The Politics of Southern Pastoral Literature, 1785–1885

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction: The Pastoral Ideal of Thomas Jefferson

   • Peter Templeton

   Pages 1-43

3. The Pastoral Double-Plot of Swallow Barn

   • Peter Templeton

   Pages 45-74

4. The Cavalier Cartography of The Kentuckian in New-York

   • Peter Templeton

   Pages 75-106

5. Strange Temporality of Pastoral in The Partisan Leader

   • Peter Templeton

   Pages 107-134

6. John Esten Cooke and Democratic Pastoral

   • Peter Templeton

   Pages 135-161

7. Domestic Pastoral in The Holcombes

   • Peter Templeton

   Pages 163-191

8. Joel Chandler Harris and the Pastoral of the New South

   • Peter Templeton

   Pages 193-219

9. Conclusion

   • Peter Templeton

   Pages 221-232

10. Back Matter

    Pages 233-249

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In The Politics of Southern Pastoral Literature, 1785–1885: Jeffersonian Afterlives, Peter Templeton presents a wide-ranging and systematic evaluation of pastoral in the nineteenth-century Southern novel, offering an explicit appraisal of the philosophical and political rationale of pastoral literature alongside the existing body of research into the image of Jefferson following his death. Rather than assuming a homogeneous South, Templeton locates Southern pastoral in its specific political context, offering readings of significant factors such as the literary representation of landscape, of class and the yeoman ideal, and the institution of slavery and its intellectual underpinnings. Focusing on a six key Southern authors, both canonical and relatively understudied, the book charts key transformations in the politics of pastoral literature in the period, and noteworthy reconfigurations in the representation of Jefferson and his philosophies, in order to analyze what these signified to nineteenth-century Americans. In doing so, the text also demonstrates how ideologies react to the stresses imposed on them by political realities.

• Thomas Jefferson
• pastoral literature
• Southern novel
• antebellum
• reconstruction
• American Civil War
• political philosophy
• American South

“This book provides a rich and detailed look at the lost literature of southern pastoralism. While starting from the image of Thomas Jefferson, Peter Templeton manages to weave close readings of several novels—often little known—into a broader, disturbing cultural history of the U.S. South through the nineteenth century.” (Thomas Hallock, Professor of Literature, University of South Florida, USA)

“This book represents a significant intervention in the study of an undeservedly neglected subject. What Peter Templeton has to say makes a significant contribution to our understanding of a constellation of related subjects, including the politics of Southern pastoral, the literature of the emergent republic, and the powerful influence of Jefferson on early American literature.” (Richard Gray, Emeritus Professor of Literature, Fellow of the British Academy, Leverhulme Emeritus Research Professor, UK)

• Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

  Peter Templeton

Peter Templeton is Fellow of the School of the Arts, English and Drama at Loughborough University, UK.

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