Representation, Emerson, and the New Americanists
Author: Völz, Johannes
Source: Comparative American Studies, Volume 6, Number 1, March 2008 , pp. 37-54(18)
Publisher: Maney Publishing
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Abstract:
Representation and its politics have been key interests in the critical work of New Americanists. This article scrutinizes the theories of representation that underlie the writings of three influential critics associated more or less closely with the New Americanists — Carolyn Porter, John Carlos Rowe, and Donald E. Pease — through the lens of their contributions to Emersonian criticism. After tracing their theoretical roots in various schools of Western Marxism, the article takes issue with the totalizing view of representation at which all three critics arrive one way or another. It then suggests an alternative view of representation contained in Emerson's writings, which focuses on the dynamics that take place inside the act of representation. Such a dynamic concept re-conceptualizes the political in representation by focusing on the fissures between reception and expression, both individually and socially. This internal dynamic, the article claims, has become nearly opaque from New Americanist perspectives on representation.Keywords: RALPH WALDO EMERSON; REPRESENTATION; AMERICAN STUDIES; NEW AMERICANISTS; POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION; SIGNIFICATION; TRANSCENDENTALISM; CRITICAL THEORY; WESTERN MAXISM
Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1179/147757008X280597
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