Possible Pasts: Becoming Colonial in Early America - Softcover

 
9780801483929: Possible Pasts: Becoming Colonial in Early America
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0801483921 ISBN 13: 9780801483929
Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Possible Pasts represents a landmark in early American studies, bringing to that field the theoretical richness and innovative potential of the scholarship on colonial discourse and postcolonial theory. Drawing on the methods and interpretive insights of history, anthropology, history of art, folklore, and textual analysis, its authors explore the cultural processes by which individuals and societies become colonial. Rather than define early America in terms of conventional geographical, chronological, or subdisciplinary boundaries, their essays span landscapes from New England to Peru, time periods from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century, and topics from religion to race and novels to nationalism.

In his introduction Robert Blair St. George offers an overview of the genealogy of ideas and key terms appearing in the book. Part I, "Interrogating America," then challenges readers to rethink the meaning of "early America" and its relation to postcolonial theory. In Part II, "Translation and Transculturation," essays explore how both Europeans and native peoples viewed such concepts as dissent, witchcraft, family piety, and race. The construction of individual identity and agency in Philadelphia is the focus of Part III, "Shaping Subjectivities." Finally, Part IV, "Oral Performance and Personal Power," considers the ways in which political authority and gendered resistance were established in early America.

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About the Author

Robert Blair St. George is Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Conversing by Signs: Poetics of Implication in Colonial New England Culture.

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Publisher
Cornell University Press
Publication date
2000
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0801483921
ISBN 13 
9780801483929
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
432
Editor
St. George Robert Blair

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780801433443: Possible Pasts: Becoming Colonial in Early America

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0801433444 ISBN 13:  9780801433443
Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2000
Hardcover