Allegory In America: From Puritanism To Postmodernism (Studies In Literature And Religion)

Allegory in America: From Puritanism to Postmodernism (Studies in Literature and Religion)

Allegory in America surveys the history of American allegorical writing from the Puritans through the period of American romanticism to postmodernism. In a series of theoretical chapters the cultural function of allegory is discussed in relation to the mythology of American exceptionalism. Each theoretical chapter is followed by a chapter that analyzes a specific text or group of texts. Allegorical indeterminacy is seen to produce a literary tradition that both represents and subverts the ideals of American orthodoxy.