Unusable Past: Theory and the Study of American Literature

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First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents General editor’s preface Acknowledgments Introduction 1 The unused past: theorists of American literature and the problem of exclusivity An unusable past? What is an American author? American literature: out of space - out of time The consolation of criticism 2 The problem of Puritan origins in literary history and theory Puritanism as tragic vision: Perry Miller Puritanism as allegory: Yvor Winters, Richard Chase, and Leslie Fiedler Puritanism as rhetoric: Sacvan Bercovitch 3 ‘Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is’: cultural theories of American literature Unreality in America: Lionel Trilling Parties of one: R. W. B. Lewis The romance of America: Richard Chase The apolitical unconscious: Leslie Fiedler An American fable: Leo Marx The Phelps farm revisited: cultural theorists on Huckleberry Finn 4 American literature should not mean but be: self-reflexive theories of American literature D. H. Lawrence and American art-speech New Criticism and the American Renaissance: F. O. Matthiessen Making the world safefor symbolism: Charles Feidelson, Jr Worlds elsewhere: Richard Poirier Myths of American origins: post-structuralism ‘The world’s body' 5 What is to be done? What is the American tradition? New directions The American scene 6 Conclusion: the significance of Frederick Douglass Notes Works Cited Index