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
... revelation . As a break into identity and time , reve- lation annunciates the priority of the Other for Being by opening the word , affecting language , exceeding its possibilities of signification for meaning in any one - to - one ...
... revelation . As a break into identity and time , reve- lation annunciates the priority of the Other for Being by opening the word , affecting language , exceeding its possibilities of signification for meaning in any one - to - one ...
Page 12
... ( revelation ) and of what is made manifest in language beyond its function of representa- tion shows how the relation between the real and the ideal of America is highly unstable . Politics has constructed its own hegemony by attempt ...
... ( revelation ) and of what is made manifest in language beyond its function of representa- tion shows how the relation between the real and the ideal of America is highly unstable . Politics has constructed its own hegemony by attempt ...
Page 14
... revelation of America . In the long history of what is now the United States of America , which includes Puritanism , there are significant moments where the hegemonic nomos of America resorted to the judging of its opponents negatively ...
... revelation of America . In the long history of what is now the United States of America , which includes Puritanism , there are significant moments where the hegemonic nomos of America resorted to the judging of its opponents negatively ...
Page 15
... revelation , and redemption , which organize the difficulties of thinking about and working within their relations . Founding the Massachusetts Bay Com- pany and declaring independence create the possibility of the coming of the New ...
... revelation , and redemption , which organize the difficulties of thinking about and working within their relations . Founding the Massachusetts Bay Com- pany and declaring independence create the possibility of the coming of the New ...
Page 16
Justice, Politics, Theology Thomas Loebel. revelation of the ideal of America confirms the existence of such a per- fect union . Just as language can do when trying to speak about re- demption , it can only name this kind of existence ...
Justice, Politics, Theology Thomas Loebel. revelation of the ideal of America confirms the existence of such a per- fect union . Just as language can do when trying to speak about re- demption , it can only name this kind of existence ...
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