Literary History of America

1. Literary History of America 1588-present

2. Overview • Puritan/Colonial (1588-1750) • Revolutionary/Age of Reason (1750-1800) • Romanticism (1800-1860) • American Renaissance/ Transcendentalism/Anti-Transcendentalism (1840-1860) • Realism/Naturalism (1855-1900) • Modernism (1900-1946) • Post-Modernism (1946-Present) • Contemporary (1970s-Present)

3. Puritan/Colonial Period (1588-1750) • Puritan settlers fled England, seeking religious freedom • Plain, spare, harsh life • Literature for fun highly discouraged • Most writing instructional in nature; reinforce authority of Bible and Church • Sermons • Tracts • Hymnals • Religious poetry

4. Puritan/Colonial Period (1588-1750) • Thomas Hariot • wrote A Brief and True Report of the New-Found Land of Virginia in 1588 • quickly translated into Latin, French, and German; it was a window for the Old World to see an embellished version of the New World • Anne Bradstreet • born & educated in England • considered a spinster at 25 • first book of American poetry • first published American woman

5. Puritan/Colonial Period (1588-1750) • William Bradford • governor of Plymouth • essentially the first historian of the new colonies • wrote Of Plymouth Plantation in 1651 • Cotton Mather • Comes from a long line of Puritan ministers • Harvard educated • (indirect) major participant in the Salem Witch Trials

6. Revolutionary Period/Age of Reason (1750-1800) • Age of Reason • Also known as “American Enlightenment” • Born from European Age of Reason • Applied scientific reasoning to politics, science, and religion • Increased religious tolerance • Restored literature, arts, and music as subjects worth studying in colleges and universities • Identified American character • Set stage for Revolutionary War

7. Revolutionary Period/Age of Reason (1750-1800) • Benjamin Franklin • scientist, writer, diplomat, Founding Father • Explored all new avenues of thought • Thomas Paine • great American propagandist • Common Sense; presented argument for American freedom • The American Crisis; series of essays and articles that continued to argue for independence

8. Romanticism (1800-1860) • Based on European Romanticism • Direct response to rationalism of Enlightenment • French Revolution also responsible • Emphasized intense emotion like apprehension, horror and terror, and awe • High value on heroic ideals, individuals, and artists • Promoted individual ideas and imagination as ultimate authority

9. Romanticism (1800-1860) • Washington Irving • known as “Father of American Literature” • first famous American author • Advocated for stronger laws protecting authors’ works • Edgar Allan Poe • Bad childhood made him despise the world • Darkly metaphysical vision • Refined the short story • Created detective fiction • Challenged notion that poem had to be long & teach something

10. American Renaissance/ Transcendentalism/Anti-Transcendentalism (1830-1860) • Transcendentalists: • Devoted to the possibility of democracy • Looking to establish a uniquely American art form • Taught that the divine was to be found in all nature/people • Urged people to find a “unique connection to the universe.” • Anti-Transcendentalists: • Believed men were nothing but sinful, evil creatures • Created stories about limitations and destructiveness of human spirit

11. American Renaissance/ Transcendentalism/Anti-Transcendentalism (1840-1860) • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Leader of the Transcendentalist movement • Emphasized individuality, freedom, and relationship of the soul to the world • Henry David Thoreau • contemporary of Emerson • wrote Civil Disobedience, argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state

12. American Renaissance/ Transcendentalism/Anti-Transcendentalism (1840-1860) • Nathaniel Hawthorne • writes in direct opposition to Transcendentalists • most stories written about New England • Focus on inherent evil and sin in man • Usually have a deep moral message

13. Realism (1855-1900) • Written in lead-up and response to Civil War • Dark, brutal time in American history • People were looking for “reality” of life • Birth of objective narrator • Authors don’t tell readers how to interpret the story

14. Realism (1855-1900) • Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) • writes in strong, realistic everyday speech • first major author to come from center of the nation • Emily Dickenson • Writing has characteristics of both Romanticism and Realism • Rebelled against strong Puritan upbringing • Hardly anyone knew of her when alive

15. Naturalism (1865-1915) • Heavily influenced by literary Realism • Detachment • Determinism • Man is a victim of predestination • At the whims of nature or fate • Sense that the universe is indifferent to human life • Heavily influenced by literary Realism

16. Naturalism (1865-1915) • Jack London • poor working class writer • Gritty, vivid stories of life and death struggles • died at age 40; alcoholism, kidney failure, dysentery, morphine overdose • Stephen Crane • many characters suffer from crisis of identity/faith, fear of the unknown, and social isolation • died from tuberculosis at age 28

17. Modernism (1900-1946) • Writers broke from traditions of the past • Horrors of WWI caused society to re-evaluate priorities • Heavily influenced by Freud and Marx • Challenged the rationality of the human mind • Focused on stories of individualism • Creation of larger-than-life heroes • Futility of life • Birth of interior monologue • Experiments in writing styles

18. Modernism (1900-1946) • Ernest Hemingway • used concise, spare, direct, objective writing to create bigger-than-life heroes • won Pulitzer and Nobel Peace Prize for Literature • John Steinbeck • wrote about both pains and joys of life • most writing took place during the Great Depression • famous for The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men

19. Post-Modernism (1946-present) • Marked departure from modernist era • Rejection of everything Modernist • Skepticism • Irony • Rejection of: • Objective reality • Morality • Truth • Human nature • Reason • Language • Social progress

20. Post-Modernism (1946-present) • JD Salinger • fought in WWII; D-Day, Battle of the Bulge • Most famous novel – Catcher in the Rye • became increasingly reclusive • died Jan 27, 2010, at 91 • Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. • fought in WWII; captured by Germans during the Battle of the Bulge • darkly humorous critiques of society • most famous novel – Slaughterhouse Five • died April 11th, 2007

21. Contemporary • Argument over dates – 1950 or 1970-present • Celebrates diversity of humanity • Real people • Ethnically diverse • Social issues/problems • Realistic, thoughtful writing • Not always a happy ending • Birth of the anti-hero • Highly symbolic • Lots of figurative language

22. Contemporary (1950-present) Stephen King • famous for books that scare people • lives in Maine • was rejected by publishers 30 times before 1st book published (Carrie, 1974)

23. Contemporary (1950-present) James Oliver Rigney (a.k.a. Robert Jordan) • went to Citadel Military College in South Carolina • wrote in fantasy genre • died before finishing 15-book Wheel of Time series