"Nothing but Fiction".

MODERN Chivalry (Book); BRACKENRIDGE, H. H. (Hugh Henry), 1748-1816; HABERMAS, Jurgen, 1929-; PUBLIC sphere; POLITICS & literature; AMERICAN fiction; 19TH century American fiction; AMERICAN satire; EIGHTEENTH century; NINETEENTH century; REVOLUTIONARY (Literary period); 19TH century (Literary period)

An essay is presented that offers literary criticism of the seven-volume novel "Modern Chivalry," by Hugh Henry Brackenridge, in relation to the role of fiction in the public sphere of the early American Republic. Topics include the views of philosopher Jürgen Habermas on the distinction between the literary public sphere and the political public sphere, the roles of fictionality and satire in the novel, and the critique of journalism in the novel.