American Literary History Module 1 PDF

Zusammenfassung American Literary History Module 1 – Beginnings and Encounters 1. Precontact: Native American histories, cultures, oral traditions − large variety of Native American cultures before European discovery o high degree of diversity of the tribes (way of living)...

Zusammenfassung American Literary History Module 1 – Beginnings and Encounters 1. Precontact: Native American histories, cultures, oral traditions − large variety of Native American cultures before European discovery o high degree of diversity of the tribes (way of living) o network of diverse and highly developed culture o example: Pueblo cultures ▪ Southwest ▪ highly developed agriculture/farming ▪ sophisticated cultural centres ▪ name: Spanish (Europeans imposed this on them) o large decline in numbers (1500: 500 tribal nations, 1900: 250.000 Native American citizens) o Columbus’ arrival (1492) ▪ not entering a world of savages but human habitat with developed civilisations ▪ America’s history does not begin with Columbus’ arrival but with the first impressions on the continent − oral cultures then and now o Native American oral tradition ▪ religious, spiritual ▪ handed down from generation to generation ▪ changes/adapts over time ▪ should benefit society ▪ belongs to the culture as a whole o features ▪ storyteller (figure): collective importance for the tribes, story is considered sacred → storyteller is not questioned, connection between world and sacred matters, powerful character which tells the truth, omniscient, creates changes ▪ origin/creation story (content): emphasise on harmony, positive image of Mother Earth → notion of motherly protection, shelter/covering/embracing (very different to European views) ▪ trickster stories (content): smart creatures (often animals), testing of limits of cultural rules and current system (humorous) → didactic purpose, questioning of rules (idea that development is necessary) o oral literature was translated and written down by Europeans → changed the perception and had an impact on the stories o oral traditions remain alive (Native American oratory, anthropological projects, collections of stories, contemporary written literature) o oral traditions transferred into architecture 2. First Europeans in North America − general historical contextualisation o renaissance (15TH and 16th century) o ‘age of discovery’ o interest in commerce o new technology (ships, navigation, …) o political rivalries (Portugal VS. England VS. Spain VS. France) ▪ new trade ways ▪ colonial expansion o demographic change → growth of population (more people, less space)  o reformation (missionary projects) − origin of the name ‘America’ o new name designed by Europeans for a land that had a name before ▪ taking possession in renaming → act of power o named after Amerigo Vespucci ▪ Italian voyager to South America ▪ travel reports from 1505 ▪ ‘Waldseemüller Map’: named South America after Vespucci → ‘America’ as a geographical name for the first time yet (no relation) − 15 -16 century: European voyages and the multinational colonisation of North America th th o multinational affair ▪ England ▪ France ▪ Spain → everything that Europeans knew about America came from the travel reports of those countries − Anthologising the New World – Taking possession of the New World o anthologies: collection of different works o military and political appropriation as well as textual appropriation o encountering new landscapes → early modern travel reports o dominant themes: discovery, exploration, conquest, settlement, inventions, possessions o text types: anthropological (Native Americans have been forced to take on European human habits), ethnographic, mapping, nature writing, visualising, taking possession o trying to press the ‘New World’ into the common world o early representation of America (printing press) ▪ sensational ▪ repertoire of images ▪ ‘stereotypifications’: America portrayed as a paradise (religious) and a place of newness (just for Europeans) → lingered on for decades! ▪ promotional: advertisement for the advantages in the ‘New World’ ▪ intercultural encounters → dualism of attraction and repulsion ▪ the other → dualism between self and other ▪ textualizing: act of taking possession ▪ ethnographic: describe people of norm, describe your own culture/community ▪ ethnocentric: take their own identity as centre, everybody else is different ▪ wonder: reaction to all that cannot be accounted for → central figure in the initial European response to the New World ▪ autobiography: texts about themselves (nicely described, advertising the New Land) o popular narratives ▪ exploration narratives: seeing things for the first time ▪ settlement narratives: staying there ▪ exportation narratives − Columbus and his four letters 1493, 1494 and 1498 o ethnographic text circulated in Europe (1493) ▪ many editions ▪ mixture of