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This essay traces the very different uses of the term “romance“ in American literature and American literary study, from the revival of medieval romance as based on Walter Scott’s work to the romance thesis of American literature advanced by Richard Chase and others to the New Americanist response to Chase by Donald Pease and others. It argues that by giving sustained attention to romance’s effort to construct in ruins, we can articulate an Americanist project for the present generation.
The introduction to the volume canvasses the history of studies of American literature between 1820 and 1860 and makes a case for a singular endurance: that it is a literature dedicated to democracy. The introduction also frames the volume’s contribution as pointing to new directions in the field and summarizes the essays.
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