Echoes of the American Revolution in Calvin Baker’s Novel Dominion

The paper is dedicated to Calvin Baker’s novel Dominion (2006) that covers the hundred-year period in the US history from the end of the 17th to the end of the 18th century during which Britain’s North American colonies rose against the metropolis, proclaimed independence and won in the first War of Independence. The writer addresses the historical experience of African Americans: the protagonists of the novel are Jasper Merian, an African American who tries to take root on the American soil, and members of his family. Merian’s son and grandson come to realize the need to fight for independence. By mixing the techniques of saga, mythmaking, romance, and family chronicle Baker manages to create a deep and captivating narration about the transformation of North American colonies into a new independent state and their population into a young rising nation. All the four parts of the novel are written in different stylistic manners and demonstrate Baker’s craft in switching over stylistic registers, developing the literary tradition, and creating the dramatic tension that keeps the readership’s attention throughout the course of the novel. The writer does not emphasize the problem of the color line as he is convinced in the strength of the unity of Americans of different skin color, religion, and gender and shows that the existence of the country depends only on mutual understanding and commitment to dialogue. The third part of the novel is dedicated to the events of the American Revolution and the War of Independence: thanks to Caleum’s bravery and the magic sword made by his father and containing the whole history of the country and his clan, the colonists win the decisive Battle of Saratoga.