Essay Database

Among the many comments received about the early selections collected in The Heath Anthology of American Literature, the plaintive comment, even from early Americanists, about the number of so-called new writers represented there strikes me as most honest and forthright. Indeed, more than a few colleagues in the field have privately admitted that getting over the feeling of stupidity or ignorance is perhaps the biggest hurdle to preparing to teach these early writings. This is …

…ring one of our long joint meetings pointed out to me this wonderful irony. Jefferson is credited by anthropologists for at least having shown a concern about Native American life situations, given his scientific curiosity about Indian mounds. This is another useful example of the doubleness of enlightened colonialism: Jefferson was indeed curious, but the concerns reflected back his own culture to him rather than elucidating the cultural concerns of the peoples under scrutiny. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------