{"product_id":"a-new-world-of-words-william-c-spengemann-9780300105636","title":"A New World of Words: Redefining Early American Literature","description":"Early American literature has traditionally been defined as writings in English by future residents of the land that became the United States. Thanks to this definition, it has only a modest reputation: \"early\" has come to mean \"less\"--less American and less literary than American literature proper. In this book, William C. Spengemann redefines early American literature, calling it writings in English that reflect or have been influenced by the discovery, exploration, and settlement of the New World. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSpengemann argues that linguistic criteria should have precedence over national origin in determining the national literature to which a given work rightfully belongs, and from this perspective he examines a variety of works in new and provocative ways. He analyzes Milton's \u003ci\u003eParadise Lost\u003c\/i\u003e as an American poem that reflects the impact of the discovery and settlement of America on seventeenth-century religious culture; traces the semantic development of the English word \u003ci\u003eColumbus\u003c\/i\u003e from its first written appearance in 1553 to its identification with the United States after 1780; and compares in detail Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, William Blake's \"The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,\" and Jane Austen's \u003ci\u003eNorthanger Abbey\u003c\/i\u003e, viewing them as comparable--and American--writings, all concerned with comprehending the displacement of the remembered Old World by an altogether new one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e William C. Spengemann\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0300105630\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780300105636\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Yale University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/11\/1994\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 268\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.76lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.61d","brand":"William C. Spengemann","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48435349389567,"sku":"9780300105636","price":38.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_881a7152-6de2-470e-b71c-603996573594.jpg?v=1777149822","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-new-world-of-words-william-c-spengemann-9780300105636","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}