American Narrative

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EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE

EARLY COLONIAL WRITING

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Novels would not appear in the USA until the 19th century.
1. Puritan Experience
2. Revolutionary Literature
3. First Authors of American Literature
In the 18th century the writing shifted towards the power of the human mind and rational thought.

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EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE : Puritan Experience

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- Produced in Virginia and Jamestown.
- Diaries, Stories, Sermons
- Related to religion
- Sermons: most important literary production. Written by priests and pastors. They were composed by a text from biblical references, proverbs... and this texts was interpreted and applicated.
- "A Modern of Christian Charity": Principles of theocracy
- "City Upon a Hill" by J. Winthrop
- "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by J. Edwards, marks the end of puritanism in the 18th century. Reflection about the uncertainty of tomorrow. His sermons produced great impact because they were grotesque and harsh. This fact alienated people from Calvinism.

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EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE: Revolutionary Literature

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- Political writings dealing with the organization of the States: "Declaration of Independence"
- Pamphlets: similar to sermons, but they were liberal and favoring Independence. They encouraged people to fight against England. They were short, reached all kind of people, were cheap to produce and the author could be kept anonymous. "The Prices" by Thomas Paine.
- Human experiences of the live in the first American shelters.

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EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE: First Authors

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- Hugh Henry Backenridge "Modern Chivalry"
- Charles Brodken Brown devoted all his life to literature and influenced other authors such as E.A. Poe. "Wieland"
- John Smith: the first early Colonial writer who is well-considered. He arrived in Jamestown as a soldier for the Virginia Company. "A True Relation" describes his relationship with the Powatan tribe in friendly terms. "Pocahontas" is narrated in a different way. "The General History of Virginia" deals with his doings as a Governor in Jamestown and gave the idea that America was the promised land.

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ROMANTICISM (1800-1860): Definition

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Romanticism is an inner movement that marks the beginning of realism. The artist has freed himself and his duty is to reflect reality.

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ROMANTICISM (1800-1860): Historical background

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- Politically, the 18th century left a heritage of optimism about men's possibilities and perfection.
- Economically, America had never been wealthier.
- Religiously, Americans were concerned with the dogmas of Calvinism. Religion is a basic concern.
- Philosophically, reaction against the materialistic education theories of Locke and rationalism.
- Aesthetically, the romantics revolt against the restraints of classicism and formalism.
- While in Europe there was a re-birth, in the USA there was nothing to rebirth.

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ROMANTICISM (1800-1860): Characteristics

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- Romantic authors were the 1st literary generation of the USA.
- They used special literary techniques.
- They wanted artistic independence, looking for what being an American meant. They showed an strong national pride and began Americanism.
- They were aware of nature, especially its wild aspects. "No more FRONTIER".
- American authors were influenced by British: Wordsworth, Coleridge's literary theories of reconciliation of opposites, Byron's romanticism and irony, Keat's lush imagery, Shelley's transcendental lyricism and Mary Shelley's Gothicism.

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ROMANTICISM (1800-1860):

Washington IRVING (1738-1859)

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- Origins of American Narrative
- Author, essayist, biographer, historian and diplomat.
1809 "A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Drierich Knickerbocker" - viral marketing campaing
1819 "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gentlryman" - collection of essays. Published in installments in NY, in two volumes in England. Included "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
1832 "Tales of the Alhambra"
- Knickerbocker School: first literary group in America. Their objective was to promote the real American culture with NY as the center. Irving, Paulding, Cooper, Bryant.
- He wrote to entertain.
- He perfected American short story.
- He was inspired by German and Dutch folklore.
- Technical innovations: landscape as reflection of mode, folklore as a source of narration, use of Gothic elements.
"RIP VAN WINKLE" reflects a change from rural to urban economy. It also represents a sense of continuity through old values and traditions.

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ROMANTICISM (1800-1860):

James Fenimore COOPER

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- One of the most popular 19th century American authors.
- He influenced authors like Dickens, Melville, Goethe or Balzac.
"THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS" (The Leatherstocking Tales)
- Repetitive structure of the novel.
- Natty Bumpoo is considered the first American hero.
- Setting: a forest during the Seven Years War.
- The title anticipates the tragedy of the novel's plot and critics the extermination of Native American.s

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ROMANTICISM (1800 - 1860):

Edgar Alan POE (1809-1849)

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Author, poet, editor and literary critic.
Satires, humor tales & hoaxes.
Inventor of the detective fiction.
Theme: death
Genre: dark romanticism.
Use of irony and extravagance for comic effects.
His work aimed at mass-market tastes.
"Tamerlane and other poems" (1827)

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ROMANTICISM (1800 - 1860):

Nathaniel HAWTHORNE (1804-1864)

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Romantic novelist and short story writer
Puritan
LANGUAGE:
-Use of irony, ambiguity and paradox.
STYLE:
- Love for allegory and symbol.
THEMES:
- Light vs dark
- Warmth vs cold
- Faith vs doubt
- heart vs mind
- internal vs external world
MAJOR THEMES:
1. alienation
2. initiation
3. guilt
4. pride
5. purianism
6. Allegorical, didactic and moralistic

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REALISM AND NATURALISM (1855-1910): Definition and background.

