Abstract:With the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the United States acquired a vast territory of alien terrains that required reinterpretation. The region already contained generations-old narratives conveyed in Native American traditions, but US cultural leaders sought to reinscribe the land to determine how it fit within, or without, their national domain. Two contending, yet contemporaneous, visions emerged. One described the region as a Great American Desert that would serve as a barrier to future agrarian settlement. The other adorned the Great American Prairie with an emotional and adventurous appeal that would increase in popularity by the late 1840s as the United States neared its moment of “manifest destiny.” Scholars of the North American West often mark clear chronological and interpretive shifts between the concepts of the Great Plains as the inhospitable waste and the bountiful garden and largely dismiss the persistence of the romantic prairie, but one cultural idea rarely displaces another in such neat chronological turns. Instead, the prairie and the desert aspects evolved alongside one another, fluctuating within a spectrum of oppositions. More than a difference of perception or sentiment, the contest between the Great American Desert and the Great American Prairie represented two opposing views of US empire— one that espoused a cautious expansion and the other much more aggressive.

中文翻译：

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“我们的眼睛因辽阔而疼痛”：将美国大沙漠重新想象为美国大草原

摘要：随着 1803 年路易斯安那州的购买，美国获得了需要重新解释的大片外星地形。该地区已经包含了美洲原住民传统中传达的几代人的历史叙述，但美国文化领袖试图重新命名这片土地，以确定它如何适应或脱离他们的国家领土。出现了两个相互竞争但同时存在的愿景。有人将该地区描述为美国大沙漠，它将成为未来农业定居点的障碍。另一个以情感和冒险的吸引力装饰了美国大草原，到 1840 年代后期，随着美国接近其“命运的体现”，这种吸引力会越来越受欢迎。” 北美西部的学者们经常在大平原作为荒凉的荒地和富饶的花园的概念之间做出明确的时间顺序和解释转换，并且在很大程度上忽视了浪漫草原的持久性，但一种文化观念很少以如此整齐的时间顺序取代另一种文化观念转。取而代之的是，草原和沙漠方面相互并存，在一系列对立中波动。美国大沙漠和美国大草原之间的较量不仅仅是感知或情绪的差异，代表了美国帝国的两种对立观点——一种支持谨慎扩张，另一种更具侵略性。但一种文化观念很少能以如此整齐的时间顺序取代另一种文化观念。取而代之的是，草原和沙漠方面相互并存，在一系列对立中波动。美国大沙漠和美国大草原之间的较量不仅仅是感知或情感的差异，代表了美国帝国的两种对立观点——一种支持谨慎扩张，另一种则更具侵略性。但一种文化观念很少能以如此整齐的时间顺序取代另一种文化观念。取而代之的是，草原和沙漠方面相互并存，在一系列对立中波动。美国大沙漠和美国大草原之间的较量不仅仅是感知或情绪的差异，代表了美国帝国的两种对立观点——一种支持谨慎扩张，另一种更具侵略性。