Background
Rathbun, John Wilbert was born on October 24, 1924 in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. Son of Wilbert W. and Paulina Amanda (Baldes) Rathbun.
(The years 1850 to 1880 witnessed intense social and polit...)
The years 1850 to 1880 witnessed intense social and political strain and profound cultural changes in the United States. The population boomed with Irish and German immigrants, and manufacturing's displacement of agriculture as the dominant source of economy made New York and Boston urban economic centers. The majority of literary theorists and critics were living in New England and New York, attracted by the publishing industry. Several different schools of criticism were beginning to develop during this period, including impressionism, aestheticism, critical idealism, critical realism and scholarly historicism -- all are represented in DLB Volume 64. Regardless of their particular styles, critics of this period all tended to agree that literature should be judged at least partly on how it served the greater national purpose and on its truthfulness in representing the moral natures of human beings, as John W. Rathbun and Monica M. Grecu note in the volume's foreword. 35 entries include: Francis James Child, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Evert Augustus Duyckinck, William J. Grayson, Bret Harte, William Dean Howells, Sidney Lanier, Cornelius Mathews, Charles Eliot Norton, Moses Coit Tyler and Walt Whitman.
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(During the period of 1800 to 1850, critics and scholars s...)
During the period of 1800 to 1850, critics and scholars speculated on the development of a literature of America's own, in light of the nation's newly won independence. Critics at this time were unanimous in the belief that literature should endorse and promote national social interests and purposes,' write John W. Rathbun and Monica M. Grecu in this DLB volume's foreword. And they viewed 'truth rather than aesthetic qualities as the final end of literature.' By the mid-19th century a generation of younger critics favored subjectivity, diversity and the 'dethronement of intellect,' according to Rathbun and Grecu in choosing the time span for this volume. Profiles represent the best-known and most influential critical voices of the period. 43 entries include: George Bancroft, Orestes A. Brownson, William Cullen Bryant, William Dunlap, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edward Everett, Sarah Margaret Fuller, Washington Irving, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe, Therese Robinson.
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(Among the literary critics and scholars featured in this ...)
Among the literary critics and scholars featured in this volume are James Lane Allen, Ambrose Bierce, Henry James, Frank Norris and George Santayana.
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Rathbun, John Wilbert was born on October 24, 1924 in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. Son of Wilbert W. and Paulina Amanda (Baldes) Rathbun.
Bachelor of Philosophy, Marquette University, Milwaukee, 1951. Master of Arts, Marquette University, Milwaukee, 1952. Doctor of Philosophy, University Wisconsin, 1956.
Member faculty, California State University, Los Angeles, since 1956; Professor of English/American studies, California State University, since 1959; department chairman American studies, California State University, 1969-1975; professor emeritus, California State University, since 1991.
(During the period of 1800 to 1850, critics and scholars s...)
(Among the literary critics and scholars featured in this ...)
(The years 1850 to 1880 witnessed intense social and polit...)
Served with Army of the United States, 1943-1946. Member American Studies Association (council 1974), Southern California American Studies Association (president 1973), College English Association Southern California (president 1966-1967), Modern Language Association.
Married Mary Regina Walsh, August 2, 1947 (divorced September 19, 1985). Children: Mary Walsh, John Philip.