This article takes as its starting point a consideration of the ways in which the ideological methodology of “New Americanist” criticism has closed off possibilities of reading that might choose to value ambiguity, contradiction, and excess – elements which militate against the discursive neatness of critique. In readings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and José Martí, I argue that resolutely politicized interpretations of Emerson fail to do justice to the unstable texture of his prose. In turn, Martí's writing about the United States is more uneven, surreal and excessive than a straightforward account of postcolonial resistance allows. Both Emerson and Martí exhibit a discursive flexibility that puts pressure on readings driven by inflexible ideological parameters seeking to position both men within frameworks of political quietism and postcolonial revolution respectively. I explore how the idea of revolution is imagined by Emerson in ways that run counter to our more conventional understanding of political transformation. To be sure, Martí's revolutionary actions in the cause of Cuban independence were tangible in ways that Emerson could never have countenanced for himself; nevertheless Emerson's understanding of resistance as differently located and performed provoked in Martí a high, and consistent, degree of sympathy.

中文翻译：

---

拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生和何塞·马蒂的阅读阻力

本文以思考“新美国主义”批评的意识形态方法论如何关闭可能选择重视模棱两可、矛盾和过度的阅读可能性为出发点，这些因素妨碍了批评的话语整洁. 在阅读拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生和何塞·马蒂时，我认为对爱默生的坚决政治化解释未能公正地对待他散文的不稳定结构。反过来，马蒂关于美国的写作比对后殖民抵抗的直截了当的描述更加不平衡、超现实和过度。爱默生和马蒂都表现出一种话语上的灵活性，这对由不灵活的意识形态参数驱动的解读施加了压力，这些参数试图将两人分别置于政治安静主义和后殖民革命的框架内。我探讨了爱默生如何以与我们对政治变革更传统的理解背道而驰的方式想象革命的想法。可以肯定的是，马蒂在古巴独立事业中的革命行动是有形的，这是爱默生自己永远无法接受的。然而，爱默生对阻力的不同定位和表现的理解在马蒂身上引起了高度的、一致的同情。我探讨了爱默生如何以与我们对政治变革更传统的理解背道而驰的方式想象革命的想法。可以肯定的是，马蒂在古巴独立事业中的革命行动是有形的，这是爱默生自己永远无法接受的。然而，爱默生对阻力的不同定位和表现的理解在马蒂身上引起了高度的、一致的同情。我探讨了爱默生如何以与我们对政治变革更传统的理解背道而驰的方式想象革命的想法。可以肯定的是，马蒂在古巴独立事业中的革命行动是有形的，这是爱默生自己永远无法接受的。然而，爱默生对阻力的不同定位和表现的理解在马蒂身上引起了高度的、一致的同情。