Close Reading Feudalism(s) in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with James Phelan (A Project Narrative Crossover)

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From the production studios of The Ohio State University, Matt Seybold, the host of The American Vandal Podcast, and James Phelan, the Director of Project Narrative, read aloud Chapter 18 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain [3:40], then discuss it [30:00] with emphasis on the opportunities the chapter presents for types of close reading.

This episode is a crossover with the Project Narrative podcast. You can subscribe to it via Apple Podcasts.

James Phelan is Distinguished University Professor of English at The Ohio State University and Director of Project Narrative. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than a dozen books on narrative theory. For more than thirty years, he has also been the editor of Narrative.

Matt Seybold is Associate Professor of American Literature & Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, resident scholar at the Center For Mark Twain Studies, and executive producer of The American Vandal Podcast. He is also an active scholar in C19 US Literature, Literature & Economics, and Media Studies.

For transcripts and other updates about The American Vandal, subscribe to Matt Seybold’s Substack.

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Episode Bibliography:

Frederick Douglass, “The Lessons of Emancipation To The New Generation” Center For Mark Twain Studies (8.2.2021)

Wolfgang Iser, Prospecting: From Reader Response to Literary Anthropology (Johns Hopkins UP, 1989)

Matt Seybold, “Even If He Weren’t My Friend: Frederick Douglass & Mark Twain” Center For Mark Twain Studies (8.2.2021)

Matt Seybold & Ali Velshi, #VelshiBannedBookClub: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, MSNBC (7.30.2022)

Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Case Study in Critical Controversy, Edited by Gerald Graff & James Phelan (Bedford, 2004)

Mark Twain, Life on The Mississippi (1883)