Abstract:

The following essay takes up Washington Irving’s Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon as a study in the production of national character. Crayon’s tour provided occasion to examine the techniques that shaped his sense of Englishness, including his sense of its national character as a long-lasting structure, preserved in its literary traditions. His survey crystalized in an extended scrutiny of antiquarianism, both in its scholarly application, which treated literary texts as specimens of national tradition, and in its more popular expressions, which appeared in activities such as literary tourism, festivals, and ceremonies. In that respect, the sketches became a series of experiments in what Crayon could and could not accomplish, so long as he sought it in literary texts designated as artifacts or remnants. Irving’s multiple revisions, including his rearrangements of the various episodes, helped reinforce the more searching qualities of Crayon’s observations and remarks. It was critical that the book suggested possibilities, without ever settling on any definitive organization. For Irving meanwhile, the Sketch Book remained part of a more persistent professional concern over how to approach the still highly unsettled history of his own nation. To that purpose, I also bring in material from among Irving’s later writings, including select passages from Irving’s Tour on the Prairies. Although limited in scope, a review of those passages helps illustrate Crayon’s remarkable appeal for Irving, who continued to make use of the celebrated persona, even as he grew more forthright about its limitations.

摘要：

以下文章讨论了华盛顿·欧文的杰弗里·蜡笔素描本作为研究民族特色的产物。蜡笔之行提供了一个机会，探讨了塑造他的英语感的技巧，包括他在文学传统中保留下来的作为持久结构的民族特色的感觉。他的调查结果体现在对古董的广泛审查中，无论是在学术上的应用（将文学文本视为民族传统的标本），还是在更为流行的表达方式（包括在文学旅游，节日和礼仪活动中）所体现的。在这方面，只要他在被指定为人工制品或残余物的文学著作中寻求素描，素描就成为蜡笔可以或不能完成的一系列实验。欧文的多次修订，包括对各集的重新安排，有助于增强Crayon的观察和评论的搜索质量。至关重要的是，该书提出了可能性，而从未解决任何权威组织。同时，对于欧文关于如何处理自己国家仍然未解决的历史，Sketch Book仍然是更持久的专业关注的一部分。为此，我还从Irving的后来著作中引入了材料，包括Irving的《草原之旅》中的精选段落。尽管范围有限，但对这些段落的回顾有助于说明Crayon对Irving的非凡吸引力，Irving继续利用着名的性格，尽管他对限制的看法变得更加直率。