Possible Pasts: Becoming Colonial in Early America

ISBN 10: 0801483921 / ISBN 13: 9780801483929

Published by Cornell University Press, 2000

About this Item

Gently read. May have name of previous ownership, or ex-library edition. Binding tight; spine straight and smooth, with no creasing; covers clean and crisp. Minimal signs of handling or shelving. 100% GUARANTEE! Shipped with delivery confirmation, if you're not satisfied with purchase please return item! Ships USPS Media Mail.

Seller Inventory # OTV.0801483921.VG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Possible Pasts: Becoming Colonial in Early America
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0801483921
• ISBN 13: 9780801483929
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: very_good

About this title

Synopsis

Possible Pasts represents a landmark in early American studies, bringing to that field the theoretical richness and innovative potential of the scholarship on colonial discourse and postcolonial theory. Drawing on the methods and interpretive insights of history, anthropology, history of art, folklore, and textual analysis, its authors explore the cultural processes by which individuals and societies become colonial. Rather than define early America in terms of conventional geographical, chronological, or subdisciplinary boundaries, their essays span landscapes from New England to Peru, time periods from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century, and topics from religion to race and novels to nationalism.

In his introduction Robert Blair St. George offers an overview of the genealogy of ideas and key terms appearing in the book. Part I, "Interrogating America," then challenges readers to rethink the meaning of "early America" and its relation to postcolonial theory. In Part II, "Translation and Transculturation," essays explore how both Europeans and native peoples viewed such concepts as dissent, witchcraft, family piety, and race. The construction of individual identity and agency in Philadelphia is the focus of Part III, "Shaping Subjectivities." Finally, Part IV, "Oral Performance and Personal Power," considers the ways in which political authority and gendered resistance were established in early America.

About the Author

Robert Blair St. George is Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Conversing by Signs: Poetics of Implication in Colonial New England Culture.