E pluribus unum : nineteenth-century American literature & the Constitutional paradox / W.C. Harris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harris, W. C. (William Conley)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--19th century--History and criticism.

American literature.

Cultural pluralism in literature.

Politics and literature--United States--History--19th century.

Politics and literature.

Literature and society--United States--History--19th century.

Literature and society.

Group identity in literature.

Individualism in literature.

United States. Constitution--In literature.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (329 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

""Out of many, one."" But how do the many become one without sacrificing difference or autonomy? This problem was critical to both identity formation and state formation in late 18th- and 19th-century America. The premise of this book is that American writers of the time came to view the resolution of this central philosophical problem as no longer the exclusive province of legislative or judicial documents but capable of being addressed by literary texts as well. The project of E Pluribus Unum is twofold. Its first and underlying concern is the general philosophic problem of the one and the m

Contents:

Contents; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Introduction; "Brotherhood among the Atoms" Edgar Allan Poe and the Poetics of Constitution; "A Religion Which Is No Religion" Walt Whitman and the Writing of a New American Bible; "But Aren't It All a Sham?" Herman Melville and the Critique of Unity; "Necessarily Short of Sight" William James and the Dilemma of Variety; Afterword; Notes; Works Cited; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [289]-307) and index.

ISBN:

9781587295935

1587295938

OCLC:

85811940