Letter and the Spirit of Nineteenth-Century American Literature: Justice, Politics, TheologyMoving back to the trial of Anne Hutchinson in Puritan Massachusetts and the captivity narrative of Mary Rowlandson in order to analyse theo-political signification, Loebel provides a new context for examining the politically performative function of language in such texts as "The Scarlet Letter," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and "Waiting for the Verdict." He also argues, however, that a specific theo-logic manifests itself in the political rhetoric of the nation, such that the afterlife of the "New Jerusalem" resonates not just in the "Blessings of Liberty" enshrined in the Constitution but also in the shift from a religious understanding of union with Jesus to that of the Union of States as a nation. Loebel compares unionist and confederate discourse, opening up new ways of theorising representation as a political, theological, legal, and literary issue that has continued currency both in twentieth-century literature and in the political discourse of America's global vision, such as the "axis of evil" and the "new world order." Anyone interested in American literature and culture will view the relationship between ethics and justice differently after reading this book. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 54
Page 13
... Anne Hutchinson , Mary Row- landson , Nathaniel Hawthorne , Abraham Lincoln , John C. Calhoun , Harriet Beecher Stowe , Rebecca Harding Davis , Sojourner Truth , and George Washington Cable . The readings of these texts are generated in ...
... Anne Hutchinson , Mary Row- landson , Nathaniel Hawthorne , Abraham Lincoln , John C. Calhoun , Harriet Beecher Stowe , Rebecca Harding Davis , Sojourner Truth , and George Washington Cable . The readings of these texts are generated in ...
Page 15
... Anne Hutchinson . Billed as “ a monumental crisis of language ” by Patricia Caldwell ( “ Antinomian ” 346 ) and by Charles Francis Adams as “ hot wrangling over the unknowable " ( qtd . in Caldwell , " Antinomian " 346 ) , the ...
... Anne Hutchinson . Billed as “ a monumental crisis of language ” by Patricia Caldwell ( “ Antinomian ” 346 ) and by Charles Francis Adams as “ hot wrangling over the unknowable " ( qtd . in Caldwell , " Antinomian " 346 ) , the ...
Page 17
... Anne Hutchinson . " The Justice of Sen- tencing , or How ( Not ) to Speak ” explores how the tension between revelation as direct annunciation and revelation by the word instigates conflict in the political sphere dominated by men who ...
... Anne Hutchinson . " The Justice of Sen- tencing , or How ( Not ) to Speak ” explores how the tension between revelation as direct annunciation and revelation by the word instigates conflict in the political sphere dominated by men who ...
Page 18
... Anne Hutchinson's use of " light " at- tempts but fails in this regard ; however , it directs attention to the issues in the transcripts concerning grace and works , judgment and expres- sion , privacy and publicity , distinctions ...
... Anne Hutchinson's use of " light " at- tempts but fails in this regard ; however , it directs attention to the issues in the transcripts concerning grace and works , judgment and expres- sion , privacy and publicity , distinctions ...
Page 26
... Anne Hutchinson found in this chapter , I inquire as to how these docu- ments testify and so speak forth antinomianism as part of the breath with which early America is infused with life . What 1 The Justice of Sentencing, or How (Not) ...
... Anne Hutchinson found in this chapter , I inquire as to how these docu- ments testify and so speak forth antinomianism as part of the breath with which early America is infused with life . What 1 The Justice of Sentencing, or How (Not) ...
Contents
3 | |
26 | |
How to Avoid Speaking the Name of the Father | 62 |
UnionistRepublican and ConfederateDemocratic Narratives | 99 |
Uncle Toms Cabin and the Ethical Critique of Justice | 127 |
5 Exodus Politics and the Redemption of Difference | 172 |
Advocacy and Others Voices | 217 |
Confederate Democracy and the NonInDifferent Constitution | 245 |
Notes | 257 |
Works Cited | 273 |
Index | 289 |
Other editions - View all
Letter and the Spirit of Nineteenth-Century American Literature: Justice ... Thomas Loebel No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
according African American alterity Anne Hutchinson annunciation Antinomian argue articulated becomes biblical body Cable Calvin Ellis Stowe captivity Christ Christian confederate confederate-democratic congregationalism Constitution construction context conversion covenant Creoles cultural democracy difference Dimmesdale discourse divine emancipation enables equality ethical Exodus faith father feminine figure Frowenfeld function God's Grandissimes H.B. Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe Hebrew Bible Hester human language identity individual interpretation issues Jesus Jews judgment justice Levinas Liberia liberty logic magistrates male Mary Rowlandson masculinity material meaning ment ministers narrative nation one's particular performance persons plurality political position possibility promote Puritan question racial radical reading Reconstruction redemption relation rendered represent representation revelation rhetoric Rowlandson Scarlet Letter sense sentiment signifies slavery slaves social Sojourner Truth soul speak speech spirit Stowe's structure suggests temporal theological thing tion translation Uncle Tom's Cabin understanding union unionist unionist-republican voice woman women word writing