Review of the hardback: 'While we are used to thinking about language representing an identity, Kerkering forces us to acknowledge the extent to which poetic forms create these identities. He supports this assertion through a set of nuanced readings that move eloquently from discursive context to textual analysis.' American Literature
Introduction; Part I. The Poetics of National Identity: 1. 'We are five and forty': meter and national identity in Sir Walter Scott; 2. 'Our sacred union', 'our beloved Apalachia': nation and genius loci in Hawthorne and Simms; Part II. The Poetics of Racial Identity: 3. 'Of me and of mine': the music of racial identity; 4. 'Blood will tell': literary effects and the diagnosis of racial instinct; Conclusion: the conversation of identities; Notes; Bibliography; Index.