Wilderness e Indiani nella costruzione dell’identità etnica americana

The purpose of this work is to analyze the formation and development of the ethnic and national identity of the United States through the study of American literature. In the first part the basic concepts of ethnic identity, culture in th social sense and myth are analyzed from a theoretical poin of view. The second part is dedicated firtly to the study of the complex relation between the conquerors and th American territory (wilderness) and its inhabitants : the Indians; and secondly to the impact that the cultural construction of such relation has had on the behavior of the American social environment both in domestic and foreign politics.