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In the 17-18th centuries there were founded a number of colonies in America. At the beginning the Portuguese and Spaniards occupied the rich gold and silver fields of South America. The Dutch and the French began the colonization of North America. The Dutch created their own colony around the Hudson river. They called it New Netherlands. The French occupied the territory that is the eastern part of Canada today and the land around it including the mouth of the Mississippi and called it Louisiana.
England, however, played a very important role in the colonization of North America. The first England settlement was made at Jamestown in 1607. In 1620 a large group of Englishmen landed their ship, the Mayflower, near Cape Cod and founded the colony of Plymouth. It is from these two centers that the English settlements developed. The war of 1672-1674 between the English and the Dutch made New Netherlands an English colony. This made almost the whole Atlantic coast English. During the seven year war (1756-1763) England took Canada from France and Florida from Spain.
After that a vast territory of land was under the English rule. Alongside with the wars between different nationalities of settlers there was a constant struggle against the native inhabitants, the Indian tribes. The extermination of the Indian people was one of the first manifestations of the appearance of the English colonization.
There was a little artistic literature in the colonial period. Englishmen who came to America were not from the intellectual circles in England.
Literature was the privilege of the clergy. They wrote mostly in the form of religious sermons, journals, letters and diaries. Early colonial literature cannot be regarded as national American literature. It did not reflect the life, ideas and thoughts of the simple people.
| 9.2.1. Enlightenment in America |
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In America the literature of the Enlightenment is closely connected with the War for Independence against the British Empire. It lasted for eight years (1775-1783).
The war ended in adopting the Declaration of Independence. A Federative Democratic Republic – the United States of America – was founded. This event was extremely significant for the further development of the country, as it gave freedom and independence to the American colonies, in which, however, slavery was not abolished. The War for Independence of English colonies was in its significance a revolution.
The progressive writers of that time protested against the injustice of slavery and the infringement of rights of free citizens.
American literature of the Enlightenment period is characterized by its fighting character. The writers of that time wrote political pamphlets and revolutionary poetry. The most popular writers of the time were Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and the poet Philip Freneau.
| 9.2.2. Enlightenment in America |
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Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was the most radical representative of the American Enlightenment movement.
In 1775 he published his pamphlet Common Sense which urged the separation of the American colonies from England.
During the War for Independence he wrote The Crisis (1776-1783), a series of pamphlets, containing his comments on the events of the war against England. While in France he wrote The Rights of Man (17981-1792), a political essay.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was a writer of the revolutionary period in America. Besides he was a lawyer, philosopher, architect, statesman. In 1776 as a member of the Continental Congress he was in the committee of five to draft the Declaration of Independence. He outlined the principles of revolutionary democracy. In 1800 Jefferson won the elections and served two terms as President of the USA.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) is the most significant representative of the Enlightenment period in American literature. He distinguished himself as a great statesman, a scientist, a journalist, an economist, and a philosopher.
Franklin’s most important pamphlets and essays were published in his famous Poor Richard’s Almanac (1732-1757) which played a very important role in spreading ideas of the Enlightenment period.
Franklin made a fundamental contribution to the Declaration of Independence.
Philip Freneau (1752-1832) was the most outstanding poet of the Revolution. He wrote political poems.
| 9.3.1. Romanticism |
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The literary current of romanticism appeared in America as the result of the Revolution of 1775-1783. It was also insured by the deep disillusionment of the democratic minded people in the results of the revolution.
The contradictions between the rich and the poor were as strong as ever. Negro slavery flourished in the country, the Indian tribes were exterminated.
Romanticism brought with it the first important works of American poetry and fiction, and the first foundations of American national literature were laid.
Romanticism in America is connected with the European romanticism though it is basically a purely national current.
The writers of romanticism depicted life as a struggle between vice and virtue, and insisted that virtue should defeat evil. But when they looked for the triumph of virtue in real life, they could not find it. Here we come to the most characteristic feature of romanticism: this is the great gap between reality and the ideal – the dream of the poet, artist or writer.
Another feature of romanticism was that the writers, having created characters, wished through them to bring moral judgement on the nation as a whole, disregarding the existence of classes, or different sections of the population.
The romantic poets and writers produced a powerful literature with wide variations. They developed such genres as the novel (historical, social, fantastic), the romance and the short story. They gave their readers a taste for old ballads, epics, and the folk-tales of the Indians.
Nature is one of the major themes of the American romanticists. It was a time when new lands were discovered. Courageous pioneers and trappers penetrated into the wilderness of the boundless forest and prairies. Man’s struggle with nature and his victory over it inspired many of the American writers.
The writers of romanticism were true patriots. They loves their country and recognized the importance of developing national literature and national history.
In romanticist literature a reader finds a complicated plot, dynamic development of the vents and sudden changes in the fates of the heroes. Many complicated dramatic conflicts were solved with the help of chance accidents, fatal meetings of the discovery of dreadful secrets.
| 9.3.2. Romanticism |
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Flourishing from the 1820s to the 1850s, romanticism can be divided into early romanticism (the 20s and 30s) and late romanticism (the 40s and 50s).
The early period began with the romances and short stories of Washington Irving (1783-1859). These forms were developed later by other American writers. The historical novel began in America with Fenimore Cooper (1809-1849). Romantic poetry appeared in great variety; most outstanding were the poems of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849).
