Jean-Jacques Rousseau in American literature - traces, influence, transformation 1760 - 1860

Jean-Jacques Rousseau in American Literature discusses how, where, and to what extent Rousseau's philosophy can be traced in the first one-hundred years of American literature. It examines this problem by using original quotations from such works as Emile, Du Contrat Social , and Discours sur l'Inégalité , and compares them with examples from sixteen American authors and the Connecticut Wits without forcing them into a desired picture. The author shows thought overlap and thought disagreement. The spectrum ranges from the concept of literature and literary interpretation to the relationship between literature and politics; from the political literature of the American colonial period to the literature of national identity; from American romanticism to the American renaissance. The role Germany played in the transfer of French culture to America is argued.