Glancing Visions: Surface and Depth in Nineteenth-Century American Literature

The "Glance" in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Art is a groundbreaking exploration of the ways in which literary figures of the era challenged traditional forms of visual representation through their use of subtle glances, informed by early photography, Impressionism, new techniques in portraiture, and the dawn of cinema.

This book probes the theory of imagination at a turning point in the history of photography, when momentary glances took on new narrative potentials.

Through a detailed analysis of works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, and William Carlos Williams, Tavlin uncovers the ways in which these writers rejected the "possessive gaze" and embraced a more fluid, fast-moving mode of seeing that allowed for a visual counternarrative to emerge.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of literature, art, and culture during this pivotal time in history.