Civic Myths: A Law-and-literature Approach to CitizenshipAs questions of citizenship generate new debates for this generation of Americans, Brook Thomas argues for revitalizing the role of literature in civic education. Thomas defines civic myths as compelling stories about national origin, membership, and values that are generated by conflicts within the concept of citizenship itself. Selected works of literature, he claims, work on these myths by challenging their terms at the same time that they work with them by relying on the power of narrative to produce compelling new stories. Civic Myths consists of four case studies: Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and "the good citizen"; Edward Everett Hale's "The Man without a Country" and "the patriotic citizen"; Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and "the independent citizen"; and Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men and "the immigrant citizen." Thomas also provides analysis of the civic mythology surrounding Abraham Lincoln and the case of Ex parte Milligan. Engaging current debates about civil society, civil liberties, civil rights, and immigration, Thomas draws on the complexities of law and literature to probe the complexities of U.S. citizenship. |
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Page 54
... justice makes democracy possible , ' Niebuhr has written in his remarkable book on democratic the- ory ; ' but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary . " " 70 To Schlesinger's and Niebuhr's comments we need to add that ...
... justice makes democracy possible , ' Niebuhr has written in his remarkable book on democratic the- ory ; ' but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary . " " 70 To Schlesinger's and Niebuhr's comments we need to add that ...
Page 95
... Justice Jackson was clearly influenced by the monumental reputation of Lincoln . Writing about the conflict between " liberty and authority , " " per- haps the most delicate , difficult and shifting of all balances which the Court is ...
... Justice Jackson was clearly influenced by the monumental reputation of Lincoln . Writing about the conflict between " liberty and authority , " " per- haps the most delicate , difficult and shifting of all balances which the Court is ...
Page 116
... Justice Davis's principled opinion : " To suppose that such fustian would be of greater in- fluence in determining presidential procedure in a future great emergency than precedents backed by the monumental reputation of Lincoln would ...
... Justice Davis's principled opinion : " To suppose that such fustian would be of greater in- fluence in determining presidential procedure in a future great emergency than precedents backed by the monumental reputation of Lincoln would ...
Contents
The Scarlet Letter | 27 |
3 The Man without a Country | 55 |
Ex parte Milligan | 102 |
Copyright | |
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