history.—Library Journal



Linda Kerber's pioneering essays helped to set the agenda for the field of women's history and for American and intellectual history as well. Gracefully written, thoughtfully argued, and intellectually resonant, they enlarge every topic they address.—Dorothy Ross, Johns Hopkins University



Putting together these articles and lectures by one of the country's leading women's historians provides simultaneously a stunning introduction to the field of women's history for novices as well as a state-of-the-art review for experts.—Linda Gordon, University of Wisconsin-Madison



This collection documents the radical rewriting of our past by women's historians in the last two decades and discloses Linda Kerber's signal part in that paradigm shift. In the chronological arrangement of the pieces, Kerber starts by including women in the history of the Revolutionary era, then makes the transforming discovery that gender is her central subject, the key to understanding the social relation of the sexes and the cultural discourse of an age. From that fundamental insight follows Kerber's sophisticated address to the intellectual history of women. This volume is thus at once a fascinating record of an academic field and a compelling autobiography of an individual mind.—Robert Gross, College of William and Mary



Subtle, lucid, learned: these essays show why Linda Kerber is our leading historian of American women and ideas.—Suzanne Lebsock, University of Washington

Editorial Reviews

In this collection of essays, premier women's historian Kerber (history, Univ. of Iowa) reiterates and clarifies some of her past work. The ten essays here are ordered chronologically, from 1973 to 1993, by date of original preparation or publication. The first part, "Finding Women in the Revolutionary Era," analyzes Colonial women's views on education, war, family, and politics. Kerber includes early essays on the "Republican Mother" and women's views of citizenship. Part 2, "Toward an Intellectual History of Women," examines the use of the metaphor of separate spheres and the language of individualism as historical constructs. Part 3, "Finding Gender in American Culture," returns to themes of gender and citizenship. The work is a convenient collection reflecting the thoughts of a superb scholar. It will be appreciated by feminist theorists and students of U.S. and women's history. Appropriate for academic libraries.Linda V. Carlisle, Southern Illinois Univ., Edwardsville

Library Journal

This volume take[s] the reader on an intellectual journey through the historiography of both the American Revolution and women s history.

"William and Mary Quarterly"

[H]as something to offer every reader interested in revolutionary and early national America, or in women's history more generally.

"Women's Review of Books"

[S[imultaneously a stunning introduction to the field of women's history for novices as well as a state-of-the-art review for experts.

Linda Gordon, University of Wisconsin-Madison

ÝH¨as something to offer every reader interested in revolutionary and early national America, or in women's history more generally.

"Women's Review of Books"

ÝSÝimultaneously a stunning introduction to the field of women's history for novices as well as a state-of-the-art review for experts.

Linda Gordon, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Gracefully written, thoughtfully argued, and intellectually resonant, they enlarge every topic they address.

Dorothy Ross, Johns Hopkins University

This volume takeÝs¨ the reader on an intellectual journey through the historiography of both the American Revolution and womens history.

"William and Mary Quarterly"

"[H]as something to offer every reader interested in revolutionary and early national America, or in women's history more generally.

"Women's Review of Books""

"[S[imultaneously a stunning introduction to the field of women's history for novices as well as a state-of-the-art review for experts.

Linda Gordon, University of Wisconsin-Madison"

"Gracefully written, thoughtfully argued, and intellectually resonant, they enlarge every topic they address.

Dorothy Ross, Johns Hopkins University"

A convenient collection reflecting the thoughts of a superb scholar.

"Library Journal"

From the Publisher