James Fenimore Cooper and the

Diasporic Origins of American Identity

Auth. Juliet Shields

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
Waverly (1814) portrays events of 1745
Extraordinary Success
Historical Romance
Tolerance
Blonde and Brunette heroines
Scots
Less civilized than English and other Europeans
Sir Walter Scott

Brutal Savages (The Iroquois)
Women are means.
Noble Savages (The Mohicans)
Women are (???).
Feudal Chivalry (The Scots)
Women are objects of romantization.
Overcivilized femininity (The French)
Women are friends.
The Continuum

Begins as a complete Feudal Chivalrist
Not very effective lacks prudence.
Life saved by Uncas.
Learns from the Mohicans
Cultural appropriation.
Replaces Uncas
Saves his life.
Survives integration.

The Arc of Duncan Heyward



Generally seen as the intended ideal of American
masculinity in the book.

Not a suitable ideal.
Lacking in chivalry.
Lacking in heterosexual desire cannot reproduce.

What About Hawk-eye?

Magua is described as a mongrel and portrayed as
morally bankrupt; Uncas is described as pure and
portrayed as morally upright.
Hawk-eye attributes his non-understanding of love
to lack of exposure to women of his race;
heterosexual desire does not cross certain racial
boundaries.
Coras mixed blood may be what makes her
temperament too masculine and self-sufficient to
attract chivalric interest.
Blood Purity Nonsense


Scottish feudalism enables its own replacement.

Relations with women advance self-reliance is no
longer a flaw.

Indians are even more obsolete.
Continuation of Themes
in The Prairie