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FormatJournal Article
Author, AnalyticSchuchalter, Jerry
Title, AnalyticCharles Sealsfield's "Fable of the Republic"
Journal TitleYearbook of German-American Studies
Date of Publication1989
Volume ID24
Location in Work11-26
AbstractCharles Sealsfield (1793-1864) commented on the fiftieth anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence in the "Vorrede" to his first published work, Die Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, nach ihrem politischen, religioesen und gesellschaftlichen Verhaeltnisse betrachtet (1827). Sealsfield witnessed the fifteth anniversary celebration, and as someone eager to be initiated into the spirit of the new nation, he could actually experience the process of mythmaking firsthand. For after 50 years of national existence, the American people, Sealsfield observed, seemed to have reached that stage in their development, where they were intent on sanctifying their past, rendering immortal through public ritual, as one historian has described it, "the fable of the republic." In Sealsfield's work, this "fable of the republic" is his primary theme. In his republican and political commentary, he writes from both American and European viewpoints.
Call NumberMKI Periodicals
MKI TermsSealsfield, Charles (Postl, Karl), 1793-1864/ Politics/ Literature, German-American