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1

Frances Wright’s America: A 19th-Century Utopia

100%

Fruzińska J.

Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture

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2020

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issue 10

408-422

EN

Frances Wright, a British social reformer and feminist, published an account of her American travels: Views of Society and Manners in America in 1821. Wright founded an experimental community in Nashoba, Tennessee, whose aim was to buy black slaves, educate them, and then liberate them. Even though the enterprise turned out to be a failure, the author continued to fight for the cause of black emancipation. My paper examines Wright’s portrayal of America in Views, which, compared to most other early 19th-century British travel accounts, is surprisingly enthusiastic. Wright idealizes the young republic, seeing it as a perfect embodiment of her ideals. I argue that Wright’s vision of the young republic is utopian, and it prevents her from seeing any flaws in the American system. This is especially pronounced in the case of the central problem posed by British travelogues of the era, slavery, which troubles her not so much on moral grounds, but as a blemish on the character of the country of freedom and equality.

2

The Young Men and the Sea: Sea/Ocean as a Space of Maturation?

100%

Fruzińska J.

Review of International American Studies

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2014

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vol. 7

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issue 1

EN

Justyna Fruzińska Department of American Literature, University of Lodz The sea (or ocean) in American literature and culture is marked by a distinctive ambiguity. On the one hand, and quite expectedly, the sea voyage can be a maturation experience: such is the case of Humphrey Van Weyden, the protagonist of London’s The Sea Wolf; such is also the interpretation that the Disney Company chooses to present in its animated adaptation of R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island. However, it is also a space of the opposite experience: one that accommodates remarkably immature characters. Be it in the person of captain Delano in Melville’s ‘Benito Cereno’, or the eponymous Billy Budd, it is a site welcoming naïve and escapist heroes, those who do not want to or cannot adapt to the demands of land society.

3

From Physical to Spiritual Errand: The Immigrant Experience in John Winthrop, William Bradford, and Samuel Danforth

100%

Fruzińska J.

Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture

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2015

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vol. 5

149-159

EN

The paper analyzes early colonial representations of the New World, connected with immigration of the first- and second-generation religious dissenters in what was to become America. Taking into account the well-documented influence of Puritans on American identity (often noticed by scholars since Tocqueville), the paper elaborates on the Puritans’ and Pilgrims’ mindsets as they arrived in the New World, connected not only with their religious beliefs but most of all with a practical need to organize themselves effectively. Be it in John Winthrop’s “A Modell of Christian Charity,” William Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation” or Samuel Danforth’s “New England’s Errand into the Wilderness,” the authors of these works clearly show how the Pilgrims and Puritans had to confront the experience of emigration/immigration and construct not only new ways of social organization but also new identity. The paper focuses on the immigrants’ perception of the New World, their own role and challenges they were faced with, and their thinking about the society they came from and were about to construct. It deals with their process of adjusting to the surroundings and discussing values they decided to promote for the sake of communal survival in the adverse conditions of the New World.

4

A new literary history of America.Greil Marcus - Werner Sollors (eds.)

88%

Fruzińska J.

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

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2011

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vol. 46

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issue 3

117-119

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Frances Wright’s America: A 19th-Century Utopia

The Young Men and the Sea: Sea/Ocean as a Space of Maturation?

From Physical to Spiritual Errand: The Immigrant Experience in John Winthrop, William Bradford, and Samuel Danforth

A new literary history of America.Greil Marcus - Werner Sollors (eds.)