Question

Even though the Gilded Age ended a century ago, why are contemporary literary scholars reexamining previous analysis of Gilded Age literature?

1) Scholars have discovered caches of unpublished texts by Gilded Age authors that challenge the traditional interpretation of the era's literature.
2) Scholars have recently become concerned that prior academic analysis too narrowly defined literary movements in the late nineteenth century.
3) Scholars have determined that Gilded Age literature needs to be read through the lenses of feminist and psychoanalytic literary theory in order to be modernized.
4) Scholars have uncovered a concerted effort by previous researchers to marginalize many nineteenth-century writers based on their political principles.

Answer 1

Contemporary scholars are revisiting Gilded Age literature to explore the complexity of the era beyond the traditional interpretations of greed and corruption, incorporating more diverse perspectives and applying modern critical theories.

Step-by-step explanation:

Contemporary literary scholars are reexamining Gilded Age literature because they are recognizing that previous analyses may have been too narrow and simplistic. The term Gilded Age, coined by Mark Twain, indicates not only an era of perceived greed and corruption but also a time of significant social and political growth. Within this context, literature from the Gilded Age represents an array of voices and experiences, which scholars are now approaching with more nuanced theoretical frameworks, such as feminist and psychoanalytic literary theories, and a recognition of the complex interplay between literature and the diverse socio-political realities of that period.

While scholars have not necessarily found new caches of unpublished texts (as option 1 suggests), the reevaluation stems from a desire to understand the era's literature in all its complexity. It seems clear that modern scholarly exploration seeks to expand the literary canon to encompass works that may have been marginalized in the past based on political principles, as well as to apply new lenses of criticism to better reflect the multiplicity of experiences in the late nineteenth century, including voices from women and minority groups who were striving for rights and recognition during that time.