Through a Glass Darkly: Reflections on Personal Identity in Early America

by Ronald Hoffman (Editor)

These thirteen original essays are provocative explorations in the construction and representation of self in America's colonial and early republican eras. Highlighting the increasing importance of interdisciplinary research for the field of early American history, these leading scholars in the field extend their reach to literary criticism, anthropology, psychology, and material culture. The collection is organized into three parts--Histories of Self, Texts of Self, and Reflections on Defining Self. Individual essays examine the significance of dreams, diaries, and carved chests, murder and suicide, Indian kinship, and the experiences of African American sailors. Gathered in celebration of the Institute of Early American History and Culture's fiftieth anniversary, these imaginative inquiries will stimulate critical thinking and open new avenues of investigation on the forging of self-identity in early America. The contributors are W. Jeffrey Bolster, T. H. Breen, Elaine Forman Crane, Greg Dening, Philip Greven, Rhys Isaac, Kenneth A. Lockridge, James H. Merrell, Donna Merwick, Mary Beth Norton, Mechal Sobel, Alan Taylor, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and Richard White.

Genres: History, 18th Century, 17th Century

464 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't praise this book enough. An excellent resource for my writing.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first-rate collection of essays. These authors demonstrate the potential of cultural history to illuminate unexplored recesses of experience and mindset. They dig deep into individual lives and then link them together by tracing out the social expectations that defined their meaning. For the most part, fortunately, these essays are not overtheorized; each author carefully explains her theoretical approach (anthropology and psychology, including psychoanalytic theory, are prominent) but devotes most of her space to the particular story she wants to tell. These articles set an inspiring example.