The rites of assent : transformations in the symbolic construction of America
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The rites of assent : transformations in the symbolic construction of America
Routledge, 1993
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical notes (p. 377-410) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
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ISBN 9780415900140
Description
Between the Revolution and the Civil War there developed in the United States something dramtically new: a modern liberal culture, replete with a new vision of community and nationality, an interwoven set of institutions (legal, political and religious), and, as the link between all these, a complex system of symbols, rituals, and beliefs. The subject of "The Rites of Assent" is the growth of this symbolic economy. Sacvan Bercovitch traces its origins back to the colonial period, and specifically to the legacy of early New England. He analyses the manifold functions of "America" - as a view of history, a spiritual ideal, a myth of origins, and a mode of identity - in the work of influential figures from the Revolution to the Civil War. The major part of the book explores these themes in three classic American writers - Hawthorne, Melville, and Emerson. The focus of this book is broadly cultural, emphasizing the connection between politics and language, popular and high literature, social action and creative expression. It is a book which will be essential reading for Americanists in every field, and to students of literature and culture.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: The Music of America 2. The Ritual of Consensus 3. The Ends of Puritan Rhetoric 4. Cotton Mather and the Vision of America 5. The Typology of Mission, from Edwards to Independence 6. Continuing Revolution: George Bancroft and the Myth of Progress 7. The Return of Hester Prynne 8. Pierre , or the Ambiguities of Literary History 9. Emerson, Individualism, and Liberal Dissent 10. The Problem of Ideology in American Literary Studies.
- Volume
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: pbk ISBN 9780415900157
Description
The Rites of Assent examines the cultural strategies through which "America" served as a vehicle simultaneously for diversity and cohesion, fusion and fragmentation. Taking an ethnographic, cross-cultural approach, The Rites of Assent traces the meanings and purposes of "America" back to the colonial typology of mission, and specifically (in chapters on Puritan rhetoric, Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards, and the movement from Revival to Revolution) to the legacy of early New England.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: The Music of America 2. The Ritual of Consensus 3. The Ends of Puritan Rhetoric 4. Cotton Mather and the Vision of America 5. The Typology of Mission, from Edwards to Independence 6. Continuing Revolution: George Bancroft and the Myth of Progress 7. The Return of Hester Prynne 8. Pierre , or the Ambiguities of Literary History 9. Emerson, Individualism, and Liberal Dissent 10. The Problem of Ideology in American Literary Studies Endnotes Index
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