Whereas Marx" study is on the one hand part of a long tradition, highlighting the contrast between the ideal Arcadia and the corrupting influences of civilization, it was innovative in the sense that it introduced to American studies an intriguing thesis about the role of the pastoral topos in American culture and literature - although already following the footsteps of Henry Nash Smith and his analysis of the "Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth" (first published in 1950, walking in a slightly different direction). ... Literary expressions range from Washington Irving to Nathan...

• Word Count: 790
• Approx Pages: 3

Whereas Marx" study is on the one hand part of a long tradition, highlighting the contrast between the ideal Arcadia and the corrupting influences of civilization, it was innovative in the sense that it introduced to American studies an intriguing thesis about the role of the pastoral topos in American culture and literature - although already following the footsteps of Henry Nash Smith and his analysis of the "Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth" (first published in 1950, walking in a slightly different direction). ... Literary expressions range from Washington Irving to Nathan...

• Word Count: 821
• Approx Pages: 3