Toward a New Literary Historiography of 19th-Century America

Abstract

The field of 19th-century American literary studies has been dominated by the metanarrative of America in the making, America at crisis, and America reborn to the superpower. Taking issues with that narrative for its oversimplifying tendency, this essay proposes reconsidering the time period with focus on the Civil War era. The era is largely regarded as the turning point in the nation’s rise to the world empire, stitching back its internal division of the North and the South over slavery into one nationhood. But such view severely downplays much more complicated realities under the influence of the founding doctrine of majority rule. The essay aims to diversify the conventional paradigm of the antebellum vs. postbellum America by shedding light on the so-far much neglected topic of secession and examining its implications in light of the ongoing conflict between national sovereignty and state sovereignty. The essay ultimately emphasizes the importance of staying tolerant to multiple possible perspectives to the notion of ‘American literature’ and defying the “tyranny of majority” in signification.