In this Book
- Shock and Awe: American Exceptionalism and the Imperatives of the Spectacle in Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: Dartmouth College Press
- Series: Re-Mapping the Transnational: A Dartmouth Series in American Studies
summary
Inspired by the foreign policy entanglements of recent years, William V. Spanos offers a dramatic interpretation of Twain's classic A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, offering a heretofore unexplored assessment of American exceptionalism and the place of a global America in the American imaginary. Spanos insists that Twain identifies with his protagonist, particularly in his defining use of the spectacle, and thus with an American exceptionalism that uncannily anticipates the George W. Bush administration's normalization of the state of exception and the imperial policy of "preemptive war," unilateral "regime change," and "shock and awe" tactics. Equally stimulating is Spanos's thoroughly original ontology of American exceptionalism and imperialism and his tracing of these forces through a chronological examination of Twain studies and criticism over the past century.
As an examination of an overlooked text and a critical history of American studies from its origins in the nation-oriented "Myth and Symbol" school of the Cold War era into its present globalizing or transnationalizing perspective, Shock and Awe will appeal to a broad audience of American literature scholars and beyond.
As an examination of an overlooked text and a critical history of American studies from its origins in the nation-oriented "Myth and Symbol" school of the Cold War era into its present globalizing or transnationalizing perspective, Shock and Awe will appeal to a broad audience of American literature scholars and beyond.
Table of Contents
Additional Information
ISBN
9781611684636
Related ISBN(s)
9781611684612
MARC Record
OCLC
857968077
Pages
240
Launched on MUSE
2013-10-21
Language
English
Open Access
Yes