American Literature

1. American Literature Comes of Age 1800-1840

2. America’s cultural independence did not come easily. For nearly 200 years, American readers had been looking to Europe mainly Great Britain for their reading material.

3. Exceptions 2. almanacs 1. The Bible 3. Newspapers and magazines

4. Before 1800 American writers were not widely read, but that would soon change. American Voice Personal Bold idiosyncratic Primary theme The quest of the individual to define himself.

5. The North American continent offered a vast and exciting vista for American writers. Two groups emerged 1. Knickerbocker group A. led by Washington Irving B. William Cullen Bryant

6. 2. Bread and Cheese Club A. James Fenimore Cooper B. other members not literary figures Samuel F.B. Morse William Dunlap

7. Romanticism Elements 1. Frontier, vast expanse; freedom; no geographic limitations. 2. Optimism greater than in Europe because of the presence of the frontier 3. Experimentation: in science, in institutions

8. 4. Mingling of races - large numbers of immigrants arriving in U.S. 5. Growth of industrialization - polarization of North and South. North becomes industrialized South remains agrarian

9. Romantic Subject Matter 1. The quest for beauty; non-didactic- pure beauty 2. The use of the far away and non-normal antique and fanciful a. In historical perspective antiquarianism; antiquing to artificially aging; interest in the past.

10. b. Characterizations and mood grotesque gothicism Sense of terror fear Use of the odd

11. Escapism From American problems Interest in external nature For itself - for beauty A. Nature as a source for the knowledge of the primitive

12. B. Nature as refuge C. Nature as revelation of God to the individual

13. Romantic Attitudes 1. Appeals to the imagination Use of the “willing suspension of disbelief” 2. Stress on emotion rather than reason Optimism; geniality 3. Subjectivity in form and meaning

14. Romantic Technique 1. Remoteness of settings in time and place 2. Improbable plots

15. 3. Inadequate or unlikely characterization 4. Authorial subjectivity

16. 5. Socially “harmful morality” “a world of lies” 6. Organic principle in writing Form rises out of content; non-formal 7. Experimentation in new forms Picking up and using obsolete patterns

17. 8. Cultivation of the individualized subjective form of writing

18. Philosophical Patterns 1. Nineteenth century marked by the influence of the French Revolution of 1789 and its concepts of Equality fraternity Liberty

19. 2. Jacksonian democracy of the frontier 3. Intellectual and spiritual revolution A. Rise of unitarianism

20. B. Middle colonies Utopoian experiments like New Harmony, Nashoba, and the Icarian Community

21. America basically middle class and English Practiced laissez-faire (live and let live) Theory modified because of geographical expansion and the need for subsidies for setting up industries, building railroads, and others.

22. Institution of slavery in the South Myth of the master and slave Simms’ modified reference to Greek democracy based on a slave proletariat but provided order, welfare, and security for all as a way of maintaining slavery