The late romanticism were the years of mature romanticism in American literature. Characteristic of this period were Cooper’s later novels, Edgar Allan Poe’s romances and poems written during the last eight years of his life, the works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), and the poems by Walt Whitman (1819-1892).
Early romanticists were more optimistic about the American reality than the late romanticists were. Critisizing the drawbacks of American civilization, they believed that in provided vast possibilities for development.
Late romanticism developed in an atmosphere of sharp social contradictions, influenced by the development of capitalism in the country. The fiction of late romanticists was permeated with a tragic mood, sharp conflicts, confused feelings. American romanticism as part of world romantic literature played an important role in the cultural life of America. The works of romantic writers of America are still read and admired.
| 9.4.1. Washington Irving (1783-1859) |
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Washington Irving, the first American romantic writer was born in New York in a wealthy merchant’s family. Washington, the youngest of eleven children, being sickly in childhood, was not sent to school. His English-born mother had educated him at home. He was well read in Chaucer and Spenser, and the 18th century English literature. He used to read a lot. Books of voyages and travels were his passion. He was fond of legends, fairy-tales and records of ancient and local customs.
Washington was fond of wandering around the countryside. On the outskirts of his native city he made himself familiar with places famous in history and legends. When he grew older, he longed to travel.
At fifteen he tried his hand at writing. Some little satires on New York life were even printed in his brother’s magazine. Writing became his hobby, but his father wanted him to be a lawyer, and at seventeen he was set to studying law.
In 1806 he was admitted to the bar. Yet the law did not fascinate him and he decided to become a writer.
After two years of traveling in Germany, Spain, France, Italy and England Washington Irving returned to the United States. With some friends he started a paper called Salmagundi. The very title of the paper showed it to be a humorous periodical published by the authors just for fun. The Salmagundi papers possess, in addition to their interest as humorous sketches, historical value as pictures of social life in New York during the first decade of the 19th century.
Irving’s first major work was A History of New York, published in 1809. The book was an immediate success. Washington Irving’s humour was highly appreciated by Walter Scott and Charles Dickens.
After a brief period of military service, a partnership in his brother’s firm and a couple of years of travelling and writing Irving completed his most famous work, a series of sketches, short stories and essays, which were published in New York in 1819-1820 and in London in 1820, under the title of The Sketch Book.
Irving’s other story books are Bracebridge Hall (1822), Tales of a Traveller (1824) and The Alhambra (1832), mostly covering descriptions of Europe in which the author discovered romantic castles and a depicted glory unknown to America. Irving also wrote historical biographies: A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828); The Life of Oliver Goldsmith (1840) and The Life of George Washington (1855-1859).
On November 28, 1859 he died, at the age of 76.
Irving was the Father of the American short story. His graceful style and colorful descriptions of landscapes made him the Father of American prose. He started that clever humor, the mixture of fine irony and jolly caricature. Irving’s wit was caught up and developed by many American writers.
He was the first American writer to win European approval.
| 9.4.2. The Sketch Book |
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It consists of 34 sketches depicting both English and American life. The majority of the sketches are descriptions of rural England, the most famous being Stratford-upon-Avon, Westminster Abbey. Yet, Irving’s main merit lies in his creation of folk-tales of the Dutch colonial settlers of New York and sketches of the American Indians. They express the character, ways of thought, ideals and aspirations of the American simple people. The best-known sketches of American life are Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
In his sketches Irving uses legends, fairy-tales and records of customs and characters which he had collected from personal talks with old folks and which, to his mind, created the genuine history of society. Irving also describes the charm of American countryside with lakes, majestic mountains, wild forests, fertile valleys and boundless plains.
The Sketch Book is more than a romantic fairy-tale about the past of America. It contains rather sharp social observations. Thus, when Rip awakes after his 20 years’ sleep, he finds America unchanged though a very important event, the American Revolution has taken place. Irving describes Rip’s return to his village during an election campaign with much irony.
The Sketch Book established Irving as one of the creators of the genre of story in America. The style of Irving’s writing is easy, natural and graceful.
Полный текст лекции: https://bspu.by/moodle/mod/lesson/view.php?id=124527
ДОМАШНЕЕ ЗАДАНИЕ
Questions on the topic 9 “The Beginning and Development of American Literature”
- What peoples started occupying the American continent?
- What were the names of the two major territories occupied by the Europeans?
- What was the name of the ship which had English people aboard?
- What happened to the American land after 1763?
- What happened to the native population – the Indian tribes?
- What kind of literature existed in the colonial period?
- What important event in the life of the American continent coincided with the Enlightenment?
- What was typical for the literature of the American Enlightenment?
- Who were the main representatives of the American Enlightenment? Who of them were Presidents of the United States?
- During what events the romanticism in the USA started?
- Describe the characteristic features of the romantic literature in the USA.
- What kinds of romanticism were there in the USA? What was the difference between them?
- Name the main representatives of the two kinds of romanticism.
- What is Washington Irving famous for?
- Name Washington Irving’s main works.
- Name the characteristic features of Washington Irving’s works.
- What is the book by Washington Irving The Sketch Book about? Describe its main features.
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