“Liberty!—electric word!”

December 14, 2024 3:41 AM

In fact, American literature generally developed in response to the political divisiveness and moral strife that seemed to be an inherent part of the democratic culture that took root in the nation’s formative early decades. Yet this aspect of our national literature has long been overlooked, not only by writers like Gopnik, but in the broader fields of literary studies and political philosophy. from American Literature and the Liberal Way of Life [Hedgehog Review; ungated]
posted by chavenet (1 comment total)

Stowe’s narrator interjects, “Liberty!—electric word!” and asks the reader, “Is not the sense of liberty a higher and a finer one than any of the five?” ...
Yet both Stowe and Douglass also recognized that individuals often “sense” the world and its governing ideas in divergent ways.

The "shocking" tactic electric fish use to collectively sense the world [npr]
posted by HearHere at 4:08 AM on December 14 [1 favorite]