Two recently published books from the Yale University Press deal with that most imposing of American icons—the prison—which continues to spark national debates over both
rising corrections budgets and
harsh treatments of
prisoners. Each work takes a distinct perspective on the issue of incarceration, revealing our nation's unique fascination with captivity and its effect on those both "on the inside" and out.
Caleb Smith's The Prison and the American Imagination, which will be the topic of discussion at an event at Labyrinth Books today in New Haven, takes a textual approach to the culture of imprisonment, drawing upon legal, political, and literary texts including the works of Dickinson, Melville, and Emerson. Smith explains how these often dehumanizing representations of confinement continue to affect our society and our politics today. Smith's elegant website provides additional images and texts that inform his well-rendered argument.
Stephen Cox's
The Big House, the newest installment in the
Icons of America series, looks at the prison's alternately idealized and demonized depictions in popular culture. From analysis of historical accounts to popular films, Cox dissects these institutions of power and control, revealing how prisons can simultaneously exist as feared depositories for society's most dangerous members and, in the case of Alcatraz and other historical prisons, tourist destinations.
Readers may also be interested in Anne-Marie Cusac's Cruel and Unusual: The Culture of Punishment in America, which was featured in a recent discussion on Connecticut Public Radio's "Where We Live" program. Yale professor and philosopher Shelley Kagan also contributed to the broadcast.
