Title: Master plots
First published: 1998
Description: In Master Plots, Jared Gardner examines the tangled intersection of racial and national discourses in early American narrative. While it is well known that the writers of the early national period were preoccupied with differentiating their work from European models, Gardner argues that the national literature of the United States was equally motivated by the desire to differentiate white Americans from blacks and Indians.

To achieve these ends, early American writers were drawn to fantasies of an "American race," and an American literature came to be defined not only by its desire for cultural uniqueness but also by its defense of racial purity.
Subjects: Literature and society, History, African Americans in literature, National characteristics, American, in literature, Slavery in literature, History and criticism, American literature, Race in literature, Indians in literature, Literatur, Rassenbeziehung, American literature, history and criticism, 1783-1850, National characteristics in literature, Littérature américaine, Histoire et critique, Littérature et société, Histoire, Américains dans la littérature, Noirs américains dans la littérature, Esclavage dans la littérature, Indiens d'Amérique dans la littérature, Race dans la littérature, LITERARY CRITICISM, American, General, Letterkunde, Amerikaans, Nationale kenmerken, Indianen, English, Languages & Literatures
Places: United States
Time periods: 1783-1850, 19th century, 18th century
LC classification: PS208 .G37 1998