The Poetics of National and Racial Identity in Nineteenth-Century American Literature (Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture, Series Number 139)

John D. Kerkering's study examines the literary history of racial and national identity in nineteenth-century America. Kerkering argues that writers such as DuBois, Lanier, Simms, and Scott used poetic effects to assert the distinctiveness of certain groups in a diffuse social landscape. Kerkering explores poetry's formal properties, its sound effects, as they intersect with the issues of race and nation. He shows how formal effects, ranging from meter and rhythm to alliteration and melody, provide these writers with evidence of a collective identity, whether national or racial. Through this shared reliance on formal literary effects, national and racial identities, Kerkering shows, are related elements of a single literary history. This is the story of how poetic effects helped to define national identities in Anglo-America as a step toward helping to define racial identities within the United States. This highly original study will command a wide audience of Americanists. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 5 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Illustrations......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Abbreviations......Page 15 Introduction: the poetics of identity......Page 17 NATION AND RACE......Page 20 IDENTITY AND PASSING......Page 26 IDENTITIES AND INDICES......Page 32 IMAGINED COMMUNITIES AND AUTHENTIC IDENTITIES......Page 41 PART I The poetics of national identity......Page 49 CHAPTER ONE “We are five-and-forty”: meter and national identity in Sir Walter Scott......Page 51 NATIONAL IMPRESS......Page 52 THE “LANGUAGE OF MANY RECOLLECTIONS”......Page 60 MALAGROWTHER’S NATION AND WORDSWORTH’S EMPIRE......Page 64 THE HIGHLAND WIDOW......Page 69 METER AND NATIONAL IDENTITY......Page 74 LITTLE CROFTANGRY......Page 80 CHAPTER TWO “Our sacred Union,” “our beloved Apalachia”: nation and genius loci in Hawthorne and Simms......Page 84 JOCASSÉE AND THE SOUTH......Page 88 GENIUS LOCIAND AMERICA......Page 92 SALEM, HILLSBOROUGH, AND CHARLESTON......Page 97 YANKEES, GREEKS, AND SOUTHERNERS......Page 106 “OUR BELOVED APALACHIA”......Page 111 CAUSES WON AND LOST......Page 115 A SOUTHERN BOOK?......Page 117 PART II The poetics of racial identity......Page 127 CHAPTER THREE “Of me and of mine”: the music of racial identity......Page 129 FROM WORDS TO MUSIC......Page 132 FROM MUSIC TO RACE......Page 135 LANIER’S ANGLO-SAXON WHITMAN......Page 140 THE RACIAL ALTERNATIVE TO UNION......Page 143 DVORÀK’S AMERICAN MUSIC......Page 146 DU BOIS’S AFRICAN MUSIC......Page 150 THE RACIAL SCORE......Page 154 CHAPTER FOUR “Blood will tell”: literary effects and the diagnosis of racial instinct......Page 168 RACIAL INSTINCTS......Page 175 “THIS MEDICAL MYSTERY OF THE NEGRO RACE”......Page 179 HAITIAN AND NEW ENGLAND VOODOO......Page 188 ALLITERATION AND ONOMATOPOEIA......Page 195 RACIAL FLAVOUR......Page 206 Conclusion: the conservation of identities......Page 216 “A SOMEWHERE BEING REMEMBERED”......Page 220 “HARD GRIEVANCE”......Page 232 “A RACE-SPECIFIC YET NONRACIST HOME”......Page 236 “FORMIDABLE REVOLUTIONISTS”......Page 247 INTRODUCTION: THE POETICS OF IDENTITY......Page 252 1. METER AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN SIR WALTER SCOTT......Page 264 2. NATION AND GENIUS LOCI IN HAWTHORNE AND SIMMS......Page 275 3. THE MUSIC OF RACIAL