Politics and Poetics of the Novel: Using Domesticity to Create the Nation
Abstract
This thesis examines how the depiction of the family during war reinforces or challenges
societal values in three nineteenth-century novels. The primary focus lies in three
novels by Sir Walter Scott, Leo Tolstoy, and Harriet Beecher Stowe that represent
the perspectives of England, Russia, and the United States, respectively, and their
evolving nationalism as the roots of the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War
became visible. By investigating the interaction between economic classes, it can
be concluded that the preservation of the family is inherently dependent on social
status in some nations, while in others, it is integral to daily life regardless of
class. The backdrop of impending war only serves to heighten national differences,
overturn the organization of the family hierarchy, and redefine the idea of the modern
household.
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
EnglishPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12376Citation
Coric, Katherine (2016). Politics and Poetics of the Novel: Using Domesticity to Create the Nation. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12376.Collections
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