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American Literary Nationalism: The Process of Definition, 1825–1850

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

John T. Frederick
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Extract

TheInk used by the signers of the Declaration of Independence barely had time to dry before Americans began talking about a national literature. Debate was initiated which went on actively for 75 years — and indeed is still occasionally revived. From the first, two aspects of the subject were considered, two steps were recognized as necessary. The first was the problem of definition: what should be the materials of an American literature and what should be the spirit and purpose of American writers. The second was, of course, the actual creation of a body of literary work which should be recognizably and worthily American.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , January 1959 , pp. 224 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1959

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References

1 Works (Boston, 1866), III, 115–117Google Scholar.

2 See, for example, McCloskey, John C., “The Campaign of Periodicals after the War of 1812 for National American Independence,” PMLA, L (1935), 262–273CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 North American Review, VII (1818), 199.Google Scholar

4 Bryant, William Cullen, Representative Selections, edit. McDowell, Tremaine (New York, 1935), p. 177Google Scholar.

5 Ibid., pp. 191, 195.

6 Ibid., p. 198.

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9 Ibid., 285, 286.

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12 Ibid., 63.

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14 Idem.

15 Ibid., 74–75.

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17 Essays on Modern Popular Literature, ed. Brownson, Henry F. (Detroit, 1888), p. 11Google Scholar.

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19 Ibid., pp. 27, 28.

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21 United States Magazine and Democratic Review, I (1837), 10Google Scholar.

22 Ibid., 14, 15.

23 ibid., 14, 15.

24 Ibid., III (1838), 264, 265.

25 Ibid., V (1839), 541.

26 Ibid., V (1839), 612.

27 Ibid., VIII (1846), 429.

28 Ibid., XVII (1845), 215.

29 Ibid., XVI (1845), 186, 187, 189.

30 The Pioneer, I (1843), 1–2Google Scholar.

31 Ibid., 2.

32 The American Review: A Whig Journal, I (1845), 4Google Scholar.

33 American Literary Magazine, I (1847), 52Google Scholar.

34 The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, XX (1847), 267Google Scholar.

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