Images of Enemy and Self in the Age of Jefferson: The Barbary Conflict in Popular Literary Depiction

摘要

America's early experience with the Barbary offers a unique example highlighting the confluence of ideas between the worlds of art, diplomacy and war-making. During the course of the extended troubles with the Barbary, literary and political cultures reflected and often reinforced each other. Each drew from a similar well of knowledge based on inherited presumptions of European philosophy, republicanrnpolitical ideology and the familiar context of experience with Native American tribes. Both sides communicated meaning through a shared idiom of domestic experience, applying common imagery and powerful symbolism in crafting literary expression as well as diplomatic policy. These value-based interpretations helped Americans to comprehend an alien society, while at the same time they provided an accessible tableau for self-examination and analysis of the emerging domestic political culture.