Book contents
- Ralph Ellison in Context
- Ralph Ellison in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Geographical, Institutional, and Interpersonal Contexts
- Part II Historical, Political, and Cultural Contexts
- Part III Literary and Critical Contexts
- Part IV Reception and Reputation
- Chapter 29 Critical Reputation, 1994–2020
- Chapter 30 Reading Invisible Man by Design
- Chapter 31 Reception of the Hickman Novel
- Chapter 32 Reception of the Essay Collections
- Chapter 33 Reception in the Soviet Union (1953–1991) and Post-Soviet States (1991–2020)
- Chapter 34 Biographies of Ellison
- Chapter 35 Ellison and Digital Humanities
- Index
Chapter 30 - Reading Invisible Man by Design
from Part IV - Reception and Reputation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 January 2022
- Ralph Ellison in Context
- Ralph Ellison in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Geographical, Institutional, and Interpersonal Contexts
- Part II Historical, Political, and Cultural Contexts
- Part III Literary and Critical Contexts
- Part IV Reception and Reputation
- Chapter 29 Critical Reputation, 1994–2020
- Chapter 30 Reading Invisible Man by Design
- Chapter 31 Reception of the Hickman Novel
- Chapter 32 Reception of the Essay Collections
- Chapter 33 Reception in the Soviet Union (1953–1991) and Post-Soviet States (1991–2020)
- Chapter 34 Biographies of Ellison
- Chapter 35 Ellison and Digital Humanities
- Index
Summary
The design and redesign of various editions of Invisible Man serves as an index of Ellison's fluctuating status in the literary marketplace. From Random House’s modernist dust jackets to Signet’s eye-catching pulps to Vintage’s “hip” reprints, the designs of Ellison’s books reveal the surprising turns by which his work (and midcentury modernism generally) has been incorporated into institutions of reading. This chapter approaches the history of those designs as a privileged site for examining Ellison’s canonization as an American author.
- Type
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- Information
- Ralph Ellison in Context , pp. 327 - 341Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021