Master Plots

Examines the intersection of racial and national discourses in early American narrative. The text considers that it is well known that the writers of the early national period were preoccupied with differentiating their work from European models. The author argues that the national literature of the United States was equally motivated by the desire to differentiate Americans from blacks and Indians. To achieve these ends, the author considers how the writers were drawn to fantasies of an "American race" and an American literature that came to be defined not only by its desire for cultural uniqueness but also by its defence of racial purity.