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
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Page 7
... body to mind . Thus literature's ability to embody injustice and to call , not for bloodless recognition , but for emotional identification holds out the possibility of changing how one hears the claims and sees the bridge . Emotional ...
... body to mind . Thus literature's ability to embody injustice and to call , not for bloodless recognition , but for emotional identification holds out the possibility of changing how one hears the claims and sees the bridge . Emotional ...
Page 16
... body in the day - to - day reality of the United States . To have U.S. systems of democracy and justice unite in their dealings with race would perhaps be a sign that " good works ” do admit of some kind of sanctification of how America ...
... body in the day - to - day reality of the United States . To have U.S. systems of democracy and justice unite in their dealings with race would perhaps be a sign that " good works ” do admit of some kind of sanctification of how America ...
Page 17
... body . Their anger at her theological difference and increasing influence within the community becomes simultaneously in their minds a problem of gender dialecti- cally realized with a female sex that has exceeded its bounds . Though ...
... body . Their anger at her theological difference and increasing influence within the community becomes simultaneously in their minds a problem of gender dialecti- cally realized with a female sex that has exceeded its bounds . Though ...
Page 18
... body , and spirit and , most generally , that of knowledge of election . All of these issues realize different aspects of the overall problem of " passage , " which I hold under the rubric of the spirit and the letter . Theology ...
... body , and spirit and , most generally , that of knowledge of election . All of these issues realize different aspects of the overall problem of " passage , " which I hold under the rubric of the spirit and the letter . Theology ...
Page 20
... body , depends upon who is reading and the reader's sympathies . Second , in his frequent public confessions of sin , he speaks as the third person of the “ sinful ” family but also in the third person . He speaks of himself as " him ...
... body , depends upon who is reading and the reader's sympathies . Second , in his frequent public confessions of sin , he speaks as the third person of the “ sinful ” family but also in the third person . He speaks of himself as " him ...
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 |
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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