공화주의, 귀화, 시민의 탄생

Federalism, Naturalization, and the Birth of Citizenship: The Ethical and Political Ideals of the Nation as Affirmed in Darby’s Return

William Dunlap’s play Darby’s Return (1789) deals with the story of an Irish soldier who returns to his hometown after joining the British army during the American Revolutionary War. During his stay in New York, Darby witnesses historical scenes such as the establishment of the federal constitution and the presidential inauguration, and finds a new national ideal called ‘republicanism’ as differentiated from European traditions. He is back home to Ireland, but eventually decides to return to New York, become a citizen of the United States, marry and start a new life. Darby’s choice of a new identity, Irish-American, effectively represents the formation of American state and citizenship as ‘imagined community’ embracing racial, regional, and cultural heterogeneity. Dunlap persuasively and timely affirms the ethical and political ideals of the new nation as represented by republicanism through the dramatic representation of the hero’s identity transition. Daunlap creates his play Darby’s Return as ‘American drama’ by capturing the American subjects as well as faithfully fulfilling the moral responsibility demanded to contemporary American art.