Rhetoric and Empire: Constitutional Thought and Literature in the 19th-Century Anglosphere
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Enrico Andreoli
Enrico Andreoli is author of several publications in national and international journal and in collected works, with particular focus on systems and models of constitutional adjudication and the US legal system. He published the book
La giustizia costituzionale negli Stati Uniti e in America Latina. Un modello accentrato “a diffusione eventuale” (2022, BUP).
Abstract
The article explores the intersections between constitutional theory and literary discourse in the 19th-century Anglosphere, focusing on the interactions between Britain and the United States, in general, and on “constitutional colonialism” and the related theme of slavery, in particular. Firstly, it examines how constitutional thought was framed through rhetorical, narrative, and literary techniques, also shaping national identity and political ideology. Secondly, it assesses the UK and the U.S. constitutional frameworks through this lens, emphasising the literary and rhetorical features inherent in their constitutional contexts. The article then investigates the tensions between constitutional promises of justice, autonomy, and citizenship, and the realities of colonial oppression, with a particular focus on slavery as one of the most divisive issues of the 19th century. As literature played a crucial role in raising public awareness and influencing political decisions regarding the theme of slavery, the article will finally highlight how some literary texts, such as Anthony Trollope’s North America, acted simultaneously as a medium of resistance and legal discourse.
About the author
Enrico Andreoli is author of several publications in national and international journal and in collected works, with particular focus on systems and models of constitutional adjudication and the US legal system. He published the book La giustizia costituzionale negli Stati Uniti e in America Latina. Un modello accentrato “a diffusione eventuale” (2022, BUP).
© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Constitutional Theory as Literature in the 19th-Century Anglosphere
- Focus
- Charles Dickens, Albert Venn Dicey, and Openness in the Anglosphere
- Rhetoric and Empire: Constitutional Thought and Literature in the 19th-Century Anglosphere
- Authoring the Nation: Madame de Staël and the Literary Origins of the State
- The End of the Victorian Era: Reflections on an Edwardian Viewpoint
- Illustrating the Indian Penal Code: Bigamy, the Victorian Novel, and the Formation of National Identity
- The Christian Year – Still Needed? John Keble on the ‘Co-Extensiveness’ of Church and State
- Research
- We Have Never Been Persons!
- A Tragic Photograph: Emotional Journey of a Political Spectator
- Thoughts, Words, and Promises: Fides and the Legal Significance of the Inner Sphere
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Constitutional Theory as Literature in the 19th-Century Anglosphere
- Focus
- Charles Dickens, Albert Venn Dicey, and Openness in the Anglosphere
- Rhetoric and Empire: Constitutional Thought and Literature in the 19th-Century Anglosphere
- Authoring the Nation: Madame de Staël and the Literary Origins of the State
- The End of the Victorian Era: Reflections on an Edwardian Viewpoint
- Illustrating the Indian Penal Code: Bigamy, the Victorian Novel, and the Formation of National Identity
- The Christian Year – Still Needed? John Keble on the ‘Co-Extensiveness’ of Church and State
- Research
- We Have Never Been Persons!
- A Tragic Photograph: Emotional Journey of a Political Spectator
- Thoughts, Words, and Promises: Fides and the Legal Significance of the Inner Sphere
