American literature For other uses, seeAmerican literature (disambiguation).American literatureis theliteraturewritten or produced in the area of theUnited Statesand itspreceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United StatesandTheater in the UnitedStates. During its early history, America was a series ofBritish colonies on the eastern coast of the present-dayUnited States. Therefore, its literary tradition begins aslinked to the broader tradition ofEnglish literature. How-ever, unique American characteristics and the breadth ofits production usually now cause it to be considered a sep-arate path and tradition. TheNew England colonieswere the center of early American literature. The revolutionary period contained political writings bySamuel Adams,Benjamin Franklin andThomas Paine. In the post-war period,Thomas Jef- ferson'sUnited States Declaration of Independencesolid- ified his status as a key American writer. It was in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that the nation’s first novels were published. With theWar of 1812and an increas- ing desire to produce uniquely American literature and culture, a number of key new literary figures emerged, perhaps most prominentlyWashington IrvingandEdgar Allan Poe. In 1836,Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803–1882) started a movement known asTranscendentalism.Henry David Thoreau(1817–1862) wroteWalden, which urges resistance to the dictates of organized society. The politi- cal conflict surroundingabolitionisminspired the writings ofWilliam Lloyd GarrisonandHarriet Beecher Stowein her world-famousUncle Tom’s Cabin. These efforts were supported by the continuation of the slave narrative au- tobiography, of which the best known example from this period wasFrederick Douglass'sNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804–1864) is notable for his masterpiece,The Scarlet Letter, a novel about adul- tery.Hawthorne influencedHerman Melville(1819– 1891) who is notable for the booksMoby-Dickand Billy Budd.America’s two greatest 19th-century poets wereWalt Whitman(1819–1892) andEmily Dickinson (1830–1886).American poetry reached a peak in the early-to-mid-20th century, with such noted writers as Wallace Stevens,T. S. Eliot,Robert Frost,Ezra Pound, Hart Crane, andE. E. Cummings.Mark Twain (the pen name used bySamuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835– 1910) was the first major American writer to be born away from the East Coast.Henry James(1843–1916) was notable for novels likeThe Turn of the Screw.Atthe beginning of the 20th century, American novelists includedEdith Wharton(1862–1937),Stephen Crane (1871–1900),Theodore Dreiser(1871–1945), andJack London(1876–1916). Experimentation in style and form is seen in the works ofGertrude Stein(1874–1946). American writers expressed disillusionment following WW I. The stories and novels ofF. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) capture the mood of the 1920s, andJohn Dos Passoswrote about the war.Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) became notable forThe Sun Also Risesand A Farewell to Arms; in 1954, he won theNobel Prize in Literature.
Want to read all 19 pages?
Previewing 2 of 19 pages Upload your study docs or become a member.
Want to read all 19 pages?
Previewing 2 of 19 pages Upload your study docs or become a member.
End of preview
Want to read all 19 pages? Upload your study docs or become a member.