Quilt Culture: Tracing the Pattern

by Cheryl B. Torsney, Judy Elsley

Overview

 

As a blanket, a commemorative covering, and a work of art, the quilt is a nearly universal cultural artifact. In recent years it has been recognized as one of our most compelling symbols of cultural diversity and the power of women. In this collection, Cheryl B. Torsney and Judy Elsley bring together eleven provocative essays on the quilt as metaphor—in literature, history, politics, and philosphy. This interdisciplinary approach makes Quilt Culture an extraordinarily rich exploration of a cultural artifact whose meaning is far more complex than that of a simple bed covering.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826209634
Publisher:	University of Missouri Press
Publication date:	07/01/1994
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.13(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Cheryl B. Torsney is Associate Professor of English at West Virginia University in Morgantown.  She is the author of Constance Fenimore Woolson:  The Grief of Artistry and the editor of Critical Essays on Constance Fenimore Wilson.

Judy Elsley is Assistant Professor of English at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.  She is the author of many articles on quilts as well as a forthcoming collection of essays entitled Getting Comfortable:  A Woman in the West.

Editorial Reviews

As quilting has evolved into an art form and social statement, it is now coming under the scrutiny of scholars. The 11 essays in this collection cover quilts in very diverse ways. Several discuss quilting as a literary metaphor, analyzing writings by Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. Others define quilting according to Marxist theory and the significance of quilting as "social art." All the contributors to this collection are professors from major universities. This is a very odd collection that really doesn't fit into one subject area. Recommended only where there is demand for the scholarly assessment of a popular art. (Illustrations and index not seen.)-Karen Ellis, Baldwin Boettchner Lib., Humble, Tex.

Library Journal

A collection of 11 essays explore the quilt as a metaphor in literature, history, politics, and philosophy, ranging in focus from the 18th-century novel A Patch-Work Screen for Ladies, through works by Alice Walker and Toni Morrison and the NAMES Project Quilt (of AIDS victims), to the Marxist theory of value, and the role of quilting in a technological society. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews