Jopi Nyman Essay--Respsonses and Questions

Hi All,
So this is our first time blogging on a text for class. I'm looking forward to getting your reactions. I know it's a long essay, but try to read and respond to this post.

In his Eighteenth-century satire, "The True Born Englishman" Daniel Defoe pokes fun at the invention of a 'pure' Englishness when (historically and biologically) this is absurd. Here's an excerpt:

"Thus from a mixture of all kinds began,
That het'rogeneous thing, an Englishman:
In eager rapes, and furious lust begot,
Betwixt a painted Britain and a Scot.
Whose gend'ring off-spring quickly learn'd to bow,
And yoke their heifers to the Roman plough:
From whence a mongrel half-bred race there came,
With neither name, nor nation, speech nor fame.
In whose hot veins new mixtures quickly ran,
Infus'd betwixt a Saxon and a Dane.
While their rank daughters, to their parents just,
Receiv'd all nations with promiscuous lust.
This nauseous brood directly did contain
The well-extracted blood of Englishmen."

Building on what we've read in Said, Anderson, and Nyman about how nationality, race, and community is imagined I'd like you to think about how this applies to our own American experience. Obviously, it's different, and I'd like you to take this difference into account. While I'd like you to refer to the ideas in the text for this week, this post invites you to speculate about Americanness. You're welcome to discuss any questions, either contemporary or 18th/19th century. Some examples might be: What is an American? How do we define ourselves? Against whom? Who and what do we point to as a point of origin?

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
--Dan

Welcome

Hi all,
Welcome to English 4104, our Capstone Seminar on the representation of the Irish, Jews, and Gypsies in Nineteenth-century literature and culture. This blog will serve as an informal space in which to respond to the readings and to each other. While "informal," it is also *required* and a part of your participation grade.

I look forward to a great semester.
--Best Wishes,
Dan