Covenant and republic
Subtitle: historical romance and the politics of Puritanism
By: Philip Gould.
Series: Cambridge studies in American literature and culture ;; 103
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Cambridge [England]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 273
Subjects: Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851.; Sedgwick, Catharine Maria, 1789-1867.; Child, Lydia Maria Francis, 1802-1880.; Historical fiction, American -- History and criticism.; Politics and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Literature and history -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; American fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism.; Puritans -- United States -- Historiography.; Puritan movements in literature.; Puritans in literature.
Description: Covenant and Republic investigates the cultural politics of historical memory in the early American republic, specifically the historical literature of Puritanism. By situating historical writing about Puritanism in the context of the cultural forces of republicanism and liberalism, this study reconsiders the emergence of the historical romance in the 1820s, before the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Covenant and Republic not only aids the Americanist recovery of this literary period, but also brings together literary studies of historical fiction and historical scholarship of early republican political culture; in doing so, it offers a persuasive new account of just what is at stake when one reads literature of and about the past.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.