Secular revelations
Subtitle: the Constitution of the United States and classic American literature
By: Mitchell Meltzer.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 192
Subjects: American literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism.; Nationalism and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Literature and state -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; National characteristics, American, in literature.; Consitutional history -- United States.; Secularism in literature.; Revelation in literature.
Description: "The United States Constitution, battleground of a politically divided nation and sponsor of that nation's now threatened cultural unity, is a quintessentially political document. Elected officials swear loyalty to it, and U.S. soldiers die for it. Yet no one has ever seriously considered the formative influence this document, so central for all Americans, has had on American cultural life. In this book, Mitchell Meltzer has for the first time demonstrated the extent to which the Constitution is both source and inspiration for America's greatest literary masterworks."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [165]-188) and index.