Corporate Impersonation: the Possibilities of Personhood in American Literature, 1886-1917
Corporate Impersonation: The Possibilities of Personhood in American Literature, 1886-1917 by Nicolette Isabel Bruner A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English Language and Literature) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee Professor Gregg D. Crane, Chair Professor Susanna L. Blumenthal, University of Minnesota Professor Jonathan L. Freedman Associate Professor Scott R. Lyons “Everything…that the community chooses to regard as such can become a subject—a potential center—of rights, whether a plant or an animal, a human being or an imagined spirit; and nothing, if the community does not choose to regard it so, will become a subject of rights, whether human being or anything else.” -Alexander Nékám, 1938 © Nicolette Isabel Bruner Olson 2015 For my family – past, present, and future. ii Acknowledgements This dissertation could not have been completed without the support of my committee: Gregg Crane, Jonathan Freedman, Scott Lyons, and Susanna Blumenthal. Gregg Crane has been a constant source of advice and encouragement whose intimate knowledge of law and literature scholarship has been invaluable to my own development as a scholar. Jonathan Freedman’s class on “Fictions of Finance” inspired much of the work in this dissertation, as did Susanna Blumenthal’s seminar on “The Concept of the Person” during my time at the University of Michigan Law School. Jonathan’s good humor, grace, and sympathetic yet critical eye have profoundly shaped my work. As I have expanded my research into animal studies, Scott Lyons guided me to new intellectual domains. Finally, ever since I began working with her during my first year of law school, Susanna has been a source of wisdom, encouragement, and generosity.
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