ROMANCE, SUSPENSE NOVELS ENTERTAIN US;
GREAT LITERARY WORKS IDENTIFY US, NEW BOOK SAYS 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., March 20 -- Although you can't tell a
great book by its cover, a study of nearly 200 American and Canadian
novels shows the great importance of books in shaping a national
identity. 
	Individuals may "lose themselves" in romance or suspense
bestsellers, but people find their national identities in images and
ideas in great literary works, says University of Virginia sociologist
Sarah M. Corse. She advances a new theory on national literatures in
"Nationalism and Literature, The Politics of Culture in Canada and the
United States," a 1997 book published by Cambridge University Press in
its Cultural Social Studies series.
	Corse found that novels now considered masterpieces emphasized
the differences between national populations in Canada's and America's
early nation-building years. Modern literary prize winners in America,
however, emphasize a broad range of diverse social experiences. 
	"In the 1800s when Americans felt a strong need to disengage
from England, great works such as 'Huckleberry Finn' showed an
individual's struggle to define oneself against the current social
structure," said Corse, who studied approximately 10 years of
bestsellers, novels that won literary prizes and classics taught in
literature classes.  The bestsellers and prize winners are from 1978
to 1987.
	"The stark contrast of Huck Finn's actions against the norm of
his hometown gave Americans a new definition of social relations. The
heros in such books helped establish our national identity and
distinguish us from the English," said Corse, an assistant professor
of sociology at U.Va. 
	"The relationship between literature and ordinary people's
lives may be weak, but literature as a whole tells a coherent story
about a nation," the author said. To date, Corse's study is the only
empirical work on nationalism and literature that has been published
in sociology. 
	Great literature becomes national canon in tandem with nation
building, Corse argues. "People draw on available images and ideas
once they are recognized as great literary works. The works,
themselves, perpetuate aspects of the nation's culture. So the works
seem 'natural,' the characters and action 'right' because the images
become part of society," explained Corse, who, as a sociologist,
investigates the relationship between how people understand their
world and their culture. 
	"Books tell us who we are. The more we read of the great
literary works, the more we accept those images as being our own.
Books generate, reflect and maintain national-level images in our
society," Corse said. 
	By analyzing such components of the books' plots as the main
characters' ethnic background and gender, the role of family and
political processes and occurrences of violence and sex, Corse found:
	¥ American high-culture literature is mostly written by men
while female authors dominate the popular-culture market.  American
women are less likely to win top literary prizes.
	¥ In Canada high-culture works are much more likely to be
written by women.  Canadian bestsellers, however, are more likely to
be written by men.  Most literary prizes go to women.
	"The comparison shows that America needs high-culture books
written by women. The study also underscores the importance of
minority authors in contemporary literature as our national identity
and images change," Corse said.
	¥ Contemporary literary-prize winning works in Canada focus
on individuals; in the U.S. the focus is on social connections and
relationships with others.
	"It's impossible to tell American and Canadian bestsellers
apart, which shows that popular taste does not contribute to
establishing a national canon of literature. We react to popular
suspense thrillers and other bestsellers as individuals.  We respond
to classics as Americans," the sociologist said.
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March 19, 1997

	For more information, contact Sarah Corse at (804) 924-6515 or
via smc6r@virginia.edu.  Television reporters should call our TV News
Office at (804) 924-7550.