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

About This Project

Japan Grant Number
JP26370338 (JGN)
Funding Program
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research
Funding Organization
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Kakenhi Information

Project/Area Number
26370338
Research Category
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type
  • Multi-year Fund
Review Section / Research Field
  • Humanities and Social Sciences > Humanities > Literature > Literature in English
Research Institution
  • Rikkyo University
Project Period (FY)
2014-04-01 〜 2018-03-31
Project Status
Completed
Budget Amount*help
4,550,000 Yen (Direct Cost: 3,500,000 Yen Indirect Cost: 1,050,000 Yen)

Research Abstract

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.

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