James Fenimore Cooper’s Early Novels: The Creation of American Identity in The Pioneers and The Last of the Mohicans

• Main Authors: Si-Hua Wu, 吳思樺
• Other Authors: 周淑娟
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/78929830205496501260

碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 外國語文學系所 === 105 === In the early period of the new republic, many people had difficulty in recognizing their own culture and their national identity. In a sense, Americans at that time were facing a post-colonial crisis of knowing who they were. During the early nineteenth century, James Fennimore Cooper committed himself to help Americans find their cultural identity. He wrote many novels, among which The Pioneers and The Last of the Mohicans were the most well-known, to help his people realize the significance of their history and culture. This thesis aims to explore the creation of American identity in The Pioneers and The Last of the Mohicans from both colonial and post-colonial perspectives. Cooper tried to make Americans realize that Native Americans and American landscape were the features of American life. However, when Cooper tried to consolidate the American identity by exalting the settlement experience and justifying the westward expansion, he unconsciously revealed the mindset of Manifest Destiny and white supremacy. Thus, his novels became another type of imperialist narrative.