Nationalism and Desire in Early Historical Fiction [Paperback]

Nationalism and Desire in Early Historical Fiction analyses a sequence of early-nineteenth-century British and American texts from a perspective informed by Rene Girard's theory of triangular of 'mimetic' desire. Jane Porter's The Scottish Chiefs , Sydney Owenson's The Wild Irish Girl , Sir Walter Scott's Waverley , Old Mortality , Rob Roy , The Pirate and Redgauntlet , and Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans and Lionel Lincoln are given detailed new readings. General conclusions about the relationship of desire and nationalism in historical fiction are proposed.Acknowledgements - Introduction - PART 1: 'WHAT A LAND IS THIS!': THE PRE-OEDIPAL NATION - PART 2: ENGLISH BOYS AND COLONIAL GIRLS - PART 3: THE WAVERLEY SOLUTION - PART 4: RADICAL FATHERS AND MODERATE SONS - Conclusion - Notes - Index