270 American Literature
Apart in ways some might consider demeaning; third, whether we should be thinking in terms of a “national” literature at all.
Some argue that from a political and cultural point of view, the writing of literary history is necessarily a socially and culturally conservative act. In this view publishers are inclined to encourage this product now because there exists a market for culture reassurances. Even if the motives of the contributors were to challenge such conservativism and to question established values, the illusion of authoritativeness created by such a hefty reference work would suggest that the academic establishment has reconfirmed a commitment to certain shared perceptions of the canon and meaning of the national literature. Even if the contributors attempt to counter such dangers with a high degree of self-consciousness and self-critical dialogue, the traps of blinding self-interest and unconscious assumptions are inescapable.
For any liberal-minded professor of literature these are indeed formidable arguments against writing literary history. But does it necessarily follow that a work of literary history must simply feed national pride or assuage the national conscience? Perhaps the best indication that there can be another result exists in the work already being produced by a new generation of critics who proclaim to be writing “new literary history.” For example, the recent works of Carolyn Karcher, Annettte Kolodny, Eric Sundquist, Jane Tompkins, and the contributors to two new volumes edited by Sacvan Bercovitch demonstrate that criticism can examine literature in relation to history in bold and very challenging new ways. While these models illustrate what can be done by individual scholars, the gathering of a large group of quite diverse scholars to compose the CLHUS should help to ensure a variety of visions and provide the reader with a sense of the complexity of approaches and opinion in the field. An Advisory Board, consisting of Houston Baker, Nina Baym, Sacvan Bercovitch, and Louis Rubin will act as a double
Carolyn L. Karche, Shadow over the Promised Land: Slavery, Race, and Violence in Melville’s America (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press, 1980); Annette Kolodny, The Land Before Her: Fantasy and Experience of the American Frontier, 1630-1860 (Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1984); Jane Tompkins, Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860 (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1985); Sacvan Bercovitch, ed. Reconstructing American Literary History (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1986), and Sacvan Bercovitch and Myra Jehlen, eds. Ideology and Classic American Literature (New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1986).
The Politics of Literary History (1987)
Author:
Elliott, Emory
Copyright:
1987
Book Type:
Other Resources
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