E Pluribus Unum: Nineteenth-Century American Literature and the Constitutional Paradox“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 many as it came to be understood at the time. W. C. Harris supplies a detailed account of the genealogy of the concept, exploring both its applications and its paradoxes as a basis for state and identity formation. Harris then considers the perilous integration of the one and the many as a motive in the major literary accomplishments of 19th-century U.S. writers. Drawing upon critical as well as historical resources and upon contexts as diverse as cosmology, epistemology, poetics, politics, and Bible translation, he discusses attempts by Poe, Whitman, Melville, and William James to resolve the problems of social construction caused by the paradox of e pluribus unum by writing literary and philosophical texts that supplement the nation’s political founding documents. Poe (Eureka), Whitman (Leaves of Grass), Melville (Billy Budd), and William James (The Varieties of Religious Experience) provide their own distinct, sometimes contradictory resolutions to the conflicting demands of diversity and unity, equality and hierarchy. Each of these texts understands literary and philosophical writing as having the potential to transform-conceptually or actually-the construction of social order. This work will be of great interest to literary and constitutional scholars. |
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Page 5
... formation approach the problematic of unity with a mind to solving it ( either by fiat of refer- ence to a transcendental term or by future ... social formations . Whereas Melville draws on the conceit of the ship of Introduction 5.
... formation approach the problematic of unity with a mind to solving it ( either by fiat of refer- ence to a transcendental term or by future ... social formations . Whereas Melville draws on the conceit of the ship of Introduction 5.
Page 154
... social formation , specifically , as the federal problem , eliciting widely different responses as to how it can or ... social formations : the reconstruction of unity in the context of plurality , that is , in the face of the inevitable ...
... social formation , specifically , as the federal problem , eliciting widely different responses as to how it can or ... social formations : the reconstruction of unity in the context of plurality , that is , in the face of the inevitable ...
Page 212
... formations are vectored not toward but away from the social : in American fiction analogues get confused with and converted to identi- ties . They stop being emblems for social change , and instead initiate revi- sionary notions about ...
... formations are vectored not toward but away from the social : in American fiction analogues get confused with and converted to identi- ties . They stop being emblems for social change , and instead initiate revi- sionary notions about ...
Contents
Edgar Allan Poe and the Poetics of Constitution | 37 |
A Religion Which Is No Religion | 71 |
But Arent It All a Sham? | 114 |
Copyright | |
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E Pluribus Unum: Nineteenth-Century American Literature and the ... W. C. Harris Limited preview - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
American literary American social formation argue Articles of Confederation attempt authority Bible Billy Budd Billy's Book of Mormon Budd's Cetology chapter character civil religion Claggart claim concern Congregationalism constitutional regime cosmology critical culture death Declaration democracy difference discourse disparates e pluribus unum Emerson epistemological equality Eureka fact federal Federalist Federalist Papers founding documents genre hierarchy ical ideal identity imperative to unity individual inequality inevitable institution integration Ishmael James's Jamesian kind Leaves of Grass Lincoln logical means mediation Melville Melville's Moby Moby Dick Moby-Dick monism nineteenth-century one-and-the-many problem persons Philippine philosophical phrenology Plotinus pluralism pluribus unum Poe's poem poet poetic poetry political Queequeg reconstruction relation religion religious representation revision sacrifice secular seems slavery social order solution structure suggests textual theological theorization tion totality translation truth unification unified Union unity-in-variety variety Vere Vere's Whitman whole William James words writing