From the perspective of the twenty-first century, it might be easy to dismiss frontier literature as a minor historical anomaly, as a descriptor limited to setting, or as an insignificant variation from a country struggling to reach the heights of British fictional norms. However, when American literature began to flourish in the 1820s, it was primarily a literature of the frontier. Examining what this frontier quality means for literary elements beyond setting, such as narrative voice, textual structure, and genre, more clearly explains the importance of the frontier to literary nation-building. After all, the literary frontier ranged across literary genres, inviting new combinations and formal innovations that mark some of the most underappreciated and fascinating examples of American writing. James Seavers A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison, for example, carried on the autobiographical captivity narrative tradition by combining the personal narrative with local history, ethnography, and revolutionary legend: a perfect example of the literary frontier.
This dissertation examines the centrality of frontier literature during the Jacksonian period and its impulse to ethnographic description of nation. Thus, I consider a range of texts published between 1820 and 1840. Chapter one explains my theoretical bases and includes a brief reading of John Heckewelders ethnography of the Delaware Indians. Chapter two focuses upon Seavers narrative. Chapter three considers the paratextual elements of James Fenimore Coopers The Last of the Mohicans, Catharine Maria Sedgwicks Hope Leslie, Lydia Maria Childs Hobomok, and Ann Sophia Stephens Malaeska, The Indian Wife of a White Hunter. Chapter four analyzes the structural and satirical elements of Edgar Allan Poes The Journal of Julius Rodman and Caroline Kirklands A New HomeWholl Follow? The concluding chapter reflects upon Walt Whitmans poetry and Henry David Thoreaus Walking.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04112005-150114 |
| Date | 15 April 2005 |
| Creators | Helton, Tena Lea |
| Contributors | Michelle Masse, Katrina Powell, Jerry Kennedy, Edward White, Heather McKillop |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04112005-150114/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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