Thomas Jefferson and the Genre of Chronicles: A Study of Notes on the State of Virginia
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This paper explores Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia as a narrative example of American genre of chronicle, focusing on the discursive complexity and thematic peculiarity. Jefferson’s prose writings are generally considered the manifestation of a typical Enlightenment style whose rational argumentation denotes a combination of scientific rigor with aesthetic contemplation. With the commitment to democratic ideal, Jefferson’s Notes intends to respond to European prejudice towards American nature. Rebutting the familiar paradigm of American depravity, Jefferson demonstrates the natural abundance of American continent and links it to the cultural and political specificity of America. Especially, Notes concentrates on the problem of slavery in America and tries to correct public misconceptions of slavery as an institution. His discourse about slavery oscillates between moral indictment and the criticism of civilization itself, resulting in the mixed style of writing distancing from the conventional discourse disguised with scientific argumentation. Aesthetic contemplation about American natural environment subsidizes such a narrative move, enhancing philosophical speculation into a sublime style. His style of chronicle ultimately records the meanderings of his thinking with complex and subtle mixture of scientific contemplation and sublime description. This paper concludes that Jefferson’s prose writing amounts to a representative ideal of American genre of chronicle in that it displays the subtle combination of scientific argumentation and sublime style of writing.
Abstract
This paper explores Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia as a narrative example of American genre of chronicle, focusing on the discursive complexity and thematic peculiarity. Jefferson’s prose writings are generally considered the manifestation of a typical Enlightenment style whose rational argumentation denotes a combination of scientific rigor with aesthetic contemplation. With the commitment to democratic ideal, Jefferson’s Notes intends to respond to European prejudice towards American nature. Rebutting the familiar paradigm of American depravity, Jefferson demonstrates the natural abundance of American continent and links it to the cultural and political specificity of America. Especially, Notes concentrates on the problem of slavery in America and tries to correct public misconceptions of slavery as an institution. His discourse about slavery oscillates between moral indictment and the criticism of civilization itself, resulting in the mixed style of writing distancing from the conventional discourse disguised with scientific argumentation. Aesthetic contemplation about American natural environment subsidizes such a narrative move, enhancing philosophical speculation into a sublime style. His style of chronicle ultimately records the meanderings of his thinking with complex and subtle mixture of scientific contemplation and sublime description. This paper concludes that Jefferson’s prose writing amounts to a representative ideal of American genre of chronicle in that it displays the subtle combination of scientific argumentation and sublime style of writing.
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