Paul Gilmore - Aesthetic Materialism: Electricity and American Romanticism

This book completes a long process that began as I finished my dissertation at the University of Chicago. Along the way, bits and pieces of the final project appeared in The Telegraph in Black and White, ELH 69 (2002) and Romantic Electricity, or The Materiality of Aesthetics, American Literature 76 (2004). A significantly shorter and different version of Chapter 3 was originally published as Aesthetic Power: Electric Words and the Example of Frederick Douglass, in ATQ , Volume 16, No. 4, December 2002. Reprinted by permission of The University of Rhode Island.

The project developed most quickly and fully during the 20012002 academic year, thanks to a Barbara Thom Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Their extensive holdings and the collaborative environment the library fostered helped to direct and give final shape to this project. My thanks go to Roy Ritchie, W. M. Keck Foundation Director of Research, and the entire staff of the library for their help and support. In the years since then, during my time at California State University, Long Beach, I have been fortunate to have additional time for research through course reductions supported by awards from the Scholarly and Creative Activity Committee. My chair, Eileen Klink, and my students and my colleagues, especially Tim Caron and George Hart, have made Long Beach a great place to teach, to learn, and to grow. I have been equally fortunate to have participated in the Southern California Americanist Group (SCAG) since I came to the Los Angeles area. Founded by Michael Szalay, and carried on under the leadership of Jennifer Fleissner and Cathy Jurca, the group has continued to provide a wonderful framework for discussion and interaction, fellowship and goodwill. During the last few years my work has grown by coordinating this group with Greg Jackson, Eric Hayot, and Sharon Oster. Ive learned an incredible amount from all participants, especially the most regular regulars, Mark McGurl, Elisa Tamarkin, Mark Goble, and Sianne Ngai.

As this project neared completion, SCAG and the Huntington Library further enabled me to hone my thinking by giving Greg Jackson and me the chance to organize a conference on Historical Formalism, or Aesthetics in American Literary History. Again, Id like to thank Roy Ritchie and the staff at the Huntington, especially Carolyn Powell and Susi Krasnoo, for all their help and support. The scholars who participated, through their papers, their questions and comments, and their conversation, helped me to conceive the broader context for this work: Nancy Bentley, Bill Brown, Russ Castronovo, James Dawes, Elizabeth Maddock Dillon, Wai Chee Dimock, Rob Kaufman, Dana Nelson, Sam Otter, Nancy Ruttenburg, and Eric Sundquist. I couldnt have asked for a better collaborator than Greg Jackson. His friendship, good humor, and knowledge about just about everything have provided a real boost to this project for a number of years. I can always count on him to supply the right balance of critique and support.

At Stanford University Press, Emily-Jane Cohen has been a patient, supportive, and careful editor in guiding this work towards its completion. The comments of the readersRuss Castronovo, David Nye, and Laura Rigalpushed me to refine my arguments in very different and constructive ways. Earlier in the process, Wai Chee Dimock, Marc Redfield, and Laura Otis graciously agreed to read sections of the book, providing some key guidance, questions, and suggestions.

Ive dedicated this book to my two daughters, Charlotte and Rowan. Their joy for life, their complexity, their curiosity, their ability to grow and learn have energized, inspired, and, at times, fruitfully frustrated my work on this project. Their presence in my life constantly reorients me, providing me with needed perspective.

Finally, I met Reid Cottingham only a few months after I first presented on some of these materials at the MLA convention. As much as this project has changed since I first began, I have changed even more, due to her love, care, and devotion. My shift in thinking about these materials mirrors a greater transformation in my own life. I cant imagine this book or my life without her.