American Literary History (I) PDF

Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies American Literary History (I) Literary History in North America On the use of terminology: (long) before the arrival of European colonisers: ✓ Indigenous Indigenous (oral) literature...

Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies American Literary History (I) Literary History in North America On the use of terminology: (long) before the arrival of European colonisers: ✓ Indigenous Indigenous (oral) literatures in hundreds of different Native American (widely languages (songs, stories) used, but problematic due → the literary tradition on the continent does not to referring to the begin with Anglophone or other European texts colonisers’ name for the continent) the Indigenous cultures were not homogenous ✓ wherever possible: specific (distinct languages, different cultural traditions and terms (e.g. Lakota) social structures) → very different from the Indian stereotypical images later propagated by but: The Absolutely True Diary Anglophone cultures of a Part-Time Indian (2007) warfare and epidemics decimated the Indigenous → novel by Indigenous writer population: an estimated population of 2.1 to 18 Sherman Alexie American Indian Movement million when the European colonisers arrived; an (AIM) = Indigenous Civil Rights Indigenous population of 250,000 people in the U.S. Movement founded in 1968 in the 1890s The Colonial Period (early 17th – mid-18th century) Anglophone literature begins in the early 17th century → closely associated with the history of colonization first English settlements along the East coast: 1585/87: Roanoke, Virginia (disappeared) 1607: Jamestown, Virginia 1620: arrival of the Mayflower, Plymouth Plantation founded in Massachusetts 1630: arrival of a larger group of Puritan settlers under John Winthrop in Massachusetts commemorative stamp, issued in September 2020 Plimoth Plantation Living History Museum New England literature & culture: The Puritans considered the Church of England corrupt & too close to Catholicism; goal: a Christian community based on a ‘pure’ version of Christian practices and beliefs belief in predestination: God chooses those people who will be saved before their birth lasting impact of early Puritan texts & ideas on US-American identity & values → founding myths (e.g. Thanksgiving) John Winthrop’s sermon A Model of Christian Charity (1630): “God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence has so disposed of the condition of mankind as in all times some must be rich some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity; others mean and in subjection.” according to Winthrop, the new colony should serve as a model, a ‘city Historical novel upon a hill’ from 1986 on the Salem witch 1692: Salem witch trials, mass hysteria that led to the execution of trials several persons  Puritan genres non-fictional texts: diaries, letters, sermons, historiography o example: Cotton Mather (author of sermons and historiographic texts): belief in a privileged position of America in God’s plan poetry: prevalent topics are religious reflections, also on everyday experiences o example: Anne Bradstreet (author of the first published volume of poetry by an American writer) captivity narratives: autobiographical texts about being held captive by Indigenous people o example: Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Anne Bradstreet’s Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson poems (1682) → extremely popular, contributed to spreading prejudices about Indigenous people The Early Republic (mid-18th – early 19th century) the struggle for independence and nation-building can be traced in literature economy still largely based on agriculture 1790s: first textile factories industrialisation starts in the Northeast, especially New England 1770-1830: population grows from 2.2 to 12.9 million high rate of literacy in New England at the end of the 18th century: 80-90% vs. 60% of the men and 40% of the women on the British Isles 1774-1820: publication of fewer than 10 books by American authors per year American publishing houses sold reprints of European texts without paying for the rights → British literature was important on the American market Divided reaction to British influence during the Early Republic imitation of British models: o William Hill Brown, The Power of Sympathy (1789): first novel by an American author = influenced by British novelist Samuel Richardson ‘literature of emancipation’ – breaking away from British traditions: o ‘rising-glory’/‘prospect’ poems: predict future glory for the young nation (e.g. John Trumbull, “Prospect of the Future Glory of America”, 1770; Francis Scott Key, “Defence of Fort McHenry”, 1814, better known as “The Star-Spangled Banner”) o political plays exposing Britain to ridicule (e.g. John Leacock, The Fall of British Tyranny; or, American Liberty Triumphant, 1776) o political essays, newspaper articles & autobiographies stressing the ‘Americanness’ of the writer (e.g. Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, 1771-1788 → ideal of the self- made man & the American Dream) o defining new standards for American English Literature of the Early Republic (mid-18th- early 19th century) beginnings of Indigenous and Black American literatures The Pequot written in English nation today A Short Narrative of My Life (1768; published in 1982) by Samson Occom (Pequot nation); the author had become a Christian missionary Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789): born in 1745 in West Africa, sold to British slave traders in 1756, transported first to Barbados and then to Virginia to work on a plantation, bought his freedom Phillis Wheatley: first Black American poet (e.g. “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, 1773), born in West Africa, sold into slavery at the age of 7, educated by the family in Boston that had bought her