Nationalism and Literature

Description:

Sarah Corse's analysis of nearly two hundred American and Canadian novels offers a new theory of national literatures. Demonstrating that national canon formation occurs in tandem with nation-building, and that canonical novels play a symbolic role in this, Sarah Corse accounts for cross-national literary differences, addresses issues of mediation and representation in theories of "reflection," and illuminates the historically constructed nature of the relationship between literature and the nation-state. In this way, she also shows that there is no "natural" pattern of national literary difference across literary types, and, specifically, that high-culture national literatures are selected to appear different from other novels. By contrast, popular-culture bestsellers are best understood as mass market commodities for the largest and least differentiated audience.

subjects: Politics and literature,  Theory,  History and criticism,  Nationalism,  History,  National characteristics, Canadian, in literature,  American literature,  National characteristics, American, in literature,  Canadian literature,  Canada,  Intellectual life,  United States,  Canon (Literature),  Histoire,  Litterature canadienne,  Nationalisme,  Chefs-d'¿uvre (Litterature),  Canadiens dans la litterature,  Americains dans la litterature,  Cultuurbeleid,  Histoire et critique,  Romans,  Litterature americaine,  Theorie,  Politique et litterature,  Canada, politics and government,  United states, politics and government

Places: United States,  Canada,  North America