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History and Hope in American Literature
Throughout history, creative writers have often tackled topical subjects as a means to engage and influence public discourse. American authors—those born in the States and those who became naturalized citizens—have consistently found ways to be critical of the more painful pieces of the country’s past yet have done so with the patriotic purpose of strengthening the nation’s community and future. In History and Hope in American Literature: Models of Critical Patriotism, Ben Railton argues that it is only through an in-depth engagement with history—especially its darkest and most agonizing elements—that one can come to a genuine form of patriotism that employs constructive criticis...
Of Thee I Sing
When we talk about patriotism in America, we tend to mean one form: the version captured in shared celebrations like the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. But as Ben Railton argues, that celebratory patriotism is just one of four distinct forms: celebratory, the communal expression of an idealized America; mythic, the creation of national myths that exclude certain communities; active, acts of service and sacrifice for the nation; and critical, arguments for how the nation has fallen short of its ideals that seek to move us toward that more perfect union. In Of Thee I Sing, Railton defines those four forms of American patriotism, using the four verses of “America the Beautiful�...
Contesting the Past, Reconstructing the Nation
In this study of Gilded Age literature and culture, Ben Railton proposes that in the years after Reconstruction, America's identity was often connected through distinct and competing conceptions of the nation's history. Concerned with key social questions such as race, Native Americans, women, and the South, "Contesting the Past, Reconstructing the Nation" provided close readings of a number of texts for the ways they highlight these issues. This book examines established classics, newer additions to the canon, largely forgotten best-sellers, recovery gems, and autobiographical works by Douglass and Truth, poems by Harper and Piatt, and short stories by Woolson and Cooke. These readings contribute to ongoing conversations over historical literature's definition and value, and a greater understanding of not only American society in the Gilded Age, but also debates on our shared but contested history that remain very much alive in the present. -- From publisher's description.
America and Other Fictions
At a moment of cultural and political crisis, with forces of reaction seemingly ascendant throughout the West, it's fair to ask what use does anyone have for America, God, or any other similar fictions? What use does theological language have for the radical facing the apocalypse? Among the subjects considered: the need for an Augustinian left, legacies of American violence, speaking in tongues, the humanities facing climate change, the maturity of realizing that you will die, how to sail towards Utopia, and witches.
Redefining American Identity
Using five personal narratives and in contrast to both the traditional and multicultural narratives, this book suggest cross-cultural transformation has been at the core of America since the first moments of contact.
Another Time Another Place
With roots in the Russian revolution of 1917, Alexander Popov sails to New York to make a new life for his pregnant wife. But they lose touch as the revolution takes hold. Changing his name to Alex Popper he becomes a senior partner in the Solomons Brothers, Wall Street Partnership. When the Wall Street Crash of ‘29 occurs, Alex Popper is killed in a confrontation with his senior partner Ralph Solomons who covers it up as a suicide, to blame Alex for a shortfall on the books as his dodgy dealing unravels. The years go by and the son Alex Popper never knew becomes a member of the Politburo and USSR delegate at the UN, New York. He’s here get his hands on the latest computer technology and...
Facts, Values, and Norms
In our everyday lives we struggle with the notions of why we do what we do and the need to assign values to our actions. Somehow, it seems possible through experience and life to gain knowledge and understanding of such matters. Yet once we start delving deeper into the concepts that underwrite these domains of thought and actions, we face a philosophical disappointment. In contrast to the world of facts, values and morality seem insecure, uncomfortably situated, easily influenced by illusion or ideology. How can we apply this same objectivity and accuracy to the spheres of value and morality? In the essays included in this collection, Peter Railton shows how a fairly sober, naturalistically informed view of the world might nonetheless incorporate objective values and moral knowledge. This book will be of interest to professionals and students working in philosophy and ethics.
The Chinese Exclusion Act: What It Can Teach Us about America
This book explores two critical strands in American Studies: policy conversations on legal and illegal immigration and social and educational conversations on diversity and multiculturalism. As author Benjamin Railton shows, a fresh look at the Chinese Exclusion Act overturns much of the received wisdom on immigration and American identity.
