Toward a New Literary Historiography of 19th-Century America

• 발행기관: 한국아메리카학회
• 저자명: Ki Yoon Jang
• 간행물 정보: 『미국학논집』제50집 2호, 191~208쪽, 전체 18쪽
• 주제분류: 인문학 > 기타인문학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2018.09.30

영문 초록

The field of 19th-century American literary studies has been dominated by the metanarrative of America in the making, America at crisis, and America reborn to the superpower. Taking issues with that narrative for its oversimplifying tendency, this essay proposes reconsidering the time period with focus on the Civil War era. The era is largely regarded as the turning point in the nation’s rise to the world empire, stitching back its internal division of the North and the South over slavery into one nationhood. But such view severely downplays much more complicated realities under the influence of the founding doctrine of majority rule. The essay aims to diversify the conventional paradigm of the antebellum vs. postbellum America by shedding light on the so-far much neglected topic of secession and examining its implications in light of the ongoing conflict between national sovereignty and state sovereignty. The essay ultimately emphasizes the importance of staying tolerant to multiple possible perspectives to the notion of ‘American literature’ and defying the “tyranny of majority” in signification.

키워드

American literary historiography Civil War secession theories of sovereignty Elizabeth Stoddard The Morgesons