America and the Sea: A Literary History

This literary history of the United States explores the presence of the sea in American writing. A multi-author work, it covers the periods and genres that make up American national literature as it considers the ubiquity of nautical symbols, images and figurative language in addition to expressions of the sea experience itself. While this book situates the literature within American history, particularly maritime history, a chapter on hymns, chanteys and sea songs as well as an annotated portfolio of American seascape art expand and enrich the literary and cultural contexts. The book's 14 chapters consider the written presence of the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, and also move inland to address the literature of the Great Lakes. They reveal the importance of the sea in works by women, African Americans, and Native Americans - which is one aspect of the book's special considerations not only of race and gender but also of genre, religion, class, audience, aesthetics, tradition and innovation. Written in a style accessible to a broad, diversely educated audience, and featuring extensive bibliographies essential to further reading and research, "America and the Sea" covers an abiding presence in American cultural consciousness. In addition, its collaborative scholarship seeks to provide wider historical and cultural frameworks for understanding texts, enlarging traditional canons and making strong use of cross-disciplinary study.