{"id":775,"date":"2017-01-21T09:11:23","date_gmt":"2017-01-21T09:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/?p=775"},"modified":"2022-06-27T12:37:05","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T16:37:05","slug":"beverly-lyon-clark-the-afterlife-of-little-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/2017\/01\/21\/beverly-lyon-clark-the-afterlife-of-little-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Beverly Lyon Clark. The Afterlife of Little Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beverly Lyon Clark. The Afterlife of <\/em>\u201cLittle Women.\u201d<\/a> Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. x, 271p., ill. ISBN 9781421415581. US $44.95.<\/p>\n

In this thoroughly researched and well-documented text, Clark explores the history of the reception of Little Women <\/em>from its publication in 1868 to the present. In addition, she considers how critics and the public viewed Alcott herself \u2013 in a sense exploring Alcott\u2019s own reception with children and adults, scholars and the general public, from her sudden celebrity due to the popularity of the book to her \u201creclamation\u201d by feminist scholars in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n

Clark opens with a description of her own childhood copy of Little Women<\/em>, thus situating herself as a longtime reader of the text. She points out that although twenty-first century readers believe they are reading an \u201cauthentic\u201d version of the text, \u201cLittle Women <\/em>is a mutable text. The words aren\u2019t always the same. The illustrations and packaging vary widely. The social context in which we encounter the text varies too, and what we already \u201cknow\u201d about the book before we read it colors what we read\u201d (2). This by no means invalidates the work \u2013 Clark is a meticulous scholar who backs her assertions with mounds of evidence \u2013 but seems entirely appropriate for a discussion of what is, for many readers, a very personal relationship with a story.<\/p>\n

What follows is a detailed look at various adaptations of the original text \u2013 annotated versions, picture books, illustrated editions, versions with the text dumbed-down for modern readers, stage plays, films, television movies and mini-series, anime, and a recent operatic rendition. As adaptation theorists believe, Clark views these adaptations as unique entities, but also \u201cscrutinize[s] reviews of adaptations\u2026to gauge response not just to the adaptation itself but to Alcott\u2019s novel, or to the public image of the novel\u2026[because] audience members still connect it\u2026to some degree, with the presumed original\u201d (7). She also traces evidence of the hold this text has on American popular culture, citing the now ubiquitous merchandising tie-ins such as dolls, clothing, games. other artifacts of material culture such as a stamp issued in 1993, and the preservation of Orchard House, where Alcott wrote and set the story, as a museum.<\/p>\n

Using diaries, letters from fans, elite critical reviews, reviews in popular publications, library reading lists, \u2018spin off\u2019 novels, and other primary sources, Clark views Little Women <\/em>through the voices of a wide variety of people \u2013 members of the literary establishment, children, adult memoirs (both of famous and ordinary people), and Alcott herself. Each chapter highlights an \u201cera\u201d in the reception of the book beginning with how Alcott became \u201cAunt Jo\u201d for millions of readers in the U.S. and abroad, to the final chapter \u2018Celebrating Sisterhood and Passion Since 1960.\u2019<\/p>\n

Depending on one\u2019s view, Little Women <\/em>is a classic of American children\u2019s literature, one of the great American novels, or a no-longer-relevant work written for girls. The reality is much more complicated. The Afterlife of \u201c<\/em>Little Women\u201d weaves together the reception history of this single text, but also the history of the American literary canon and its uneasy relationship with children\u2019s literature, and how societal shifts influence our view of a particular literary work. As Clark demonstrates, the story of Little Women <\/em>has \u201cpermeated American culture\u201d (198) to such an extent that although our relationship with it will undoubtedly change, it will continue to be a part of our culture for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

Melanie A. Kimball
\nSimmons College<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beverly Lyon Clark. The Afterlife of \u201cLittle Women.\u201d Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. x, 271p., ill. ISBN 9781421415581. US $44.95. In this thoroughly researched and well-documented text, Clark explores the history of the reception of Little Women from its publication in 1868 to the present. In addition, she considers how critics and the public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1888],"tags":[1913,1955],"class_list":["post-775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","tag-children-ya","tag-reception"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2570,"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775\/revisions\/2570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}