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Realism is the truthful treatment of material.
With the End of the Civil War, a new nation was born and its new literature was less idealistic and more practical, less exalted and more earthy, less consciously artistic and more honest. They no longer want to capture the "American Dream".
At this time, there was an increasing rate of literacy and a rapid growth in industrialism. People was more affluent and they wanted to read to understand those changes in culture.
The novel was a "strategy for imagining and managing the threats of social change".
While REALISM was most encompassed with the Midwest and South, many writers were based in New England.

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REALISM AND NATURALISM (1855-1910): Characteristics

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LANGUAGE:
- Language is vernacular with a comic or satiric tone, avoiding poetical images.
THEMES:
- Ethnical choices.
- Realization of democracy.
- Aims for the redemption of the individual within the social world.
- Against the "genteel tradition"
TECHNIQUES:
- Comprehensive detail and emphasized verisimilitude.
- Everything must be truthful.
- Avoids the sensational and dramatic elements.
CHARACTERS:
- Real complexity of characters.
- Importance of class in the development of characters.
LOCAL COLOR: Mark Twain
- Rural setting
- Nostalgia of the past
- Omniscient narrator
- Transmission of those kinds of lives
- Nature plays an important role as "another character"
- Conflict clash between rural and urban
- Characters speak the regional dialect and defend the old traditions

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REALISM AND NATURALISM (1855-1910)

Mark TWAIN

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THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKELBERRY FINN
- Published in England.
- Written in vernacular.
- Local color regionalism.
- Sequel to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
- First person narrator
- Colourful description of people and places along the Mississippi River.
- Satire of the Southern antebellum period

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REALISM AND NATURALISM (1855-1910)

Henry JAMES

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- 1864, he decided to become a writer.
- Lived in Europe for a long time, went back to America in 1904 and was a British citizen by 1915.
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
- Narrative romances
- Well developed characters
- Themes: freedom and morality
- Social commentary on politics, class and status.
- Narrates the novel from the point of view of the character.
- Techniques of interior monologue and point of view to expand reader's knowledge.
- Theme: innocence and exuberance of the New World.

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MODERNISM (WWI - WWII) : Definition

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Modernism is a movement of disenchantment of people that reflects the desperation of human-beings after World War I. The idea of the "loss of innocence" show that men are no longer good by nature.
Modernism is the most popular period in American literature.
It is also considered the first international literary movement: It started in Europe after WWI and influenced American authors from the 1920's until the end of WWII.

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MODERNISM (WWI - WWII): American Characteristics

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American authors wrote more realistically, following the 19th century aestheticism tradition.
The "art of art sake" movement is characterized for the search of the "new":
- alternation of traditional writing (narrator's function, chronological order, endings)
- the "truth" is questionable (use of 1st person narrator)
- expression of a sense of "modern life" throughout art to break with the past
- Sexuality as a common feature
- Intertextuality (dialogue with another novel)
- Gender roles are altered and reflect the changed in society, especially those concerning women's emancipation.
- Questions related to form and structure: alteration of syntax and form.
- The study of the self: anti-heroes
- Little or no physical description of characters. They belong to a "lost generation", suffer form "dissociation of sensibility" and have a "dream deferred".
- Theme: conscious search for identity
- Great Depression and the disillusionment after WWI led to search for a new beginning.

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MODERNIM (WWI - WWII): American authors

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- John Steinbeck was marked by the economic crisis.
- F. S. Fitzgerald interested in gender interaction in society
- E. Hemingway provided an insight into the psychological wounds and spiritual scars of the war.
- W. Faulkner dealt with the wounds of racism and the singularities of America's South.
- J. Doss Passos showed America's postwar disillusionment
- "Harlem Renaissance" of afro-american authors in the 20s and 30s

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THE LOST GENERATION

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American authors going to Europe looking for something new. They identified themselves with modernism. The term was coined by G. Stein.

