ISBN: 9781839999642 - the declaration of independence and antebellum philadelphia gothic (7 Ergebnisse)

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Paperback. Zustand: new. Paperback. Reveals how antebellum Philadelphia gothic writers used 'civic horror' to imagine dark alternative futures for the American republic, illuminating the contradictions inherent in the Declaration of Independence.This book reconsiders the founding document of the United States at a crucial moment in its history. Focusing on gothic fiction published in Philadelphia roughly during the period 1830-1855, Henry argues that the newly developing American national mythology also gave rise to much darker accounts of the nations descent into mob violence, corruption, and the breakdown of the rule of law. In stories that reconceive history as gothic romance, Edgar Allan Poe, George Lippard, and Robert Montgomery Bird developed a literary mode Henry calls 'civic horror', a mode that frequently wandered into the speculative territory of 'what if'. What if Independence Hall were razed to the ground, and in its place a royal palace was built? What if George Washington had accepted the Kings offer of a British peerage and turned traitor to the patriot cause? What if an unruly mob appropriated the Declaration of Independence as justification for its lawlessness or what if the lawlessness of the frontier came to characterise city life? Henry analyses such scenarios in Philadelphias antebellum gothic fiction and considers their relevance to U.S. politics at the Declarations 250th anniversary. While the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, this timely book considers a darker legacy of the Declaration of Independence. Focusing on the work of three antebellum Philadelphia gothic writers, the author identifies a literary mode she calls 'civic horror' and examines its relevance to U.S. politics today. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…

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Paperback. Zustand: Brand New. 100 pages. 6.02x0.51x9.00 inches. In Stock.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - Reveals how antebellum Philadelphia gothic writers used 'civic horror' to imagine dark alternative futures for the American republic, illuminating the contradictions inherent in the Declaration of Independence.From antislavery and women's rights activism to anticolonialism, movements to resist oppression and champion self-determination-in the United States and around the world-have often found inspiration in the Declaration of Independence. However, the Declaration of Independence also has a darker legacy. Barbara F. Walter, a scholar of civil wars since the end of World War II, notes that civil wars are often triggered when marginalized regional or ethnic groups declare their independence from the centralized regime. Indeed, the 1860 South Carolina Declaration of Secession, a trigger for the U.S. Civil War, was modeled on the Declaration of Independence. This book examines the darker legacy of the Declaration-the paradox that what is now seen as a crucial founding document of the nation also seems to contain the seeds of the nation's potential unraveling.Henry's gothic archive is rooted in a particular place and time: Philadelphia (the site of the Continental Congress's deliberation and adoption of the Declaration), roughly during the period 1830-1855. In her classic book American Scripture (1997), Pauline Maier establishes that it wasn't until the 1820s that the Declaration of Independence came to be revered as the founding document and statement of principle that we consider it today. However, to elevate the Declaration to the status of 'scripture' is to suppress the elements of its history that conflict with the myth and thus to give rise to a version of the gothic. As Teresa Goddu describes it, 'the gothic tells of the historical horrors that make national identity possible yet must be repressed in order to sustain it.'While Goddu and others have focused primarily on the historical horrors of slavery and racism, the gothic fiction at the center of this book invokes what Henry calls 'civic horror'-mob violence, corruption, and the breakdown of the rule of law. Henry uses this framework in her readings of texts by three prominent American gothic authors-Robert Montgomery Bird, George Lippard, and Edgar Allan Poe-all of whom were writing in Philadelphia at precisely the transformational moment in the creation of an American national mythology that Maier identifies, and all of whom, Henry argues, drew literary inspiration from the contradictions inherent in the nation's founding.…

Paperback. Zustand: new. Paperback. Reveals how antebellum Philadelphia gothic writers used 'civic horror' to imagine dark alternative futures for the American republic, illuminating the contradictions inherent in the Declaration of Independence.This book reconsiders the founding document of the United States at a crucial moment in its history. Focusing on gothic fiction published in Philadelphia roughly during the period 1830-1855, Henry argues that the newly developing American national mythology also gave rise to much darker accounts of the nations descent into mob violence, corruption, and the breakdown of the rule of law. In stories that reconceive history as gothic romance, Edgar Allan Poe, George Lippard, and Robert Montgomery Bird developed a literary mode Henry calls 'civic horror', a mode that frequently wandered into the speculative territory of 'what if'. What if Independence Hall were razed to the ground, and in its place a royal palace was built? What if George Washington had accepted the Kings offer of a British peerage and turned traitor to the patriot cause? What if an unruly mob appropriated the Declaration of Independence as justification for its lawlessness or what if the lawlessness of the frontier came to characterise city life? Henry analyses such scenarios in Philadelphias antebellum gothic fiction and considers their relevance to U.S. politics at the Declarations 250th anniversary. While the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, this timely book considers a darker legacy of the Declaration of Independence. Focusing on the work of three antebellum Philadelphia gothic writers, the author identifies a literary mode she calls 'civic horror' and examines its relevance to U.S. politics today. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.…

Paperback. Zustand: Brand New. 100 pages. 6.02x0.51x9.00 inches. In Stock. This item is printed on demand.