IDENTITY......Page 288 4. LITERARY EFFECTS AND THE DIAGNOSIS OF RACIAL INSTINCT......Page 302 CONCLUSION: THE CONSERVATION OF IDENTITIES......Page 322 Bibliography......Page 332 Index......Page 359 Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series-title 5 Title 7 Copyright 8 Dedication 9 Contents 11 Illustrations 12 Acknowledgments 13 Abbreviations 15 Introduction: the poetics of identity 17 NATION AND RACE 20 IDENTITY AND PASSING 26 IDENTITIES AND INDICES 32 IMAGINED COMMUNITIES AND AUTHENTIC IDENTITIES 41 PART I The poetics of national identity 49 CHAPTER ONE “We are five-and-forty”: meter and national identity in Sir Walter Scott 51 NATIONAL IMPRESS 52 THE “LANGUAGE OF MANY RECOLLECTIONS” 60 MALAGROWTHER’S NATION AND WORDSWORTH’S EMPIRE 64 THE HIGHLAND WIDOW 69 METER AND NATIONAL IDENTITY 74 LITTLE CROFTANGRY 80 CHAPTER TWO “Our sacred Union,” “our beloved Apalachia”: nation and genius loci in Hawthorne and Simms 84 JOCASSÉE AND THE SOUTH 88 GENIUS LOCIAND AMERICA 92 SALEM, HILLSBOROUGH, AND CHARLESTON 97 YANKEES, GREEKS, AND SOUTHERNERS 106 “OUR BELOVED APALACHIA” 111 CAUSES WON AND LOST 115 A SOUTHERN BOOK? 117 PART II The poetics of racial identity 127 CHAPTER THREE “Of me and of mine”: the music of racial identity 129 FROM WORDS TO MUSIC 132 FROM MUSIC TO RACE 135 LANIER’S ANGLO-SAXON WHITMAN 140 THE RACIAL ALTERNATIVE TO UNION 143 DVORÀK’S AMERICAN MUSIC 146 DU BOIS’S AFRICAN MUSIC 150 THE RACIAL SCORE 154 CHAPTER FOUR “Blood will tell”: literary effects and the diagnosis of racial instinct 168 RACIAL INSTINCTS 175 “THIS MEDICAL MYSTERY OF THE NEGRO RACE” 179 HAITIAN AND NEW ENGLAND VOODOO 188 ALLITERATION AND ONOMATOPOEIA 195 RACIAL FLAVOUR 206 Conclusion: the conservation of identities 216 “A SOMEWHERE BEING REMEMBERED” 220 “HARD GRIEVANCE” 232 “A RACE-SPECIFIC YET NONRACIST HOME” 236 “FORMIDABLE REVOLUTIONISTS” 247 Notes 252 INTRODUCTION: THE POETICS OF IDENTITY 252 1. METER AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN SIR WALTER SCOTT 264 2. NATION AND GENIUS LOCI IN HAWTHORNE AND SIMMS 275 3. THE MUSIC OF RACIAL IDENTITY 288 4. LITERARY EFFECTS AND THE DIAGNOSIS OF RACIAL INSTINCT 302 CONCLUSION: THE CONSERVATION OF IDENTITIES 322 Bibliography 332 Index 359 At last, a scholar has broken from the F.O. Matthiessen box and treated African-American and Southern writers with sensitivty. Matthiessen's AMERICAN RENAISSANCE has been the major exclusionist, elitist work now for over half a century, and Kerkering may at last get the dialogue started. I particularly like his comparison of William G. Simms to Hawthorne. I'm not persuaded by all he says of the former, but I'm glad to see that Kerkering takes Simms seriously and finds his writing of value. A long time coming! See also Kerkering's recent essay on Simms and Whitman in VICTORIAN POETRY, in which he shows Simms to be more current in many ways than Whitman. Examining the literary history of racial and national identity in nineteenth-century America, Kerkering tells the story of how poetry helped define America as a nation before helping to define America into distinct racial categories. Through formal literary effects, national and racial identities become related elements of a single literary history. Examining the literary history of racial and national identity in nineteenth-century America, the author argues that writers such as DuBois, Hawthorne, and Whitman used poetic effect to emphasize the distinctiveness of certain groups against a diffuse social landscape