US_Literature

USLiteratureFromlocalcolourtomulti-colourWarning‘Literature’isnotnecessarilywhatpeopleareorwerereallyreadingorwritingataparticulartimeinhistory.‘Literature’iswhatisnowvaluedbycritics,writers,universityprofessorsandother‘experts’astheylookbackintohistory.EarlyUSintellectualdependenceTheBibleandEuropeanintellectualideasdominated(religiousidealism/rationalism)PrintersfreelyreprintedEuropeanauthors;nocopyright.NoteasyforUSwriterstoearnalivingoutsidejournalismBenjaminFranklin:18thCscientificrationalist(andprinter)Localcolour[color]‘RipVanWinkle’-Americanhumour[humor]&gentlesatire,butbasedonGermanfolktalesWashingtonIrving(1783–1859)Partialreform:center,ax,program,hed,frend,masheenWebster–spellingreformerRomanticismvRealismRomanticism:areactionto18thCscientificrationalismBasedonEuropeanmodels–Keats,Byron,Wordsworth,ScottetcBeliefinthepowerofemotion,moralsentiment,&individualself-transformationRealism:areactiontoearly19thCexcessiveromanticismEmphasisonreallifesettingsandexperiencesRomanticindividualistsExploringwhatmakesAmericadifferent:space(physicalandmoral)Transcendentalist:celebratingthefree,simplelifeoftheindividual,closetonature.Breakingfreeofreligious,moral&poeticconventions(rhymeetc)Themes:freedom/theself-mademan/optimismWaltWhitmanSongofMyself-‘DoIcontradictmyself?Verywell,then,Icontradictmyself.Iamlarge,Icontainmultitudes’“Ifamandoesnotkeeppacewithhiscompanions,perhapsitisbecausehehearsadifferentdrummer.”DavidThoreauRomanticsymbolistsThemes:quest,obsessionandthestrugglewithnature(thedarksideoftheAmericancharacter)Biblicalreferences(e.g.names:Capt.Ahab)Enterspopular(andliterate)culture,thoughpoorlyreceivedatfirst.(1819-1891)MelvilleSeealso–NathanielHawthorne’sTheScarletLetter(1850)Romanticmoralists‘UncleTom’sCabin’:best-sellinganti-slaverynovelSentimental,stereotypicalpresentationofthelifeofaslavefamilyUncleTom:portrayedasanoble,loyalChristian(butcriticisedasweakinthe20thCbysomeblacks)HarrietBeecher-StoweRealist:localistsAnti-romantic,satire/humour,localsubjectmatteranddialectSocialcommentonslavery,southernsocietyetcBannedbysomelibrariesandschools(‘nigger’used212times)TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn(1884)TheAdventuresofTomSawyer(1876)MarkTwainAllright,then,I'llgotohell**HuckFinnthinksifhehelpsaslaveescapehewillbesenttohell,buthedecidestoobeyhisconscienceratherthanwhatreligion(orsociety)says.Realist:psychological&socialInfluencedbyDarwinandtheideathatenvironmentcreatescharacterExploring(upperclass)AmericansrelationswithEuropeans(e.g.HenryJames)ComplexcharacterdescriptionHenryJamesThePortraitofaLady(1881)‘Theonlyreasonfortheexistenceofanovelisthatitdoesattempttorepresentlife.’DescribingworkingclasssocialconditionsViewinghumanasanimals(e.g.JackLondon)JackLondonModernism:the‘lostgeneration’ExperimentalformsofwritingInternationalist:manylivedabroadReactingagainstWW1andboomingAmericaDislikeofmodernmaterialisticsocietyManyviewpoints;streamofconsciousnessTSEliot(Conservativeanti-capitalist)-‘Thisisthewaytheworldends/Notwithabangbutawhimper.’(‘TheHollowMen’)Manofaction:simplelanguage;activeindividualismPostmodernistLossoffaithin‘isms’,certaintiesandprogressNodivisionbetweenhighandlow(pop)cultureAllenGinsberg(1926-1997)JDSalinger(1951)‘Isawthebestmindsofmygenerationdestroyedbymadness,starvinghystericalnaked,draggingthemselvesthroughthenegrostreetsatdawnlookingforanangryfix...’‘Howl’(1956)WilliamBurroughs‘NakedLunch’(1959)–drug-influencedwritingMulticulturalismChallengingthe‘greatbooks’academicsyllabus(‘Deadwhitemales’)Emphasisonmissingvoicesinliterature:minoritygroups(women,black,gay,nativeetc)Culturewarsorcompromise?1818–95SummaryEarlyUSliteraturewashighlyinfluencedbothbytheBibleandEuropeanrationalisttrendsManyintheUShadautopianvisionofcreatinganewworldandinthe19thCthiswasexpressedthroughromanticismLater19thCauthorsturnedtorealism,believing(afterDarwin)thattheenvironment&socialforcesshapedhumanbehaviour20thCwritershavetendedtoexpressalienationfromwar,industrialsociety,thehypocrisyoftraditional(WASP)valuesandthetraditionalbeliefinthegreatclassics.TaskIsAmericanliteratureveryAmerican?InwhatwaysismodernUSliteraturedifferentfromitsearlierperiod?