“For a while they felt better”: Negation in A Flag for Sunrise

In A Flag for Sunrise, American novelist Robert Stoneexplores the metaphysics of empire, attempting to understand what fears, desires, and ontological conditions impel imperialism. Beneath the stories our leaders tell us to justify interventionism, Stone contends, dwell deep - seated, but over - ind...

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Main Author: Brady Harrison
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Association for American Studies 2011-10-01
Series:European Journal of American Studies
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9396
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author Brady Harrison
author_facet Brady Harrison
author_sort Brady Harrison
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description In A Flag for Sunrise, American novelist Robert Stoneexplores the metaphysics of empire, attempting to understand what fears, desires, and ontological conditions impel imperialism. Beneath the stories our leaders tell us to justify interventionism, Stone contends, dwell deep - seated, but over - indulged fears that have twisted many into vicious empire - builders and seekers - after - death. Fear eats away at the self: fear of death, fear of the void within, fear of human meaninglessness, fear of groundlessness in a Godless universe impel the agents of empire forward. Charges into the third world arise from these intertwining fears, from the ache within that can only be briefly quieted through acts of brutality, appropriation, conquest. Imperialism, he suggests, grows from a need to fill this void within, or at least to shut one=s eyes to it through ferocious activities and desires.
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spelling doaj-art-bb0031e7b43b4a14b2f771bff4e433552025-01-06T09:10:22ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362011-10-016110.4000/ejas.9396“For a while they felt better”: Negation in A Flag for SunriseBrady HarrisonIn A Flag for Sunrise, American novelist Robert Stoneexplores the metaphysics of empire, attempting to understand what fears, desires, and ontological conditions impel imperialism. Beneath the stories our leaders tell us to justify interventionism, Stone contends, dwell deep - seated, but over - indulged fears that have twisted many into vicious empire - builders and seekers - after - death. Fear eats away at the self: fear of death, fear of the void within, fear of human meaninglessness, fear of groundlessness in a Godless universe impel the agents of empire forward. Charges into the third world arise from these intertwining fears, from the ache within that can only be briefly quieted through acts of brutality, appropriation, conquest. Imperialism, he suggests, grows from a need to fill this void within, or at least to shut one=s eyes to it through ferocious activities and desires.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9396
spellingShingle Brady Harrison
“For a while they felt better”: Negation in A Flag for Sunrise
European Journal of American Studies
title “For a while they felt better”: Negation in A Flag for Sunrise
title_full “For a while they felt better”: Negation in A Flag for Sunrise
title_fullStr “For a while they felt better”: Negation in A Flag for Sunrise
title_full_unstemmed “For a while they felt better”: Negation in A Flag for Sunrise
title_short “For a while they felt better”: Negation in A Flag for Sunrise
title_sort for a while they felt better negation in a flag for sunrise
url https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9396
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