Nation and Migration: The Making of British Atlantic Literature, 1765-1835

209 Pages·2016·1.92 MB·English

by  Juliet Shields

Nation and Migration

Nation and Migration
The Making of British Atlantic
Literature, 1765–1835
Juliet Shields
1
3
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of
Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research,
scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America
© Oxford University Press 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law,
by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization.
Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the
Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shields, Juliet, 1976–
Nation and migration : the making of British Atlantic literature, 1765–1835 / Juliet Shields.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–027255–5 (cloth) — ISBN 978–0–19–027256–2 (updf)
1. American literature—1783–1850—History and criticism. 2. National characteristics,
American, in literature. 3. Emigration and immigration in literature. 4. British—
United States. 5. Irish—United States. 6. Scots—United States. 7. Welsh—United
States. 8. American literature—Revolutionary period, 1775–1783—History and
criticism. I. Title.
PS195.N35S55 2016
810.9ʹ358—dc23
2015015621
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Tom

{ Contents }
Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction: Decentering Transatlantic Literary Studies  1
1. From English Empire to British Atlantic World  21
2. The Irish Uncanny and the American Gothic  40
3. Scots and Scott in the Early American Republic  65
4. Wales and the American West  91
5. The Literary Sketch and British Atlantic Regionalism  116
Epilogue: British Atlantic Literatures: Anglo-American, Colonial,
and Archipelagic 139
Notes 147
Works Cited 175
Index  191

{ Acknowledgments }
While my interest in the emigrant experience goes back many years, I began
writing this book in 2009 with the support of a fellowship at the Ohio State
University’s Center for Historical Research. The opportunity to participate
in the CHR’s year-long series of seminars on diaspora and migration deep-
ened my appreciation of the enduringness of geographical mobility as part
of human experience. My involvement in the Anglo-Scottish Migration net-
work run by Professor Keith Brown at the University of Manchester has also
benefited the book. I’m grateful to the other participants in the network for
their conviviality, enthusiasm for the subject, and determination to dig deep
for evidence. A Scholar’s Award from the University of Washington’s Royalty
Research Fund enabled me to complete the manuscript. An early version of a
section of Chapter 4 appeared in The Wordsworth Circle and part of Chapter 3
was published in Nineteenth-Century Literature. I thank both journals for
the permission to reprint that material here. The anonymous readers of the
manuscript for Oxford University Press provided thorough and incisive com-
ments that inspired me to rethink some key points of my argument. Brendan
O’Neill has consistently gone above and beyond his editorial duties in seeing
the project through to publication. For their support of this project in a variety
of ways I thank my colleagues and friends Bob Abrams, Marshall Brown, Eva
Cherniavsky, Alison Conway, Leith Davis, JoEllen DeLucia, Penny Fielding,
Nancy Henry, Jeff Knight, Thomas Lockwood, and Roxann Wheeler. Their
generosity and integrity as scholars and human beings continue to inspire
me. I’m grateful to my parents, whose emigration from Scotland to the United
States with a young family gave me the courage to make my own moves later
in life. My deepest thanks go to my dear boys: long-suffering Hamish, who
has been by my side through many changes; Archie, who died just before the
book’s completion but who is always present in my heart; irrepressible Nigel,
who came hurtling into my life at an opportune moment; and, most of all, to
Tom. Wherever I wander, my home is with you.