Colonial writing and the New World : 1583-1671 ; allegories of desire

Most scholars of Anglo-American colonial history have treated colonialism either as an exclusively American phenomenon or, conversely, as a European one. Colonial Writing and the New World 1583–1671 argues for a reading of the colonial period that attempts to render an account of both the European origins of colonial expansion and its specifically American consequences. The author offers an account of the simultaneous emergence of colonialism and nationalism during the early modern period, and of the role that English interactions with native populations played in attempts to articulate a coherent English identity. He draws on a wide variety of texts ranging from travel narratives and accounts of the colony in Virginia to sermons, conversion tracts and writings about the Algonquin language.

Colonial Writing in the New World 1583-1671 offers an account of the simultaneous emergence of colonialism and nationalism during the early modern period. It looks at the role that English interactions with native populations played in attempts to articulate a coherent English identity. Unlike most other studies of the subject, it suggests that colonialism is best understood as a phenomenon that had profound significance for people on both sides of the Atlantic.

Colonial Writing and the New World 1583-1671 offers an account of the simultaneous emergence of colonialism and nationalism during the early modern period. It suggests that colonialism is best understood as a phenomenon which had profound significance for people on both sides of the Atlantic. When he published his Brevissima relacion de la destruccion de las Indias in 1552 in Seville, Bartolome de Las Casas almost certainly did not foresee the use to which the tract would be put over the next century-and-a-half.

Looks at implications of colonialism for both English and Americans.