目次

Acknowledgments; 1. Introdution: beyond transcendence Myra Jehlen; PartI. Reassessments: 2. Symbol and idea in Virgin Land Henry Nash Smith;3. Pastoralism in America Leo Marx; 4. Myth and the production ofhistory Richard Slotkin; 5. American criticism left and right GeraldGraff; Part II. Perspectives: 6. The novel and the middle class inAmerica Myra Jehlen; 7. Figurations for a new American literary historyHouston A. Baker, Jr.; 8. American studies as a cultural program AlanTrachtenberg; 9. Reification and American literature Carolyn Porter;Part III. Texts: 10. Mysteries of the city: a reading of Poe's 'The Manof the Crowd' Robert H. Byer; 11. The politics of The Scarlet LetterJonthan Arac; 12. Sentimental power: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the politicsof literary history Jane Tompkins; 13. Walden and the 'curse of trade'Michael T. Gilmore; Part IV. The Example of Melville: 14. Melville'seconomy of language Paul Royster; 15. Art, religion, and the problem ofauthority in Pierre Emory Elliott; 16. The hive of subtlety: 'BenitoCereno' and the liberal hero James H. Kavanagh; 17. Melville andcultural persuasion Donald E. Pease; 18. Afterword Sacvan Bercovitch;Selected bibliography; Index.