Summary Survey American Literature
Week 1: the beginning of “American” literature
James Fenimore Cooper 1789-1851
- Best known for his five historical novels of the Leatherstocking series, set between
1740 and the early 1800s:
The Pioneers (1823)
The Last of the Mohicans (1826)
The Prairie (1827)
The Pathfinder (1840)
The Deerslayer (1841)
explore the imperial, racial and social conflicts central to the emergence of
the US
- The Spy (1821) was the first important novel about the American Revolution
- He founded a literary society in New York: the Bread and Cheese Club
- Profound dramatizations of key American conflicts, such as:
Natural rights vs legal rights
Order vs change
Wilderness vs established society
The possibilities of democratic freedom
Interracial friendship
The Last of the Mohicans
- About Natty Bumppo, also known as hawk-eye, as a wilderness scout in the British
colony of New York at the time of the French and Indian War
- Fictionalized account of the August 10, 1757, massacre at Fort William Henry -> 100s
of British colonists were killed
- The novel seems to reinforce the idea that progress required the “extinction” of the
Indians, but at the heart of the novel is a poignant interracial friendship between the
white man and the Mohican
- Brutalities would result in the death of Chingachgook’s heroic son Uncas
- The overall novel laments the sufferings of the Mohicans, whom Cooper presents as
committed to the highest moral and ethical standards
Washington Irving 1783-1859
- First American writer of the nineteenth century to achieve an international literary
reputation
- He is a funny writer that’s writing new fiction, not copying European examples
- His characters are characters of American folklore
- He builds on existing American legends
- His main work after 1850 was his long contemplated life of George Washington,
which he regarded as his greatest literary accomplishment
,The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow (1820)
- Among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity
- “Ichabod was able to withstand the Devil and all his works” = he was able to live
relatively without sin: no drinking, smoking, etc.
he fits in with the serious protestants that surround him
- Women are perplexing to men = traditional trope
- The text uses images to explain the nature of Katrina van Tassel, and in fact describes
her as a sex bomb, without using those actual words
- Referencing the golden jewellery worn with certain traditional Dutch costumes
highlights the wealth of the Van Tassels and highlights the connection to Dutch
(protestant) traditions in Sleepy Hollow
- Brom van Brunt is a young big strong man, who is loud and mischievous and a bit of
a bully, used to getting his way
Lesson on Irving and Fenimore Cooper
- Most of pre-revolutionary writing is written not as literature, but as propaganda,
manifesto, testament, history
- In the early 19th century, a distinct American culture developed, especially in painting,
but also in writing
- Imagined communities:
People have an idea of the nation (cultural expressions)
Yet they have not met all their countrymen
Thus, the nation exists as an idea, not as a perceivable reality
The imagined nature of the nation does not mean it is not strong, or
perceived as real
In this theory, cultural expressions are key to creating this sense of the
nations.
- National types:
The strong independent trapper
The noble brave
The fair maiden
The bumbling, cowardly bully
Week 2: Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882
- Arguably the most influential American writer of the nineteenth century
- Emerson’s aunt, Mary Moody Emerson, stepped in to become his principal educator
and inspiration
- He began preaching as a Unitarian in October 1826 and in July 1829, he was
promoted to pastor
- He was gradually developing a greater faith in individual moral sentiment and
intuition than in revealed religion
- Early in 1832 Emerson notified his church that he had become so sceptical of the
validity of the Lord’s Supper that he could no longer administer the sacrament
- His first book, Nature, was published anonymously and at Emerson’s own expense in
1836 -> became the unofficial manifesto for his philosophically inclined friends,
, termed “transcendentalists” -> believed that the mind was actively intuitive and
creative
- With the publication of Essays (1841), Emerson’s lasting reputation began to take
shape
- He inspired Whitman to break with poetic tradition by introducing the idea of “open
form” poetry
- Because he valued individual self-culture, Emerson was sceptical of social reforms
that required group participation
Margaret Fuller 1810-1850
- “possessed more influence upon the thought of American women than any woman
previous to her time”
- Influenced by Emerson’s philosophy of self-culture and self-reliance which she
extended to women, Fuller continually challenged herself in new directions
- She praised her father for regarding her as “a living mind” and thus freeing her from
the culture’s strictures against developing female intellect
- Providing examples of strong heroines and goddesses from history, literature and
mythology, she sought to inspire women readers to imagine greater possibilities for
themselves
- She also linked the situation of white domestic women to the situation of the slave,
developing an overlapping critique of slavery and patriarchy
Walt Whitman 1819-1892
- He put the living, breathing, sexual body at the centre of much of his poetry,
challenging conventions of the day
- Rejected traditional poetic scansion and elevated diction, improvising the form that
has come to be known as free verse
- The image in the frontispiece of Leaves of Grass, like the poetry itself, defied
convention by aligning the poet with working people
- The poems also introduced his use of “catalogs” – journalistic and encyclopaedic
