"Just Violence" and Literary Imagination: A Critical Contemplation on Informal Power in Modern America

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26370338
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Rikkyo University
• Principal Investigator: NITTA Keiko 立教大学, 文学部, 教授 (40323737)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: アメリカ史 / 暴力 / 倫理 / アメリカ文化 / 憎悪犯罪 / 正義 / 人種問題 / ポピュリズム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study has investigated a specifically problematized set of violences in the U.S. literary and cultural products released between 1850 and 1970: one categorized as "just violence" or "righteous violence." By analyzing attitudes of authors who variously contoured the particular sort of violence, the present study has eventually attempted to locate the ethical and practical values of literary works. While abundant researchers have critically observed the frequency and commonplaceness of violence in the U.S. history, some of them have authenticated the specific acts of violence justified or even glamorized in certain contexts, as well as Americans' exceptional ability to persuade themselves of their national virtue regardless of the voluminous record of their violence. Building upon this vein of criticism, I have focused on 1) vigilantism, 2) lynching, 3) vengeance, and 4) duel as American authors' literary motifs.

Free Research Field

アメリカ文学