Unmoored - (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American Histo) by Ana Schwartz (Hardcover)

About the Book

"New England's Puritans were devoted to self-scrutiny. Consumed by the pursuit of pure hearts, they latched on to sincerity as both an ideal and a social process. It fueled examinations of inner lives, governed behavior, and provided a standard against which both could be judged. But as Ana Schwartz demonstrates, if sincerity promised much, it often delivered more: it bred shame and resentment among the English settlers and, all too often, extraordinary violence toward their Algonquian neighbors and the captured Africans who lived among them. Populating her 'city on a hill' with the stock characters of Puritan studies as well as obscure actors, Schwartz breathes new life into our understanding of colonial New England"--

Book Synopsis

New England's Puritans were devoted to self-scrutiny. Consumed by the pursuit of pure hearts, they latched on to sincerity as both an ideal and a social process. It fueled examinations of inner lives, governed behavior, and provided a standard against which both could be judged. In a remote, politically volatile frontier, settlers gambled that sincerity would reinforce social cohesion and shore up communal happiness. Sincere feelings and the discursive practices that manifested them promised a safe haven in a world of grinding uncertainty.

But as Ana Schwartz demonstrates, if sincerity promised much, it often delivered more: it bred shame and resentment among the English settlers and, all too often, extraordinary violence toward their Algonquian neighbors and the captured Africans who lived among them. Populating her "city on a hill" with the stock characters of Puritan studies as well as obscure actors, Schwartz breathes new life into our understanding of colonial New England.

Review Quotes

"Unmoored allows us to witness repression's skill. Closely examining this sophisticated process, we might be able better to determine, perhaps mitigate, our own conscription onto a 'similarly unhappy stage' (33-34)."--William and Mary Quarterly

"A remarkable achievement. . . . Unmoored is a powerful book that demands consideration by anyone interested in the literature, history, or historiography of Colonial New England."--New England Quarterly

"Building on extensive literary theory, Ana Schwartz explores the actions, words, and especially the silence of social dissenters in the seventeenth-century 'frontier' world, infused with guilt for possessing a land that was not their own."--Journal of American History

"Schwartz has a sharp eye for unusual and absorbing case studies. . . . [Unmoored] is not only a richly thought-provoking and original study, but it is one that opens the door to questions and avenues for future research which should prove of interest to literary scholars and historians of colonial America and the wider early modern world alike."--H-Early-America

"The book is unmooring, but it is also intellectually exhilarating--believe me or don't, but please read it."--American Historical Review

About the Author

Ana Schwartz is assistant professor of English at University of Texas at Austin.