Liberalism, Theology, and the Performative in Antebellum American Literature

Auteur

Patrick McDonald is an Assistant Professor of American Literature and Culture at Bilkent University. He received his Ph.D. at University at Buffalo - SUNY and has been published in ESQ, Eighth Lamp, and Researches in African Literature.

Texte du rabat

The 1850s United States witnessed a far-reaching political, social, and economic crisis. Symptomatic of this, a wide-range of narrative fiction from sentimental novels to sensational drama identifies a foundational link between liberal institutions and performative utterances.

Contenu

Introduction: Liberalism, Performativity, Secularism

Chapter 1: "Sometimes a real one!": Mock Marriage, Performative Utterances, and Liberal Politics in Antebellum City Mysteries Fiction

Chapter 2: Auction Goers or Lynch Mobs?: Authority and Representation in The Quadroon and The Octoroon

Chapter 3: Republican Simpliticy on Trial: Courtrooms, Aesthetics, and the Law

Chapter 4: Contracts without Covenants?: Political Authority in Moby-Dick and The Confidence-Man

Chapter 5: Political Theology in Crisis: Orestes Brownson between Hobbes and Schmitt