“A Dead Body Never Begs a Grave”The Memoir of the Suffering Body as a Counter-Narrative of the American Revolution

摘要

Joseph Plumb Martin's 1830 memoir is one of the earliest American narratives to position the narrator's body and suffering at its center and to deploy this bodily suffering as a means of resistance. I contend that by exploring the dynamics between the discourses of civic virtue and the body in Martin's memoir, one may arrive at a better understanding of the history and the political uses of the “physical” body and its representations in the early Republic. Martin uses his tale of the body to present a counter-narrative of the ways in which the revolutionary veteran's suffering has been appropriated by the state. Through his narrative of the deteriorating and suffering citizen-soldier's body betrayed by an ungrateful nation, Martin lashes out in a political critique of the Revolutionary generation's failure to adhere to the social ideals of the Revolution, thus undermining the emerging conservative memory of the Revolution.View full textDownload full textKeywordsJoseph Plumb Martin (1760-1850), American Revolution, soldiers, personal narratives, body, virtueRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01440357.2012.701073