Product details
- ISBN 9781041153993
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 31 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Colson Whitehead Beyond the Novel: Literary Authority, Authorial Performance, and Canonization traces this author's remarkable trajectory from an acclaimed yet little-known writer to cultural force, examining the workings of contemporary literary authority.
By 2026, Whitehead is a household name: his novels have attained a large readership, are enshrined within the literary canon, and have been adapted for the screen. From his debut novel The Intuitionist (1999) to his Pulitzer-winning works The Underground Railroad (2016) and The Nickel Boys (2019), this study explores how Whitehead claims and negotiates various forms of authorship throughout his career.
Understanding literary authorship as embedded within legitimizing institutions, the book analyzes Whitehead's first seven novels alongside his positioning in interviews, their reception by professional critics and prize juries, as well as their circulation across different cultural contexts, such as Oprah's Book Club and as screen adaptations. It offers an in-depth exploration of Whitehead’s his career as a literary author and explores how racial categorization operates within the U.S. literary field.
Valentina López Liendo is a postdoctoral researcher in the DFG funded Collaborative Research Center "Home(s)" (SFB 1671). She earned her PhD in American Literature at Heidelberg University as part of the Research Training Group “Authority and Trust”. Valentina majored in English Studies and East Asian Studies at Osaka and Heidelberg Universities, before earning an M.A. in English and Transcultural studies. Her current work examines negotiations and moral topographies of belonging in contemporary U.S. literature, with a particular interest in their socio-institutional context.
