Description
Innocence Abroad explores the process of encounter that took place between the Netherlands and the New World in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The 'discovery' of America coincided with the foundation of the Dutch Republic, a correspondence of much significance for the Netherlands. From the opening of their Revolt against Hapsburg Spain through the climax of their Golden Age, the Dutch looked to America - in political pamphlets and patriotic histories, epic poetry and allegorical prints, landscape painting and decorative maps - for a means of articulating a new national identity. This book demonstrates how the image of America fashioned in the Netherlands, and especially the twin themes of 'innocence' and 'tyranny', became integrally associated with the evolving political, moral and economic agenda. It investigates the energetic Dutch response to the New World while examining the operation of geographic discourse and colonial ideology within the culture of the Dutch Golden Age.
Innocence Abroad explores the encounter between the Netherlands and the New World in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Reviews
'While Spanish, French and English responses to the European discovery and settlement of America have been extensively studied, there has until now been no systematic survey of reactions in the Netherlands ... the gap has now been splendidly filled by Benjamin Schmidt's Innocence Abroad. Schmidt's book ... is attractively written and makes accessible a vast amount of fresh information.' History Today
'... a very welcome book covering a wealth of sources and interpretations, beautifully enlarged upon in the copious notes.' History
'This is a book with the plot of Animal Farm, George Orwell's great Trotskyite attack on the history of the Soviet Union ... Schmidt's book is essentially one of intellectual history, or at least of the history of representations ... without major flaws ... he also provides much basis for comparative insights.' South African Historical Journal
Book Information
ISBN 9780521024556
Author Benjamin Schmidt
Format Paperback
Page Count 484
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 719g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 153mm * 29mm
Innocence Abroad explores the encounter between the Netherlands and the New World in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Reviews
'While Spanish, French and English responses to the European discovery and settlement of America have been extensively studied, there has until now been no systematic survey of reactions in the Netherlands ... the gap has now been splendidly filled by Benjamin Schmidt's Innocence Abroad. Schmidt's book ... is attractively written and makes accessible a vast amount of fresh information.' History Today
'... a very welcome book covering a wealth of sources and interpretations, beautifully enlarged upon in the copious notes.' History
'This is a book with the plot of Animal Farm, George Orwell's great Trotskyite attack on the history of the Soviet Union ... Schmidt's book is essentially one of intellectual history, or at least of the history of representations ... without major flaws ... he also provides much basis for comparative insights.' South African Historical Journal
Book Information
ISBN 9780521024556
Author Benjamin Schmidt
Format Paperback
Page Count 484
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 719g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 153mm * 29mm
