Title

Liberal imperialism: Emerson and the fate of reading in America

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Canadian Review of American Studies

Abstract

This review article sets the revisionist readings of Daniel T. O'Hara in Visions of Global America and the Future of Critical Reading and Anthony Bogues in Empire of Liberty: Power, Desire, and Freedom alongside Neal Dolan's recuperative account of Emerson's Liberalism. The author argues that O'Hara and Bogues offer powerful criticisms of American hegemony and provide insightful analyses of the imperial rhetoric of liberty. Dolan's deeply informed study of the philosophical underpinnings of Emerson's Liberalism serves as an important corrective to the at times all-encompassing reach of New American scholarship, but his book benefits from being read in tandem with the political criticisms advanced by Bogues and O'Hara. All three critics are commendable for the courage and intelligence they bring to bear on the defining conflicts of our age, and for attempting to chart a way out of the current imperialist impasse. © 2013 Canadian Review of American Studies/Revue canadienne d'études américaines.

First Page

164

Last Page

171

DOI

10.3138/cras.2013.008

Publication Date

1-1-2013

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