Empire’s Proxy American Literature and U.S. Imperialism in the Philippines
Empire’s Proxy: American Literature and U.S. Imperialism in the Philippines

In the late nineteenth century, American teachers descended on the Philippines, which had been newly purchased by the U.S. at the end of the Spanish-American War. Motivated by President McKinley’s project of "benevolent assimilation," they established a school system that centered on Engli...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wesling, Meg (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: New York, NY New York University Press [2011]
Series:American Literatures Initiative 1
Subjects:
LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General
American literature > Filipino American authors > History and criticism
American literature > History and criticism > 19th century
American literature > 19th century > History and criticism
Americans > Philippines
Imperialism in literature
National characteristics, American, in literature
Philippine literature (English)
Online Access:DE-1043
DE-1046
DE-859
DE-860
DE-739
DE-473
DE-858
Volltext
Summary:In the late nineteenth century, American teachers descended on the Philippines, which had been newly purchased by the U.S. at the end of the Spanish-American War. Motivated by President McKinley’s project of "benevolent assimilation," they established a school system that centered on English language and American literature to advance the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon tradition, which was held up as justification for the U.S.’s civilizing mission and offered as a promise of moral uplift and political advancement. Meanwhile, on American soil, the field of American literature was just being developed and fundamentally, though invisibly, defined by this new, extraterritorial expansion.Drawing on a wealth of material, including historical records, governmental documents from the War Department and the Bureau of Insular Affairs, curriculum guides, memoirs of American teachers in the Philippines, and 19th century literature, Meg Wesling not only links empire with education, but also demonstrates that the rearticulation of American literary studies through the imperial occupation in the Philippines served to actually define and strengthen the field. Empire’s Proxy boldly argues that the practical and ideological work of colonial dominance figured into the emergence of the field of American literature, and that the consolidation of a canon of American literature was intertwined with the administrative and intellectual tasks of colonial management
Item Description:Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jul 2020)
Physical Description:1 online resource
ISBN:9780814795415

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