A Study Of Political Discourse In Charles Brown’s Wieland

Most of the early literature of the American Republic in the eighteenth century was regarded as the product which was following the English novel model,catering to the book market,and lacking innovation and aesthetic value.In the era when the literature became declining gradually,the birth of a group of professional writers has injected new vitality into American literature.They regarded narrative as public property and tried to express their political views or literary talents by using the form of literary expression.Among these literary pioneers,Charles Brockden Brown stood out above all others.As the first professional writer,the first Gothic novelist,and a literary innovator in the United States,the diversity and innovation which he showed in his creation means that in such a historical period,writing started to evolve into a full-time activity,and became to affect and change people’s lives and thinking patterns.Therefore,Brown’s first Gothic novel——Wieland,which was published in 1798,is very representative for our study to explore writers’ literary writing intent.This paper studies the origin and expression of Brown’s political thought in his literary creation by taking his literary text “Wieland” as the research subject,so as to get a glimpse of the overall characteristics of the relationship between literature and politics in American literary creation in the 18 th century..For American intellectuals at the end of the eighteenth century,their political thoughts came from many sources: on the one hand,they accepted the influence of advanced ideas from the European continent,and on the other hand they inherited the traditional ideas which were rooted in the North American continent.At the same time,they were constantly breeding new political thinking: William Godwin,Wolf Thorn,Franklin,and Elihu Smith,etc.,their ideas and views all had the profound influence on the formation of Brown’s political thought.In addition,the experience which was born in the ancient Quaker family and grew up in Philadelphia,made "Quaker" and "Philadelphia" became the key words of Brown’s literary creation.These political thoughts were interpreted metaphorically in Brown’s literary creation with the help of different literary images and characters.In the novel “Wieland”,the expressions of Brown’s political disguise were hidden behind the three ethical relations of “Father-Son Relationship”,“Brother-Sister Relationship”,and “Lover Relationship”.The metaphor of the party struggle between the Federal and Republican parties,the silent contest between the property-owning aristocracy and the proletarian emerging bourgeoisie,etc.,were politically expressed by using the form of literary writing.Carwin,the character in "Wieland" who has two faces is similar to Clithero-Huntley in "Edgar Huntley" and Mervyn-Welbeck in "Arthur Mervin".They constituted as "hero /villain" type of character in Brown’s literary creation together.Deceptive attention to appearances was one of Brown’s most popular literary interests.There was a gap between the external performance of the characters depicted in his writings and the authenticity of their inner souls.They have broken through the traditional concept of whether characters are good or evil by simple definition.These heroes often fall under their own moral dilemmas after overcoming external obstacles,which is exactly the same as the moral dilemmas faced by the young North American Republic in the eighteenth century.The exploration of the mysterious,subconscious power,the exploration of human moral dilemma,the thorough analysis and grasp of human nature,finally created the ambiguity of Brown "hero / villain" character molding.The political discourse expressed in Brown’s literary creation highlights the conscious political autonomy and responsibility of a generation of intellectuals.He was not lost in the social reality with violent ideological changes,but chose to use the tragedy of the Weiland family to express his political views in the form of political fables.He calmly and objectively analyzed what catastrophic consequences the party disputes might bring to the country and the people,and described the conflict between the old and the new production relations in the new historical development period.By portraying Carwin’s "belly language" ability,he questioned Republicans’ firm belief in public opinion and public voice.The writer transformed people’s beliefs in the supernatural realm into visible forms of human rationality,and he used the separation of language and people,the separation of written and spoken expressions criticized the negative effects of public opinion on the influence and manipulation of citizens’ opinions and views in the printing era.With the double-sided interpretation of "hero / villain" characters,he expressed that under the background of the era of drastic changes in social reality,the writer was facing the same moral dilemma as the characters he shaped.He tried to explore the wisdom of the masses,worked hard to find a way to achieve human perfection,studied the feasibility of utopia in the North American continent,and continued to explore the democratic paradox of the young republic with the help of literary expressions.This groping has no fixed answer and no end.