Description
Book SynopsisThe U.S. Constitution is a quintessentially political document. Yet, until now, no one has seriously considered the formative influence of this document on American cultural life. In this ambitious book, Mitchell Meltzer demonstrates the extent to which the Constitution is both source and inspiration for America's greatest literary masterworks.
Trade ReviewMitchell Meltzer’s book offers an interesting insight into a seldom studied aspect of American cultural history. In its pages, the author analyzes the impact of the American Constitution on three of the main American Renaissance writers, Emerson, Whitman and Melville…
Secular Revelations enables us to look into the Constitution of the United States, not merely as a legal text, but as a cultural frame; Meltzer gives the reader numerous examples, and his study of the three writers he chooses is accurate and inspiring. -- Alice Beja * Cercles *
More than ever, it is good to be reminded that the American Constitution is a secular revelation, since what Emerson called the Party of Memory (now our Christian Right) asserts the opposite. Mitchell Meltzer helps to restore the truth, and shows how Emerson, Whitman and Melville based aspects of their own secular revelations on our Founding Document, the continued inspiration for Emerson’s now dispirited Party of Hope. -- Harold Bloom, author of
The Western CanonWith unparalleled insight, Meltzer explains the power of the U.S. Constitution to exert literary influence at the highest level. This groundbreaking work demonstrates that our founding source of authority, the Constitution, fuses religion and secularity into a single inspiring paradox, whose metaphysical power fuels the writing of three great Americans, Emerson, Whitman, and Melville. For the first time in literary history, Meltzer rightly accords the Constitution its paradoxical creative role. -- Angus Fletcher, author of
A New Theory for American PoetryThis fascinating study of some of the ‘greats’ of American literature throws new light on the ways that the United States Constitution is not only a legal document, but also, and in some ways even more importantly, a central shaper of American culture. It also shows how a secular Constitution can serve as a substitute for more traditional revealed religion. -- Sanford Levinson, author of
Constitutional FaithSecular Revelations explores the place of the Constitution in the development of an American literary tradition. Beautifully written and powerfully argued, it combines a rich historical synthesis of the debates and cultural meanings of the Constitution, from the Framers through the antebellum era, with a strikingly original argument and literary readings. It should be of interest to all Americanists in the fields of literature and American Studies, as well as to historians of the early Republic and antebellum eras and of the Constitution. -- John Stauffer, author of
The Black Hearts of MenTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Constitution and American Literature Part One: The Constitution as a Secular Revelation 1. At the Beginning 2. The Path to Union 3. The People, Having Spoken, Speak 4. Almost a Miracle 5. The Paradox of Secular Revelation Part Two: An American Literary Renaissance 6. Declarations of American Literary Independence 7. Preserving the Revelation 8. Preserving the Paradox 9. The Literary Renaissance of Secular Revelation 10. Essays in Time 11. A Poetic Form for Straying 12. Clinging to Narrative 13. Confidence and the Darkness of Revelation Conclusion: The Literary Art of Uniting States Notes Index
