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 8
... union , one still has to fig- ure out what that form , and therefore the Union , actually is . Once this is determined , the principles of justice it necessitates becomes clear . The problem is that such a clear determination was never ...
... union , one still has to fig- ure out what that form , and therefore the Union , actually is . Once this is determined , the principles of justice it necessitates becomes clear . The problem is that such a clear determination was never ...
Page 10
... Union Army won the Civil War and the North embarked on the project of reconstructing and then restoring the South , " America " was buttressed in its hegemony as the meaning of the " United States . " A unionist - republican ...
... Union Army won the Civil War and the North embarked on the project of reconstructing and then restoring the South , " America " was buttressed in its hegemony as the meaning of the " United States . " A unionist - republican ...
Page 14
... union , the legality of secession , and the justice of slavery : the " Constitution does not ex- pressly say " ( Lincoln , " First " 220 ) . Ultimately , his response to this aporia in the language of constitution was that " right makes ...
... union , the legality of secession , and the justice of slavery : the " Constitution does not ex- pressly say " ( Lincoln , " First " 220 ) . Ultimately , his response to this aporia in the language of constitution was that " right makes ...
Page 15
... here in possibility and always " not yet , " so too is America not yet here as a realized union of democracy and justice . According to theo - logos , revelation of the ideal of America confirms the existence of 15 Introduction.
... here in possibility and always " not yet , " so too is America not yet here as a realized union of democracy and justice . According to theo - logos , revelation of the ideal of America confirms the existence of 15 Introduction.
Page 16
... union . Just as language can do when trying to speak about re- demption , it can only name this kind of existence , which is " not yet " in itself as “ more Perfect , ” as something that exceeds ontic existence in the here and now . The ...
... union . Just as language can do when trying to speak about re- demption , it can only name this kind of existence , which is " not yet " in itself as “ more Perfect , ” as something that exceeds ontic existence in the here and now . The ...
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