listings – that were to become a hallmark of his style
- During his time as a nurse in the Civil War he worked on a series of poems that
conveyed his evolving view of the war from heroic celebration to despair at the
horrifying carnage
Lesson on Margaret Fuller
- Held a series of conversations with educated, upper class women in Boston, which
earned her a handsome income
- This changed the intellectual history, because these women became feminists
- Part of the first wave of feminism
- She was seen as a minor figure in the Transcendentalist movement, until the 1950s
with the start of the second wave of feminism
- What Fits a Man to be a Voter? highlights the basic argument of transcendentalism:
the divine is in all human beings but race is not a determinant of that
, Lesson on Whitman
- Poet of the transcendentalist movement
- An evolutionist
- In his frontispiece of Leaves of Grass, he presents himself as:
An intellectual - a worker
A man - a woman
Rational - a ‘seeer’
Homo - heterosexual
- Kept rewriting his earlier poems, especially Song of Myself
Self-Reliance – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Sole purpose is the want for people to avoid conformity
- In order for a man to truly be a man, he was to follow his conscience and “do his own
thing”
- The process of creating is its own reward
- Anyone is capable of achieving happiness, simply if they change their mindset
Song of Myself – Walt Whitman
- The speaker of the poem speaks not just for himself but for all mankind, praising the
joy and wonder of experiencing nature
- In the 52-part poem, he celebrates the human body and its ability to become one
with the self and with nature
- The speaker shows that the union of the self and the body allows for a truly
transcendent experience
- The self can merge with all things and experience all things, and it will undergo many
transformations
O Captain! My Captain! – Walt Whitman
- One of the 18 poems written with the background of the Civil War
- Written as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln
- It is written in the form of an elegy, meaning a funeral song
- The expression of mourning and grief mark the poem
- Each stanza gives us a clue about the war
Week 3: Slavery
Harriet Jacobs 1813-1897
- The first African American woman known to have authored a slave narrative in the
US, born into slavery
- As a child, Jacobs was unaware she was a slave
- Became involved with white attorney Samuel Tredwell Sawyer with whom she had
two children
- While Jacobs was in hiding, Sawyer purchased, but did not emancipate, their two
children
Week 1: the beginning of “American” literature
James Fenimore Cooper 1789-1851
- Best known for his five historical novels of the Leatherstocking series, set between
1740 and the early 1800s:
The Pioneers (1823)
The Last of the Mohicans (1826)
The Prairie (1827)
The Pathfinder (1840)
The Deerslayer (1841)
explore the imperial, racial and social conflicts central to the emergence of
the US
- The Spy (1821) was the first important novel about the American Revolution
- He founded a literary society in New York: the Bread and Cheese Club
- Profound dramatizations of key American conflicts, such as:
Natural rights vs legal rights
Order vs change
Wilderness vs established society
The possibilities of democratic freedom
Interracial friendship
The Last of the Mohicans
- About Natty Bumppo, also known as hawk-eye, as a wilderness scout in the British
colony of New York at the time of the French and Indian War
- Fictionalized account of the August 10, 1757, massacre at Fort William Henry -> 100s
of British colonists were killed
- The novel seems to reinforce the idea that progress required the “extinction” of the
Indians, but at the heart of the novel is a poignant interracial friendship between the
white man and the Mohican
- Brutalities would result in the death of Chingachgook’s heroic son Uncas
- The overall novel laments the sufferings of the Mohicans, whom Cooper presents as
committed to the highest moral and ethical standards
Washington Irving 1783-1859
- First American writer of the nineteenth century to achieve an international literary
reputation
- He is a funny writer that’s writing new fiction, not copying European examples
- His characters are characters of American folklore
- He builds on existing American legends
- His main work after 1850 was his long contemplated life of George Washington,
which he regarded as his greatest literary accomplishment
,The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow (1820)
- Among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity
- “Ichabod was able to withstand the Devil and all his works” = he was able to live
relatively without sin: no drinking, smoking, etc.
he fits in with the serious protestants that surround him
- Women are perplexing to men = traditional trope
- The text uses images to explain the nature of Katrina van Tassel, and in fact describes
her as a sex bomb, without using those actual words
- Referencing the golden jewellery worn with certain traditional Dutch costumes
highlights the wealth of the Van Tassels and highlights the connection to Dutch
(protestant) traditions in Sleepy Hollow
- Brom van Brunt is a young big strong man, who is loud and mischievous and a bit of
a bully, used to getting his way
Lesson on Irving and Fenimore Cooper
- Most of pre-revolutionary writing is written not as literature, but as propaganda,
manifesto, testament, history
- In the early 19th century, a distinct American culture developed, especially in painting,
but also in writing
- Imagined communities:
People have an idea of the nation (cultural expressions)
Yet they have not met all their countrymen
Thus, the nation exists as an idea, not as a perceivable reality
The imagined nature of the nation does not mean it is not strong, or
perceived as real
In this theory, cultural expressions are key to creating this sense of the
nations.
