Henry Nash Smith
Henry Nash Smith (born September 29, 1906 in Dallas , Texas , † June 6, 1986 in Nevada ) was an American cultural and literary scholar. He was one of the co-founders of American Studies as a separate academic discipline.
His book Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth (1950) gave its name to the Myth and Symbol School , which set the paradigm of American Studies until the 1980s . It was the first Ph.D. -Dissertation of the History of American Civilization course at Harvard University and so its publication can be seen as the birth of American Studies . It was about the collective perception of the American West in the 19th century. Smiths drew sources including dime novels and other popular cultural material.
In the article Can American Studies Develop a Method? (American Quarterly 9, 1957: 197-208) he formulated an influential program and methodology for the Myth and Symbol School .
Smith was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1965 and the American Philosophical Society in 1981 . He died in a traffic accident in Nevada.
Works
- Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth , 1950
- Mark Twain of the Enterprise , 1957
- Popular Culture and Industrialism 1865-1890 , 1967
- Democracy and the Novel , 1978.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Member History: Henry Nash Smith. American Philosophical Society, accessed January 28, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smith, Henry Nash |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American cultural and literary scholar |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 29, 1906 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dallas , Texas |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 6, 1986 |
| Place of death | Nevada |