American Literature What Does This Mean? Can “American Literature” be defined? What definition might we apply? What do we think of when we think of “American Literature?” – Past, Present, Future?
Traditional American Literary Periods – Why? We have a need to define. We have a need to compartmentalize. Because it is easy.
Traditional American Literary Periods Because we typically align the literature of a period with the history – events taking place at the time the works are composed…history!
Traditional American Literary Periods Significant events in the world tend to shape our mindset at the time, which is often reflected in the writings of the times. Events such as: War; Economic Depression; Slavery; Civil Rights. Can anyone think of recent events that might affect our writing content? Past events: Large war (Civil War, WWI, WWII) slavery, civil rights, economic depression (1930s).
Traditional American Literary Periods 7 distinct time periods within the “Traditional American Literary Periods” Most occurring within the last 150 years. Why might that be? That there are so many within the last 150 years? Possibly because so much has gone on – so many changes taking place?
Literature of Exploration and Colonization 1492-1760 Style Journals and diaries Personal Writing/Self Writing Searching for an Identity
Colonization – up to 1760 Puritans - Religion and God very important. Life was a test. Failure led to eternal damnation and hellfire. Success brought heavenly bliss. The world = a constant battle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan.
Literature of Reason and Revolution 1760-1830 Enlightenment. Emphasis on rational rather than tradition. REASON & Scientific Inquiry. Dedicated to the ideals of justice, liberty, and equality as the natural rights of man. This is taking place during the Federalist Movement in Politics.
American Romanticism 1830-1865 The use of far away places or past times for setting. Grotesque/Gothicism – preoccupation with gloom, mystery, mysticism, terror. Society is corrupt. Natural world is good.
American Romanticism Rejected the strict Puritan attitudes (Transcendentalism). Reaction against the Enlightenment’s Rationalism. Intuition rather than Reason.
American Realism 1865-1914 Emphasis on ordinary, average life. Non-extreme in plot, setting, & character.
American Realism Rejects symbolic writing Rejects moral struggles What you see is what you get. Exact truth of the daily picture.
American Realism Character is more important than plot. Characters are neither all good or all bad. Morality is the individual’s responsibility. Multiple levels of truth.
American Naturalism 1890-1914 Humans are animals in their instinctual reaction to life Adoption of Darwinian theory Humans are controlled by heredity and environment.
Modernism 1914-1945 The Lost Generation - Found no value, no meaning in life. World War I and the Great Depression had a profound impact on their writing.
Modernism Reaction against positivism. Life isn’t that wonderful. All cultures are equal. Awareness of the irrational. Workings of the unconscious mind. Make it new! Mantra. Freud was influential – The Interpretations of Dreams (1899). Question reality. Stream of Consciousness. No structure. Fragmented world.
Post Modern/Contemporary 1945 – present. Any thing after WWII. Not really an organized movement. Black Humor (satire using taboo subject matter such as murder, suicide, disease, war, insanity). Want to Shock us. Irony (discrepancy between what is expressed and what is intended). Post-modernism peaked in the 60s and 70s – this is why some say the now period is contemporary and post-modernism is over.