Literature, American Style: The Originality of Imitation in the Early Republic

268 Pages·2018·2.363 MB·English

by  Ezra Tawil

Literature, American Style
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LITERATURE,
AMERICAN STYLE
THE ORIGINALITY OF IMITATION
IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC
EZRA TAWIL
university of pennsylvania press
philadelphia
Copyright(cid:2)2018UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Allrightsreserved.
Exceptforbriefquotationsusedforpurposesofrevieworscholarlycitation,
noneofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformbyanymeans
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher.
Publishedby
UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Philadelphia,Pennsylvania19104-4112
www.upenn.edu/pennpress
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Tawil,EzraF.,author.
Title:Literature,Americanstyle:theoriginalityofimitationintheearlyRepublic/EzraTawil.
Description:1stedition.(cid:2)Philadelphia:UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress,[2018](cid:2)Includes
bibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2018002988(cid:2)ISBN978-0-8122-5037-4(hardcover:alk.paper)
Subjects:LCSH:Americanliterature—1783–1850—Historyandcriticism.(cid:2)National
characteristics,American,inliterature.(cid:2)Nationalismandliterature—UnitedStates.(cid:2)English
language—UnitedStates—Orthographyandspelling—History—18thcentury.(cid:2)English
language—UnitedStates—Style.
Classification:LCCPS195.N35T392018(cid:2)DDC810.9/35873—dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2018002988
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ForKirsten
and
forJules
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Theliteraturethatshouldcharacterizeagreatpeopleis
alwaysinterestingtoexamine,Ibelieve:theliterature
ofanenlightenedpeople,whohaveestablishedliberty,
politicalequality,andmannersinharmonywithsuch
institutions.RightnowtheAmericansaretheonlynation
intheuniversetowhichthesereflectionsareapplicable.
Americansmaystillhavenodevelopedliterature,but
whentheirmeninpublicofficearecalledupontoaddress
publicopiniontheyobviouslypossessthegiftoftouching
thesoul’saffectionswithsimpletruthsandpurefeelings.
Anyonewhocandothisalreadyknowsthemostuseful
secretsofstyle.
—GermainedeStae¨l,OnLiterature(1800)
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CONTENTS
Introduction.StyleandtheCisatlantic 1
Chapter1.ToFormaMorePerfectLanguage:
NoahWebster’sAmerican-StyleEnglish 38
Chapter2.TransatlanticCorrespondences:
Cre`vecoeurandtheIncorrectStyle 87
Chapter3.“NewFormsofSublimity”:
CharlesBrockdenBrownandtheIrregularStyle 121
Chapter4.“HomespunHabits”:
Seduction,Sentiment,andtheArtlessStyle 149
Coda.StockandSoil 182
Notes 191
Index 247
Acknowledgments 255
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