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 5
... human language , Word persecutes the attempts of human language to represent in - justice to the others of this world . The trace of this ethical persecution can be recognized in the transformative and sometimes traumatizing effects on ...
... human language , Word persecutes the attempts of human language to represent in - justice to the others of this world . The trace of this ethical persecution can be recognized in the transformative and sometimes traumatizing effects on ...
Page 6
... human . Simultaneously , cognition of and as a figure ( face ) signifies . Yet with this visual dimension in cog- nition , the figure is immediately linguistic , to which the term " call " hearkens . Thus , according to Levinas , ethics ...
... human . Simultaneously , cognition of and as a figure ( face ) signifies . Yet with this visual dimension in cog- nition , the figure is immediately linguistic , to which the term " call " hearkens . Thus , according to Levinas , ethics ...
Page 15
... human expression in writing and speech . - It is not that the language of the Constitution of the United States is that of God or that the Constitution becomes another god . However , there are analogous moments worth considering in ...
... human expression in writing and speech . - It is not that the language of the Constitution of the United States is that of God or that the Constitution becomes another god . However , there are analogous moments worth considering in ...
Page 16
... human time , space , and language after the expul- sion from the Garden . A philosophical conception of humanity can only begin in thought , which is in theological terms only possible east of Eden . Philosophy is able to recognize the ...
... human time , space , and language after the expul- sion from the Garden . A philosophical conception of humanity can only begin in thought , which is in theological terms only possible east of Eden . Philosophy is able to recognize the ...
Page 17
... Humanity's construction of the world in relation to human ideals , Genesis reminds , is a dynamic that can never be fulfilled , such that human terms could meet in a one - to - one relation with the terms of a perfect language which ...
... Humanity's construction of the world in relation to human ideals , Genesis reminds , is a dynamic that can never be fulfilled , such that human terms could meet in a one - to - one relation with the terms of a perfect language which ...
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