CONTENTMENT AND ITS DISCONTENTS Sarah Anne Kuczynski A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English and Comparative Literature in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chapel Hill 2019 Approved by: Eliza Richards Matthew Taylor Jane Thrailkill Gabriel Trop George Lensing © 2019 Sarah Anne Kuczynski ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Sarah Anne Kuczynski: Contentment and Its Discontents (Under the direction of Eliza Richards) Within American society, the value attached to aspirational striving renders contentment an under-appreciated form of satisfaction. Contentment, for the purposes of my project, describes a a sense of sufficiency that falls short of any optimal state of satiation. Produced by the decision to settle for what is presently available or accessible via a path of less resistance, contentment signals a turn away from the redemptive potential of individual striving and a decision. “Contentment and Its Discontents” reveals that American literary studies—despite its reputation for bold, contrarian stances—shares the traditional, negative view of contentment and overwhelmingly affirms the good of striving in its interpretive work. I argue that this normative commitment to aspirational striving has left the field ill-equipped to deal with a wide range of phenomena that are relevant to the present-day including the search for personal value in the wake of an erosion of meritocracy, the preferencing of familiar attachments over alternatives that would require radical change, and the attention to reigning in overextension to combat the exhaustion of burnout. This dissertation argues for an appreciation of contentment as a corrective for the field of American literary studies against the backdrop of ongoing methodological debates about the tired nature of current reading practices, with their emphasis on suspicion and dissent. My approach hinges on a return to the postbellum period in American literature to uncover a counter-narrative in which contentment exists as a legitimate response to a growing iii sense that aspirational striving was not yielding the desired results for individuals and society more broadly. Specifically, I surface the divergent values, motivations, and preferences that contentment discloses through engagement with Harold Frederic’s The Damnation of Theron Ware (1896), Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady (1881) and “The Beast in the Jungle” (1900), Kate Chopin’s “Madame Célestin’s Divorce” (1894) and the poetry and fiction of Alice Dunbar-Nelson. With the help of recent social philosophical work on preference formation, I make the case that American literary studies stands to benefit from adopting a stance of respect and intellectual curiosity toward contentment as an alternative to aspirational striving. iv For Zachary, who encourages me in my endless striving and with whom I feel content. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My tendency is to (unmindfully) move on to the next challenge as soon as one major project—or chapter in my life—comes to a close. It would be irresponsible to do so at this juncture because there are a large number of people to whom I must express my gratitude. To my professors from GWU, thank you for feeding my intellectual curiosity as an undergraduate and tolerating my habit of haunting your office hours. Professor Alcorn, because of you I am a thoughtful and creative reader across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Professor Seavey, because of you I know the thrill of doing meticulous work in the sacred silence of the LOC’s Main Reading Room. Professor Soltan, early on you reminded me to write in paragraphs not blobs of text and challenged me to think about how human beings really (rather than ideally) work. Professor Carter, you introduced me to Dostoyevsky’s underground man and the concept of quotidian life as a series of snatches of joy among tragedy. Professor Moskowitz (Faye), you taught me the foolishness of adopting false modesty and the importance of having people around you with whom you can share both serious conversation and a great laugh. Professor Wald, you brought me around. In graduate school, many people continued the work of molding me as a thinker and writer. Professor Lensing, thank you for developing my love for poetry and introducing me to the world of Seamus Heaney. Professor Taylor, thank you for providing me with a model for responsible contrarian intervention in the field. Professor Thrailkill, thank you for sharing my interest in divergent modes of interpersonal valuing. Professor Trop, thank you for agreeing to vi work with a student outside your home department and bringing your enthusiastic breed of curiosity to my committee. Professor Ferraro, although you are not a Tar Heel, you have been a faithful mentor; thanks for sharing your love of Theron and “both/and” thinking with me. Your enthusiasm for my work made me feel validated in moments of uncomfortable doubt. Last but, of course, not least: Professor Richards—thank you for teaching me how to craft a convincing argument and the value of meticulous work done in good faith. I would also like to thank the Mellon Foundation for their financial support throughout graduate school. Dr. Janis Tomlinson and Tim Murray of the University of Delaware also deserve thanks because they were instrumental in helping me secure a copy of the manuscript for Alice Dunbar-Nelson’s The Confessions of a Lazy Woman, which is central to my argument in Chapter 3. I leave graduate school the better as a result of the friendships I forged there. Dwight Tanner, carpooling home from campus was the start of something great; thank you for being the best officiant a bride could hope for. Ben and Hannah Murphy (and Meadow!), thank you for providing me with a warm, welcoming home-away-from-home in Carrboro after I relocated to Savannah. Christina Lee and Rae Yan, thank you for being amazing, attentive readers of my work and clutch cheerleaders in the push finish line; I couldn’t have completed the marathon without you two. For my friends who inspire me with the courses they chart while supporting me as I pursue mine: Anna LeBlanc, Sofia Edwards, Marian Gay, Alex Mendrek-Laske, Sasha Raines, Marisa Mammone, Hannah Westerdoll, and Deborah Matteliano. I am excited to have the time to travel to see you all now that this stage of my life is behind me. My colleagues at Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong and Liberty Campuses deserve thanks for making it a joy to come to work despite my looming deadlines for this vii dissertation. Special shout-outs go to Angelia Coles, Jenae Brown Bryan, and Ryan Christian. I am also grateful to my students at GSU, who have given me a lot to think about when it comes to aspirational striving. To my momma, Christina Albers—thank you for the endless stream of inspiring iconography that you sent me throughout the dissertation completion process. I can never repay you for planning and putting on the most beautiful wedding for me and Zach while I was working full-time and writing this. To my dad, Michael Kuczynski—all joking about “nineteenth-century fathers” aside, you and I both know that you are always in my corner and that I am a stronger person because you never let me give up on the arduous path to healing. To my “little” brother, Henry Kuczynski—I treasured our phone conversations that broke up long weekends of writing; I am excited to see your career take off and relieved that you did not decide to go into the “family business.” To my new family—Sue, Jack, Lowell, Nancy, Nina, Jeremy, and Grady—thank you for your genuine interest in my work and your words of encouragement throughout the writing process. Now, to my immediate coinhabitants: Azorka, you have been my patient companion throughout graduate school. Thank you for providing me with the nudges I needed to make time for the joys of brisk walks outdoors despite having reading to do and papers to grade. With this dissertation complete, there will be less sitting at my desk on the weekends, which will translate into more time outside with you. Loki, true to your name, you are a mischief-maker. I am so glad you found your way into our home. Watching you dart along the neighbor’s roof—invariably in pursuit of a squirrel or a lizard—was always a welcome distraction while I sat at my desk for long hours each weekend. viii Zachary, you are my soul-mate and my companion on an adventure that extends far beyond this project. Thank-yous seem inadequate to convey my gratitude for the way you took care of me as I finished this dissertation while working full-time. From cooking delicious dinners after a long day of work to taking on extra chores (but never the laundry), you rose to the occasion again and again. In return, I have spared you from having to read this. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: CONTENTMENT AS A LITERARY CRITICAL CONCEPT ..................... 1 The Ascent of the Aspirational Imperative in American Culture ....................................... 5 Aspiration as Norm in American Literary Studies ........................................................... 18 The Broader Intellectual Bias against Contentment ......................................................... 26 Chapter Summaries ........................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER 1: READING BEYOND POTENTIAL ....................................................................