Native American Writer William Apess and His Literature in American Renaissance

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26370339
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Rissho University
• Principal Investigator: Ozawa Namie 立正大学, 経済学部, 教授 (80204197)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: William Apess / ピークォット族 / 先住民作家 / 先住民自伝 / 回心体験物語 / アメリカン・ルネッサンス / 19世紀のメソジスト派 / ピューリタンの対先住民戦争

Outline of Final Research Achievements

My studies investigate the life and works of Pequot writer William Apess(1798-1839) during the American Renaissance. The research outcome will be published under the provisional title A Study on Pequot Writer William Apess: A New Perspective on American Renaissance Literature by Akashi Shoten.
The book covers the recent research trend on Apess as well as literary criticism of each of his works. Based on the latest research results, it illustrates his autobiography, which followed his conversion narrative and was published after his ordination as a Methodist preacher, his record of the Mashpee tribe’s movement to acquire autonomy, and his interpretation of warfare between native tribes and Puritan settlers. This book provides a new perspective for the conventional studies on American Renaissance by incorporating a Native American’s voice. thus revealing the relationship among mainstream writers, multiracial abolitionists, and native tribes that have survived on the East Coast.

Free Research Field

19世紀アメリカ文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

従来、アメリカン・ルネッサンス期の作家研究には、William Apessのような先住民作家の視点は、取り入れられてこなかった。特に19世紀の先住民の研究は数か少ないので、新たな研究の視座を提供できると考えている。また、先住民と、主流白人作家や奴隷制廃止運動家の黒人などとの関係性が明らかになってきた。
Apessは、メソディスト派に属することで言論の場を確保し、東部社会に対して批判を行い、先住民の境遇の過酷さを訴えることができた。研究書の最後には代表的作品2点の翻訳も添えることができ、当時の先住民の生き様や、ピューリタンによる対先住民戦争に関する先住民側からの解釈などを紹介できた。