The Satirist and Her Public

This chapter traces the discursive development within periodical print culture of Fanny Fern as persona and alter ego in the midst of a burgeoning celebrity. Especially at the beginning of her fame, Sara Parton interacted with her readers in what at times goes beyond a dialogue and becomes a flirtation in print, with many paragraphs devoted to creating a literary profile with a comic temperament for the reading public.