Culture and Language at Crossed Purposes: The Unsettled Records of American Settlement

Culture and Language at Crossed Purposes explores the interpretive problems of colonial treaty-making and how they illuminate canonical works from the period. It suggests that the treaty-makers never doubted the unsettled character of what they were prosecuting, and a similar conflicted ethos pervades these works. McGann's book is a reminder of the public importance of truth and memory.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 16 August 2022
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Unpacking the interpretive complexities of colonial treaty-making, Culture and Language at Crossed Purposes delves into canonical works from the period to shed light on the haunting legacy of betrayed Indian treaties. Jerome McGann, a renowned scholar of "textual conditions," explores a selection of influential texts, including the Arbella sermon, key writings by William Bradford, John Winthrop, Anne Bradstreet, Cotton Mathers' Magnalia, Benjamin Franklin's celebrated treaty folios, and Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia. These works, characterized by their practicality and purpose-driven nature, serve as a record of Enlightenment dreams faced with the harsh realities of dangerous conditions. McGann argues that the treaty-makers never doubted the unsettled nature of their pursuits, and a similar conflicted ethos permeates these works. They deliberately challenge themselves against rigorous measures of truth and accomplishment, exhibiting a distinct consciousness of their limitations and failures. Ultimately, McGann's book serves as a powerful reminder of the public significance of truth and memory—the vocational commitments of humanist scholars and educators.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226818450