The Mediating Nation: Late American Realism, Globalization, and the Progressive State
Nathaniel Cadle
Abstract
From the 1880s through 1920, the United States shifted from an identity of nativism and protectionism to one marked by an increasingly ambitious international outlook. By the early twentieth century, as Woodrow Wilson would later declare, the United States had become both the literal embodiment of all the earth's peoples and a nation representing all nations and cultures through its ethnic and cultural diversity. This purported capability to connect with all peoples, this book argues, allowed American literary writers to circulate their work internationally and thereby promote not only the nat ... More
From the 1880s through 1920, the United States shifted from an identity of nativism and protectionism to one marked by an increasingly ambitious international outlook. By the early twentieth century, as Woodrow Wilson would later declare, the United States had become both the literal embodiment of all the earth's peoples and a nation representing all nations and cultures through its ethnic and cultural diversity. This purported capability to connect with all peoples, this book argues, allowed American literary writers to circulate their work internationally and thereby promote not only the nation's literary production but also the nation itself. Reexamining the relationship between progressivism and realism, the book demonstrates that the narratives constructed by American writers articulated a more active role for the United States in world affairs and helped to shift global influence from Europe to North America. From the novels of Henry James, William Dean Howells, and Abraham Cahan to the political and social writings of Woodrow Wilson and W. E. B. Du Bois, this book identifies a shared transnational imaginary that enabled realists and Progressives to articulate a stronger and more active role for the United States in international society.
Keywords:
nativism,
protectionism,
cultural diversity,
progressivism,
realism,
W. E. B. Du Bois,
Henry James,
United States,
Woodrow Wilson,
North America
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9781469618456 |
| Published to North Carolina Scholarship Online: January 2015 |
DOI:10.5149/northcarolina/9781469618456.001.0001 |
