A Mirror for Americanists: German Prisoners of War in a New England Village

Spengemann argues for broadening the categories that he believes trammel scholarship in America. He proposes that "America" should instead signify "everything having to do with the civilization in the New World since the European discovery" (including writing not in English produced in areas not now part of the United States) while "literature" should encompass "every written document that will respond to literary analysis." He further argues for greater attention to the continuity of British and American literature through the 19th and 20th centuries as more illuminating than searching for delusory "Americanness." Though repetitive and tending toward polemic, these essays make valuable points; of greatest interest to academics.- Richard Kuczkowski, Dominican Coll., Blauvelt, N.Y.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.