Nation & Nationalism

These texts explore the concept of the nation, an idea of community that inspires patriotism and nostalgia. What makes a nation? And why are people willing to die—or to kill—to protect it? These are just a couple of the questions examined in the texts in this collection.

Requiem for the American Dream

by Noam Chomsky

Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics, Social Class, Politics & Government, Justice, Equality, Power & Greed, Education, Colonialism, Nation

Tags Business & Economics, Politics & Government, Philosophy, Social Justice, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Finance, US History, American Literature, Sociology, World History, Philosophy

Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power by linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky evaluates the rise of income inequality in the US over the last 40 years. It argues that the main consequence of neoliberalism, which has increased since the 1970s, is a dramatic concentration of wealth and power to the elite—at the expense of the lower and middle classes. Chomsky observes how rapid financialization since the... Read Requiem for the American Dream Summary

Resist

by Alan Gratz

Publication year 2019

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes War, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Childhood & Youth, Death, Animals, Place, Daughters & Sons, Mothers, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Nation, Politics & Government, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Wins & Losses

Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Children`s Literature

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Rez Life

by David Treuer

Publication year 2012

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Nation, Politics & Government, Indigenous Identity

Tags US History, Race & Racism, Politics & Government, Poverty, American Literature, Colonial America, World History, Biography

Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey Through Reservation Life (2012) is the fifth work by American writer, critic, and anthropologist David Treuer, and his first work of non-fiction. Treuer would follow this work, seven years later, with the publication of The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present (2019), an in-depth study of Indigenous history and reservation life. Many of the historical events and themes that Treuer covers in this book are... Read Rez Life Summary

Riders to the Sea

by John Millington Synge

Publication year 1904

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Grief, Fate, Apathy, Conflict, Perseverance, Death, Environment, Mothers, Siblings, Nation

Tags Tragedy, Irish Literature

Riders to the Sea (1904) is a one-act Irish play by John Millington Synge, originally performed in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The play portrays the events of one day in the cottage of a low-income family living on Inishmaan, one of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland, as they cope with the loss of male relatives to the rough waters between the islands and mainland Ireland. This short play incorporates themes... Read Riders to the Sea Summary

Rising Out of Hatred

by Eli Saslow

Publication year 2018

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Nation, Race

Tags Race & Racism, US History, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government, Biography

Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist (2018) is a biography of disavowed white nationalist Derek Black, authored by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eli Saslow.Derek is a former white nationalist wunderkind. Derek is the son of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard and Stormfront online hate group creator, Don Black, and the godson of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, white supremacist politician, and notorious public figure, David Duke. Derek’s parents remove... Read Rising Out of Hatred Summary

Rubicon

by Tom Holland

Publication year 2003

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Nation, Politics & Government, Power & Greed

Tags World History, Politics & Government, Classical Period, Classic Fiction

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Sexing the Cherry

by Jeanette Winterson

Publication year 1989

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Grief, Hate & Anger, Hope, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Nostalgia, Revenge, Disability, Femininity, Gender Identity, Indigenous Identity, Language, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, Aging, Birth, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Death, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Climate, Environment, Plants, Nature Versus Nurture, Objects & Materials, Place, Space, Daughters & Sons, Family, Fathers, Marriage, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Globalization, Immigration, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Art, Beauty, Equality, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Literature, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, LGBTQ+, Postmodernism

Jeanette Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry (1989) is a work of historiographic metafiction that blends fantasy elements with the historical backdrop of 17th-century England. The novel is primarily told through the alternating perspectives of the Dog-Woman, a powerful giantess, and her adopted son, Jordan. Rescued from the Thames as an infant, Jordan grows up to become an explorer, embarking on both literal sea voyages and fantastical journeys of the mind in search of an elusive dancer... Read Sexing the Cherry Summary

Shadow Ticket

by Thomas Pynchon

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Hope, Regret, Language, Masculinity, Future, The Past, Self Discovery, Nation, Politics & Government, War

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

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Shame

by Salman Rushdie

Publication year 1983

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Shame & Pride, Politics & Government, Nation

Tags Magical Realism, Symbolic Narrative, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Indian Literature, Asian Literature, Historical Fiction

Written by Salman Rushdie in 1983, Shame takes place in a fictionalized version of the city of Quetta in Pakistan. Although several characters are based on historic Pakistani politicians, the novel incorporates elements of magical realism to create a richly nuanced fable whose philosophical message transcends the boundaries of the ordinary. The novel explores themes of Shame Versus Shamelessness, the partition of Pakistan through Partition and Duality, and The Systemic Misogyny of Patriarchal Societies. Shame... Read Shame Summary

Silver Elite

by Dani Francis

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Loneliness, Love, Revenge, Gender Identity, Coming of Age, Future, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Equality, Justice, Truth & Lies

Tags Science Fiction, Romance, New Adult

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Slouching Towards Bethlehem

by Joan Didion

Publication year 1968

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Nation, Appearance & Reality, Literature

Tags Arts & Culture, US History, American Literature, Vietnam War, Journalism, World History, Classic Fiction, Biography

Slouching Towards Bethlehem is Joan Didion’s 1968 collection of essays that document her experiences living in California from 1961 to 1967. It is her first collection of nonfiction (many of the pieces originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post) and is hailed as a seminal document of culture and counterculture in 1960s California. Didion’s style was part of what Tom Wolfe called “New Journalism,” which emphasized the search for meaning over the reporting of facts... Read Slouching Towards Bethlehem Summary