representation of Native Americans (naked and wild but not too bad as not to stay there → Natives are noble savages to him) ▪ purpose of describing the country ▪ creates image of paradise (Natives are no danger)  ▪ want to convince the audience of the New World and himself → ethnocentric (stresses own identity, curiosity, own achievements, own bravery, own expectations and fears) ▪ autobiographical aspects ▪ letter is possessive as he (re-)names things ▪ stresses quantity of everything → the land of plenty (makes people want to move there) ▪ stresses uniqueness of America (very promotional) ▪ comparisons to things in Europe o pictures ▪ most pictures stress Europeans in the front and middle → power ▪ Natives are naked and savage → inferior to the Europeans 3. English settlement in and colonisation of North America − many settlements failed − major objectives in Western hemisphere o commercial interest o geopolitical interest: gain power over Spain → success in 1888 − ‘The Lost Colony of Roanoke’ o Walter Raleigh (1584) ▪ ‘The Discovery of Guiana’ (1595) ▪ sent Arthur Barlowe to America to create a colony ▪ Barlow created colony on Roanoke Island (1584-85) ▪ enthusiastic report → promotional ▪ describes Native Americans nicely (noble savages) but objectifies them with exhibitions in England ▪ success: Queen Elisabeth sends more people ▪ political and cultural significance of Roanoke o 1585/1586-1590 ▪ ships were sent but connection between Roanoke and England lost o by 1590 ▪ colony lost/disappeared ▪ people were not ready to settle down ▪ based on text: Barlowe responsible for disappearance − Jamestown (1607) o Virginia Company of London (English stock company for starting new colonies) sent 108 colonists to Jamestown → first permanent colony in May 1607 o John Smith: president of council in Jamestown o 1622: 4000 inhabitants (from 500 in 1609) o expansion into Indian territories → conflicts o economic crisis: search for crops, tobacco, successful agriculture system BUT need people for labour → slavery − attracting new colonists o creation of a system: organisation of immigration and labour supply o headrights: pay for journey = free land in America o indentured servitude: sell yourself for labour (4-7 years) = journey gets paid o slavery: first African slaves in 1619 in Virginia ▪ idea of economic desire ▪ superior and inferior people − representation of early English colonisation in North America (mid 1580s – mid 1630s) o wealth of ethnographic texts and travel reports  o enormous impact on how people thought of America → emergence of prominent American ideologies o increasing interest in exploratory narratives and settlement narratives o ‘A brief and true Report of the New-Found Land Virginia’ (1588) by Thomas Harriot ▪ first book of the New World written in English ▪ formal aspects/conventions fusion of exploration and settlement narrative ethnographic promotional sensational ▪ tries an objective and scientific point of view but describes Indians as inferior and happy about their arrival ▪ tension: representational, realistic, scientific impetus VS. persuasive strategies, promotional, sensationalism − John White (1545-1593) o various reports: especially ‘Lost Colony’ (1590) o speciality: paintings, visual representations o dual vision of America o very influential on how people think of America o issues ▪ hardship of travelling there ▪ shows history ▪ failed attempts ▪ success ▪ desire for sensationalism and bravery for those who made it there − cultural work of John Smith o two voyages to North America ▪ 1606-09: Jamestown/Virginia (Pocahontas) → stressed necessity of good relations with Indians but supported aggressive colonial policies ▪ 1614: coast of New England o special position in history o becomes important representative o invented the name ‘New England’ o Pocahontas episode (American folklore) ▪ sacrifices her own identity for intercultural activity ▪ story of John Smith (not reality) − general observations on Smith’s works o multifunctional/hybrid forms: mix creates early example of autobiography o ethnographical, promotional, sensational → paradise o subjective mode narrative o captivity narrative ▪ Pocahontas tale ▪ adventure stories o ideological ▪ propagates a special way of living ▪ emphasis on individualism ▪ stress on opportunities of America ▪ comparisons to Europe o shift from quantity to quality  → Smith does not write about America anymore but FROM America (ideologies) − survey of English colonisation in New England: ‘The Puritans’ o protestant, religious group dissatisfied with Catholic agends o their own agenda ▪ purification of Church of England → reformation wasn’t enough ▪ rejected ceremonies and hierarchical organisation (pope) ▪ too corrupt, too far away from what the bible says o controversy among Puritans ▪ non-conformists: stay in CoE but change things ▪ Separatists: only see a future if CoE splits → ‘New