Brief Introduction to American Literature
Introduction American literature, to my eyes, like American history, although short, however, still full of glories and shining masterpieces and writers. Those American writers, while conquering this wild America, also had conquered the great field of American literature. From its first imitative activities to innovative attempts nowadays, American literature gradually gains its unique style, theme and form, and I¡¯m always excited to see their works are more and more America in its true sense. American literature is part of world¡¯s literature, however, it always has its unique flavor that cannot be easily ignored. Most critics hold that the history of American literature can be divided into six parts, orderly, colonial period, romanticism, realism, naturalism, modernism and post-modernism. Although American literature in its true sense did not begin until 19th century, however, we always talk about colonial period as a preparatory introduction to American literature. ... Chapter 1 Colonial Period ©¥ A Utilitarian Literary period (1) Background This period is unique in American literature, and the literature in this period is mainly a literary expression of the Puritan idealism. ... Puritans soon established their own religious and moral principles, which has influenced the American thought and American literature a lot. ... Therefore, it¡¯s safe to conclude that the literature at this period is utilitarian. ... His place in literature owes much to his almanac and autobiography and his Poor Richard¡¯s Almanac gives advice in commonsense witticisms and maxims. ... Background The term ¡°romantic¡± was a designation for a school of literature opposed to the Classic. ... Early romanticism was more or less imitative of British literature of Romanticism. ... Above all, it was a time of extension of the American nation and the American identity. During this period, some American writers did begin to attract notice abroad and their books drew attention of important foreign figures. Although English literary models were still admired, the American writers soon turned to the American civilization and found their materials in the culture and history of their native land. American Romanticism reached its peak with some literary giants in Romantics ©¤ Poe, Whitman, Dickinson, Hawthorn and Melville. ... Washington Irving was considered as the forefather of the American literature, who turned American literature from pure imitation to independent creation. ... William Bryant is often regarded as one of America¡¯s earliest nationalist poets, who was called ¡°the American Wordsworth.¡± He was respected by American people because he provided at that time the national consciousness. ... Poe established a new symbolic poetry, formulated the new short story in the detective line and laid the foundation for analytical criticism; Hawthorne was essentially a moralist, using the new England regional past as subject and showed great concern about the American past; Whitman was considered as forefather of American free verse; Dickinson was a lyric writer as well as private writer; while Melville filled his book with symbolic richness and penetration. ... General introduction In a word, realism describes real characters, real scenes and real incidents. ... The general themes of American literature during these years concerned the effect of money getting upon American literature and civilization. ... Representative writers American realism is prominent in the history of the world literature, and this can be contributed to several fantastic American realistic writers, among whom William Howells, Mark Twain and Henry James were the most famous. ... Origin Naturalism is a theory in literature emphasizing the role of heredity and environment on human life and character development roughly between 1890¡¯s and 1900¡¯s. ... (2) Naturalistic literature tends to be concerned with the less elegant aspects of life. ... This tendency is in part a reaction against earlier literature. ... General Introduction Modernism is a literary movement from the early to the middle 20th century. ... They challenged traditional literature with the technique of symbolism, stream of consciousness and the use of myth, in order to make a strong and conscious break with traditional forms. ... Imagism (1) General Introduction Imagism first began with an English philosopher, and writer Thomas Ernest Hulme, who called on poets to express their momentary impressions through the use of one dominant image. ... Lost Generation (1) General Introduction The period of Lost Generation was also called the ¡° the Jazz Age¡±.