Enlightenment Orientalism in the American Mind, 1770-1807

This study examines early American orientalism as a means of self-reflection in a time of disorienting change. It explores specifically the period's popular oriental-observer tales as a way to conceptualize and critique the new ideas of identity, history, and nationality accompanying a growing protoindustrialization and consumer culture.

Matthew H. Pangborn is an associate professor of English at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa.

Introduction: America's "Oriental Mirror" 1. American Oriental Tales 2. Mobility, Luxury, Textuality, and Liberty in Father Bombo's Pilgrimage to Mecca (1770) 3. The "Oriental" Threat to the Body of America in The Algerine Spy in Pennsylvania (1787) 4. The Oriental Spectacle of Western Power in The Algerine Captive (1797) 5. History, Nature, and National Progress in Letters of Shahcoolen (1801-1802) 6. Woman, Orientalism, and Empire in Salmagundi (1807-1808). Epilogue: The Haunted House of Oriental History in The Alhambra (1832)