The Wealthy, the Brilliant, the Few : Elite Education in Contemporary American Discourse /
Spieler, Sophie,
The Wealthy, the Brilliant, the Few : Elite Education in Contemporary American Discourse / Sophie Spieler. - 1 online resource (276 pages). - American Culture Studies ; 33 . - American studies (Transcript (Firm)) ; 33. .
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- I. Exposition: Approaching the Elite Educational Space -- 1. Introductory Remarks -- 2. Starting Points: Eliteness and Education in American Culture -- 3. 'Very Important, Very Powerful, or Very Prominent': Eliteness in America -- 4. 'Excellence and Equity': Merit as the Price of Admission -- 5. 'A Touchy Subject'? Class and Elite Education -- 6. Concluding Remarks -- II. Critique: Elite Education and Its Discontents -- 1. Introductory Remarks -- 2. Mapping the Critical Landscape -- 3. Progressivist Critiques -- 4. Conservative Critiques -- 5. Concluding Remarks -- III. Affirmation: Self-Representation at Princeton University -- 1. Introductory Remarks -- 2. Elite College Admissions: A Discourse of Impossibility and Pathology -- 3. A Meritocracy of Affect -- 4. Epistemological Frames: Diversity, the Good Life, Community -- 5. Concluding Remarks -- IV. Imagination: Fictionalizations of the Elite Educational Experience -- 1. Introductory Remarks -- 2. Exposition: Fiction in the Discourse of Elite Education -- 3. Prep in the Discourse: Publicity, 'Preppiness', and the Neoliberal Imagination -- 4. Diversity, Class, Mobility: Prep's Cultural Work -- 5. Concluding Remarks -- Conclusion -- Works Cited
Open Access
How do the US make sense of their own elite educational system, given that it seems to be at odds with core American values, such as equality of opportunity or upward mobility? Sophie Spieler explores scholarly and journalistic investigations, self-representational texts, and fictional narratives revolving around the Ivy League and its peers in order to understand elite education and its peculiar position in American cultural discourse. Among the book's most surprising and groundbreaking insights is the tenacity and adaptability of meritocratic ideology across all three sub-discourses, despite its fundamental incompatibility with the American educational system.
In English.
3839457297 9783839457290
10.1515/9783839457290 doi
Elite (Social sciences)--Education--United States.
Upper class--Education--United States.
America.
American Studies.
Campus Novels.
Capital.
Class.
Cultural Studies.
Cultural Theory.
Curtis Sittenfeld.
Discourse Analysis.
Distinction.
Education.
Elite Education.
Ivy League.
Literary Studies.
Literature.
Meritocracy.
Neoliberalism.
Princeton.
LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General.
|Social Stratification; Distinction; Meritocracy; Campus Novels; Capital; Princeton; Elite Education; Class; Discourse Analysis; Neoliberalism; Ivy League; Curtis Sittenfeld; Literature; Education; America; American Studies; Cultural Studies; Cultural Theory; Literary Studies;
America. American Studies. Campus Novels. Capital. Class. Cultural Studies. Cultural Theory. Curtis Sittenfeld. Discourse Analysis. Distinction. Education. Elite Education. Ivy League. Literary Studies. Literature. Meritocracy. Neoliberalism. Princeton.
Electronic books.
LC4941
371.826210973 970.980
The Wealthy, the Brilliant, the Few : Elite Education in Contemporary American Discourse / Sophie Spieler. - 1 online resource (276 pages). - American Culture Studies ; 33 . - American studies (Transcript (Firm)) ; 33. .
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- I. Exposition: Approaching the Elite Educational Space -- 1. Introductory Remarks -- 2. Starting Points: Eliteness and Education in American Culture -- 3. 'Very Important, Very Powerful, or Very Prominent': Eliteness in America -- 4. 'Excellence and Equity': Merit as the Price of Admission -- 5. 'A Touchy Subject'? Class and Elite Education -- 6. Concluding Remarks -- II. Critique: Elite Education and Its Discontents -- 1. Introductory Remarks -- 2. Mapping the Critical Landscape -- 3. Progressivist Critiques -- 4. Conservative Critiques -- 5. Concluding Remarks -- III. Affirmation: Self-Representation at Princeton University -- 1. Introductory Remarks -- 2. Elite College Admissions: A Discourse of Impossibility and Pathology -- 3. A Meritocracy of Affect -- 4. Epistemological Frames: Diversity, the Good Life, Community -- 5. Concluding Remarks -- IV. Imagination: Fictionalizations of the Elite Educational Experience -- 1. Introductory Remarks -- 2. Exposition: Fiction in the Discourse of Elite Education -- 3. Prep in the Discourse: Publicity, 'Preppiness', and the Neoliberal Imagination -- 4. Diversity, Class, Mobility: Prep's Cultural Work -- 5. Concluding Remarks -- Conclusion -- Works Cited
Open Access
How do the US make sense of their own elite educational system, given that it seems to be at odds with core American values, such as equality of opportunity or upward mobility? Sophie Spieler explores scholarly and journalistic investigations, self-representational texts, and fictional narratives revolving around the Ivy League and its peers in order to understand elite education and its peculiar position in American cultural discourse. Among the book's most surprising and groundbreaking insights is the tenacity and adaptability of meritocratic ideology across all three sub-discourses, despite its fundamental incompatibility with the American educational system.
In English.
3839457297 9783839457290
10.1515/9783839457290 doi
Elite (Social sciences)--Education--United States.
Upper class--Education--United States.
America.
American Studies.
Campus Novels.
Capital.
Class.
Cultural Studies.
Cultural Theory.
Curtis Sittenfeld.
Discourse Analysis.
Distinction.
Education.
Elite Education.
Ivy League.
Literary Studies.
Literature.
Meritocracy.
Neoliberalism.
Princeton.
LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General.
|Social Stratification; Distinction; Meritocracy; Campus Novels; Capital; Princeton; Elite Education; Class; Discourse Analysis; Neoliberalism; Ivy League; Curtis Sittenfeld; Literature; Education; America; American Studies; Cultural Studies; Cultural Theory; Literary Studies;
America. American Studies. Campus Novels. Capital. Class. Cultural Studies. Cultural Theory. Curtis Sittenfeld. Discourse Analysis. Distinction. Education. Elite Education. Ivy League. Literary Studies. Literature. Meritocracy. Neoliberalism. Princeton.
Electronic books.
LC4941
371.826210973 970.980