American History and Literary Movements: An Overview

1. American History and Literary Movements: An Overview By Jodi Smith PNHS 2006-2007

2. “Let there be light!” • Enlightenment (1607-1800) • The Age of Faith (1607-1750) • Grew out of the Protestant Reformation (1517) • Anglo-American style: Puritans & Pilgrims (Work Ethic!!!) • Genre/styles: Sermons, diaries, personal narratives; instructive and plain in style (Watch for this influence in this year’s readings) • Examples: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”; Of Plymouth Plantation

3. The Rise of Reason (Light, pt. 2) • Age of Reason (1750-1800) • Second phase of the American version of the Enlightenment • American Revolution: VERY IMPORTANT as part of a philosophical/political shift • Genre/Style: political; still instructive, but no longer plain in style (think persuasion!)

4. The heart has its reasons that Reason knows not of… • Romanticism (1800-1855) • Reaction to Reason (Europe—disillusionment with French Revolution; American—time of promise) • Industrial Revolution & Abolitionist Movement • Genre/Style: poetry, novels; imagination/intuition over rationalism; spiritual elements; focus on emotions (What else would you expect of Romantics? ) • Examples: The Scarlet Letter, Walt Whitman’s poetry

5. Transcendentalism: Romanticism for One, Please • Stress on intuition continues but is applied to individualism, self-reliance (recognize a defining characteristic of American culture???) • Examples: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau

6. American Gothic: The Dark Side of Individualism • Pronounced supernatural elements (stark contrast to Transcendentalism) • Individual no longer all-powerful; he/she is at the mercy of uncontrollable forces beyond understanding • Characters are not all-good or all-bad

7. Keepin’ it real • Realism (1865-1915)—carries American culture from the end of the Civil War to the Great War (WWI) • Civil War brings a certain cynicism: “true” literature that does not idealize • Social focus on class; IR and Darwin bring about materialistic philosophy BUT • Changing times bring desire to preserve Regionalism (East vs. Midwest vs. South, etc.) • Reaction against Romanticism

8. Realistic Characters “Got Style” • Ordinary people (What does this tell you about the audience? About social changes?) • Heroes reject class system • Nature is all-powerful (not God, Reason, or the Individual) • Examples: Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe

9. Naturalism (Hippie Ancestors?) • Form of Realism; attacks Traditionalism in general (i.e., organized religion, patriotism) and embraces Meaninglessness • Highly image-laden rather than allegory/symbol-laden (photo rather than complex painting) • Examples: Stephen Crane, Jack London

10. Modernism: Leaving those things which are behind… • IR’s affects felt across the social spectrum; fear of future/loss of past • WWI: mass destruction; first truly dehumanizing war (man as machine) • Rise of youth culture; first optimism (going into war), then alienation (after war) • Style: experimental, deliberately artistic (fragments, stream of consciousness, etc.) • Examples: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck

11. Multicultural Modernism: The Harlem Renaissance • Distinctive Black Cultural movement; art, literature, and music from the perspective of African Americans • Examples: Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston

12. Contemporary Literature: Talkin’ ‘bout My Generation • 1945-present: You define it… • Media-saturation: What effect does this have on perceptions, daily life, etc? • Tradition/Absolutes: Do they exist? Who determines them? • Prosperity: What effect has this had on social attitudes/actions? • Genres/Styles: Given the above, what would you expect with regard to…facts/fiction?...heroes/villians?...community?