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MODERNISM (WWI - WWII):

John STEINBECK

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Modernist American author from German and Irish descent.
- Combines realism with primitive romanticism.
- Portrays the "animalistic side" of human beings.
- Themes: politics, religion, history, etc.
- Most important American "proletarian" writer because his works reflect the vulnerability of the needy people.
- "Non-theological thinking", the importance is on how things are now, and not on the reason of the changes.
- Nobel Prize in 1992
"The Red Pony"
"Tortilla Flat"
"Of Mice and Men"

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MODERNISM (WWI - WWII):

Ernest HEMINGWAY

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Modernist American author from Chicago.
The publishing rules marked his literary style:
- economy and understatement.
- minimalistic style.
- direct.
- The "Iceberg Theory": the author only states the events that happen, and leaves the reader to draw the themes, symbolism and supporting structure.
Use of autobiographical details on his characters gave them authenticity. Readers could easily identify with them.
His anti-heroes have been defeated by life
Women are approached to show how they affect the heroes, but women are always much stronger than men.
The theme of death is always present: the "grace under pressure" is the way for salvation, only those who face death with dignity and courage live an authentic life.
Although his characters have been defeated, this doesn't mean that they have learned something.
His novels reflect the existential philosophy of the period.
Nobel Prize in 1954.

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MODERNSM (WWI - WWI):

Ernest HEMINGWAY (Works)

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- "in our time": collection of short stories that prove things are different than before.
- "The Torrent of Spring": parodies the works of S. Anderson
- "The Sun Also Rises" is based on his experiences in Paris
- "Farewell to Arms" narrates the story of a man wounded at war who falls in love with his nurse who dies
- "To Have and Have Not" portrays an anti-hero who is defeated after fighting his personal code
- "For Whom the Bell Tolls" happens in Spain. His protagonist is a great example of the "grace under pressure"
- "Across the Rivers and Into the Trees" portrays the romance of an old Colonel in Venice
- "The Old Man and the Sea" is a short story set in Cuba. The hero is a fisherman who was defeated trying to attempt something that no one else could have done before
- His short stories are highly artistically valuable

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MODERNISM (WWI - WWI):

William FAULKNER

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Modernist American author.
He invented an imaginary country called "Yoknapatawpha" where most of his novels take place.
His themes reflected the influence of history, his family, and the region in which he lived. The South also influenced his sense of humor, the characterization of southern characters and the tragic position of black and white Americans.
His experimental style uses "stream of consciousness", complex syntax, convoluted plots, flashbacks and multiple narrators.
His so tires were very complex due to the use of a wide range of characters.
He wrote "Soldier's Play" encouraged by S. Anderson.
His works include: "The Snopes Trilogy", "The Sound and the Fury", "As I Lay Dying", "Go Down Moses", "Light in August" or "Absalom, Absalom!"

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MODERNISM (WWI - WWII):

Francis S. Fitzgerald

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He demonstrated a great capacity to relate to others and appreciate and understand different people and points of view. He was also quite liberal in his actions.
"The Great Gatsby" deals with the American Dream of the self-made man.
He wants the reader to wonder whether the American Dream is true and valid for everyone, and that if people can control their lives or if they are controlled by something else.
His works include: "The Side of Paradise", "Tender is the Night", "The Last Tycoon" and "The Beautiful and Dammed"

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POSTMODERNISM: After WWII

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There have been a complete transformation:
- Now, everything is uncertain and human beings must learn how to live in this uncertainty.
- There is no agreement in whether Postmodernism's visions are ontological or epistemological.
- Love and reality are approached from different aspects.
- There exists the question of what is art and what is not art.
Postmodernism can be defined as:
- Ultimate internationalization of literature.
- All works produced after WWII.
- Represents a chaotic world and the uncertainty.
- According to John Barth, Postmodernism is the need for a new era in literature after modernism had exhausted itself.
- Authors are interested in experimenting with narrative and structure.
- Use of metafiction and intertextuality
- Appearance of "historiographic metafiction", in which history is re-examined in the postmodern era.
- Lack of originality and reliance on cliches.

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POSTMODERNISM: After WWII

AMERICAN PSYCHO

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Its protagonist is an egocentric hero.
- Postmodernist heroes control their lives and they are worried about it.
- Love doesn't exist anymore, and the hero shows his power through killing.

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POSTMODERNIMS: LATE 50's

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BARTH: Absolute nihilism. Man is trapped by external forces and he doesn't take action. Nothing deserves to be worried about.
PYNCHON: "Gravity's Rainbow"
PAUL AUSTEN: he wrote metafiction (fiction within fiction) His novel "City of Glass" starts with a call to the author and presents a world of uncertainty in which things are never clear.

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ETHNIC LITERATURE

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1. NATIVE AMERICANS: oral literature is very important. Scott Momaday.
2. AFRO-AMERICANS: the most important group. Frederic Douglas in the 19th century. Harlem Renaissance in the 20's and 30's. Golden Age with women authors, such as 1993 Nobel Prize Tonny Morrison (Beloved, The Song of Solomon).
3. HISPANIC-AMERICANS: Chicano literature. Junot Díaz was a great hispanic author. End of 50's&60's: the main concern is the problem of identity and to answer the question "Who am I?". Tomas Ribera "Y no se lo tragó la tierra". Sandra Cisneros "The House of Mango Street".
4. ASIAN-AMERICAN: Women are more recognized authors. Hong Kingstone "The Woman warrior" and Amy Tan.