Rhetoric of Resistance in Fiction of the American Revolution: A Postcolonial Critique of Jeff Shaara’s The Glorious Cause

Author(s) : Dr Saleem Akhtar Khan

Abstract:

Literary narratives memorializing historical milestones of a nation are always imbued with the passionate rhetoric that is cherished collectively and projected institutionally. Especially, in case of representational discourses about the revolutionary wars, the junctures epitomizing the ideals of resistance, the narratives turn more belligerent under the burden of the all-pervasive colonial memories and perpetually perturbing legacies. The kind of combative narration is one of the salient features of the literatures being produced in the former colonies across the globe. In this context, the article attempts to negotiate a fictional rendering of the anti-colonial élan scaffolding the American nation’s sense of pride and guiding its historical consciousness with reference to the Revolutionary War. Engaging postcolonial postulates about resistance and the modalities of a revolution in a colonial society, a critique of Jeff Shaara’s The Glorious Cause: A Novel of the American Revolution (2002) is developed. The analysis unpacks the rhetoric of resistance that is buttressing thematic structure of the novel. Various aspects of the novel, ranging from projection of the nationalist ideals to indictment of the colonizer, have been examined to elaborate the polemical configuration of the selected text. Through interpretation of these textual points, it is expounded how the American literary consciousness vociferously rationalizes the Revolutionary War as a national cause. Thus, it is evinced that the ideals of the early national history continue to inform the contemporary American literary discourses.
Key words: American Revolution, Fiction, Ideology, Postcolonialism, Resistance