Poets of Protest: Mythological Resignification in American Antebellum and German Vormärz Literature (American Culture Studies)

Michael Drescher analyzes national mythologies in American and German literature. He focuses on processes of mythological resignification, a literary phenomenon carrying significant implications for questions of identity, democracy, and nationalism in Europe and America. Precise narratological analyses are paired with detailed, transnational readings of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Gutzkow's Wally, die Zweiflerin, Brown's Clotel, and Heine's Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen. The study marries literature, mythology, and politics and contributes to the study of American and German literature at large. Table of Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: The Nature of Myth and Mythological Resignification THE PUSHING OF HORIZONS 2. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and the Opening of Fences 2.1 From Crime to Heresy: The New England Witch as Transgressor 2.2 Puritan Fathers and the Treatment of Dissent 2.3 The Order of Roses 2.4 The Recuperation of Mercy and the 3Foundations of Civil Society 3. Karl Gutzkow’s Wally, die Zweiflerin and the Despair of Artificiality 3.1 Germanic Myths and the Aesthetics of Das Junge Deutschland 3.2 The Abandoned Lovers and the Wails of Weltschmerz 3.3 The Skeptical Maiden and the Rules of the Game 3.4 The Sigune Myth and Alternative Paths to Salvation 3.5 Cäsar and the Conquest of Individuality THE TREADING OF PATHWAYS 4. William Wells Brown’s Clotel and the Puritan Voyage Reversed 4.1 Establishing Individuality and the Roads towards Freedom 4.2 The Puritan Voyage Reversed 4.3 The Revolutionary Emigrant and Europa the Free 4.4 The Naturalization of National Identity 5. Heinrich Heine’s Wintermärchen and the Laughter of the Age 5.1 A New Song and the Silencing of Death-Knells 5.2 Dreaming Freedom and the Dethroning of Saints 5.3 The Sleeping Kaiser and the Sealing of Graves 5.4 The Song of Joy and Germany’s Future 6. Conclusion: The Rewriting of Foundations Works Cited Michael Drescher analyzes national mythologies in American and German literature. He focuses on processes of mythological resignification, a literary phenomenon carrying significant implications for questions of identity, democracy, and nationalism in Europe and America. Precise narratological analyses are paired with detailed, transnational readings of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Gutzkow's Wally, die Zweiflerin, Brown's Clotel, and Heine's Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen. The study marries literature, mythology, and politics and contributes to the study of American and German literature at large. Mythology,Antebellum America,Vormärz Germany,Politics,National Identity,Narratology,Nathaniel Hawthorne,Karl Gutzkow,William Wells Brown,Heinrich Heine,America,Culture,American Studies,Cultural Studies,American History,Literary Studies "Michael Drescher analyzes national mythologies in American and German literature. He focuses on processes of mythological resignification, a literary phenomenon carrying significant implications for questions of identity, democracy, and nationalism in Europe and America. Precise narratological analyses are paired with detailed, transnational readings of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Gutzkow's Wally, die Zweiflerin, Brown's Clotel, and Heine's Deutschland. Ein Winterma ̈rchen. The study marries literature, mythology, and politics and contributes to the study of American and German literature at large"--Back cover