- National types:
The strong independent trapper
The noble brave
The fair maiden
The bumbling, cowardly bully
Week 2: Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882
- Arguably the most influential American writer of the nineteenth century
- Emerson’s aunt, Mary Moody Emerson, stepped in to become his principal educator
and inspiration
- He began preaching as a Unitarian in October 1826 and in July 1829, he was
promoted to pastor
- He was gradually developing a greater faith in individual moral sentiment and
intuition than in revealed religion
- Early in 1832 Emerson notified his church that he had become so sceptical of the
validity of the Lord’s Supper that he could no longer administer the sacrament
- His first book, Nature, was published anonymously and at Emerson’s own expense in
1836 -> became the unofficial manifesto for his philosophically inclined friends,
, termed “transcendentalists” -> believed that the mind was actively intuitive and
creative
- With the publication of Essays (1841), Emerson’s lasting reputation began to take
shape
- He inspired Whitman to break with poetic tradition by introducing the idea of “open
form” poetry
- Because he valued individual self-culture, Emerson was sceptical of social reforms
that required group participation
Margaret Fuller 1810-1850
- “possessed more influence upon the thought of American women than any woman
previous to her time”
- Influenced by Emerson’s philosophy of self-culture and self-reliance which she
extended to women, Fuller continually challenged herself in new directions
- She praised her father for regarding her as “a living mind” and thus freeing her from
the culture’s strictures against developing female intellect
- Providing examples of strong heroines and goddesses from history, literature and
mythology, she sought to inspire women readers to imagine greater possibilities for
themselves
- She also linked the situation of white domestic women to the situation of the slave,
developing an overlapping critique of slavery and patriarchy
Walt Whitman 1819-1892
- He put the living, breathing, sexual body at the centre of much of his poetry,
challenging conventions of the day
- Rejected traditional poetic scansion and elevated diction, improvising the form that
has come to be known as free verse
- The image in the frontispiece of Leaves of Grass, like the poetry itself, defied
convention by aligning the poet with working people
- The poems also introduced his use of “catalogs” – journalistic and encyclopaedic
listings – that were to become a hallmark of his style
- During his time as a nurse in the Civil War he worked on a series of poems that
conveyed his evolving view of the war from heroic celebration to despair at the
horrifying carnage
Lesson on Margaret Fuller
- Held a series of conversations with educated, upper class women in Boston, which
earned her a handsome income
- This changed the intellectual history, because these women became feminists
- Part of the first wave of feminism
- She was seen as a minor figure in the Transcendentalist movement, until the 1950s
with the start of the second wave of feminism
- What Fits a Man to be a Voter? highlights the basic argument of transcendentalism:
the divine is in all human beings but race is not a determinant of that
, Lesson on Whitman
- Poet of the transcendentalist movement
- An evolutionist
- In his frontispiece of Leaves of Grass, he presents himself as:
An intellectual - a worker
A man - a woman
Rational - a ‘seeer’
Homo - heterosexual
- Kept rewriting his earlier poems, especially Song of Myself
Self-Reliance – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Sole purpose is the want for people to avoid conformity
- In order for a man to truly be a man, he was to follow his conscience and “do his own
thing”
- The process of creating is its own reward
- Anyone is capable of achieving happiness, simply if they change their mindset
Song of Myself – Walt Whitman
- The speaker of the poem speaks not just for himself but for all mankind, praising the
joy and wonder of experiencing nature
- In the 52-part poem, he celebrates the human body and its ability to become one
with the self and with nature
- The speaker shows that the union of the self and the body allows for a truly
transcendent experience
- The self can merge with all things and experience all things, and it will undergo many
transformations
O Captain! My Captain! – Walt Whitman
- One of the 18 poems written with the background of the Civil War
- Written as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln
- It is written in the form of an elegy, meaning a funeral song
- The expression of mourning and grief mark the poem
- Each stanza gives us a clue about the war
Week 3: Slavery
Harriet Jacobs 1813-1897
- The first African American woman known to have authored a slave narrative in the
US, born into slavery
- As a child, Jacobs was unaware she was a slave
- Became involved with white attorney Samuel Tredwell Sawyer with whom she had
two children
- While Jacobs was in hiding, Sawyer purchased, but did not emancipate, their two
children
