Author:
Nicole Waller Johannes Gutenberg Universität FB 05 Department of English and Linguistics, American Studies, Philosophicum Jakob-Welder-Weg 18 D-55099 Mainz Germany

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Abstract  

This article interrogates the application of postcolonial theory to U.S.-American history and culture and argues that such an application helps us to rethink postcolonialism’s relationship to the concept of the nation-state. While current postcolonial theory has become disillusioned with models of the postcolonial nation, which frequently seem to mirror imperialist structures, American Studies’ application of postcolonial theory to American cultures of imperialism is arguing for a rethinking of the relationship between post-colonialism and nation. On the territory which emerged as the contested space of the U.S.-American nation, we encounter various competing imagined communities during all historical phases, making impossible the clear temporal or spatial demarcation of coloniality from post-coloniality. U.S.-American history thus necessitates a rethinking of nationhood not only as a spatially, but also as a temporally flexible concept. To provide an example, I draw on John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry which contributed to the tensions that led the nation into the Civil War.

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Neohelicon
Language English
Size B5
Year of
Foundation
1973
Volumes
per Year
1
Issues
per Year
2
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible
Publisher
Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 0324-4652 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2810 (Online)

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