England Puritans’: both groups combined o selected aspects of Puritan worldview ▪ congregationalism: community with no hierarchy ▪ covenant theology: imagination of relation to God ▪ covenant of works: obedience to God, duties ▪ covenant of grace: if you believe in God, you can be saved but that only decides God ▪ predestination: God already chose the people he wants to save ▪ providence/providential history: everything is planned by God ▪ Puritan texts: not to entertain but to teach world views and to question yourself − Plymouth Colony o Mayflower ▪ separatists fled from England to Holland to New England (1620) ▪ leadership: William Bradford ▪ mostly men (different than other colonies) o significance of Mayflower Compact ▪ signed before arrival ▪ symbolic and legal act of self-construction (democracy) ▪ central idea: a community that work together based on the bible ▪ democratic base and also providential justification o cultural and historical significance of Plymouth Plantation ▪ produced first democracy ▪ first Thanksgiving (controversial) ▪ beginning of migration of Puritans − Massachusetts Bay Colony o great English migration between 1630 and 1660 o Winthrop Fleet (1630) ▪ 11 ships with 700 passengers ▪ from New England to Massachusetts Bay Colony o founding of Boston in June 1630 o quick growth: 1300 people in 1631 o John Winthrop (first and long-time governor) ▪ writes ‘Model of Christian Charity’ before arrival maintains the spirit of the community ▪ creating community ties → no longer an extension of England (‘city upon a hill’ → exceptionalism) ▪ interdependency of community and individual 4. Puritan Representation − produced foundational texts that were of great significance for the national identity − New England as a symbol for the whole nation − Puritan style in texts o plain style: not much entertainment o typology: everything is planned by God → biblical references and justifications o religious and communal topics: religion as a driving force for community o wilderness, errand and trial (God) − forms of Puritan writing o promotional literature o life writing (autobiography) o historiographical works o sermons o letters, diaries, journals o poems (not for entertainment) o example: Jeremiad ▪ ‘first American literary genre’ ▪ in times of crisis provides hope ▪ structure still used in political speeches → sticking to ideals ▪ community ex verbo: depends on verbal construction o Puritan poetry – a contradiction ▪ Puritan writing = informare, movere → not entertaining ▪ poem as art VS. Puritan idea of humility ▪ tensions: collective expectations VS. individual voice. timeless doctrine VS. everyday details, prescribed forms VS. individual deviations o Anne Bradstreet (poetry) ▪ ‘The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up In America’ (1650) first book of poetry by an American inhabitant reflections on poetry and gender roles expressed own desires doesn’t stick to the role of a religious housewife worries about future (not Puritan because they think that everything is planned by God) worries and cares about herself and belongings women in a male-dominated world unusual topics (sexual desire, labour, …) tensions: prescribed roles, collective attitudes VS. individual desires, personal feelings Puritan poetry that isn’t really Puritan female voice in male-dominated literature − ‘Captivity Narrative’ (Puritan version) o sites of memory/acts of remembering ▪ looking back, story of survival after return o hybrid form ▪ intercultural ▪ adventure ▪ live writing, autobiography ▪ sensational ▪ ethnographic reports ▪ horror/gothic ▪ melodramatic o usually three parts  ▪ starting point: captured by Native Americans ▪ middle point: involuntary living with Native Americans ▪ ending point: rescue (by God’s mercy) and return to civilised world o precursor of American novel o major structural aspects ▪ episodic/fragmentary: experience of the captive, glimpse out of life with Natives ▪ mostly linear/chronological: circular (starts with civilisation, ends with it) ▪ journey: start and end at home ▪ bipolarity: poor whites VS. bad Native Americans (manipulative power) o didactic ▪ providence: God’s will (capture as punishment, survival as God’s grace) ▪ collective significance: written for community ▪ ministers edited narratives to a religious purpose → manipulative strategies o Mary Rowlandson: captivity narrative of 1682 ▪ wife of minister ▪ captured in 1676 with her three children ▪ held captive for 3 months → returned with just 2 children ▪ her book about captivity reached bestseller status ▪ reinterpreted as the defender of American Nation o Mary Rowlandson’s books ▪ personal-individual → she doesn’t just accept everything as God’s will ▪ secular → represents Native Americans in a nicer, not too cruel and real way ▪ transgression of intercultural borderlines → ‘she goes native’ (joins cultural activities of Native Americans) ▪ ambivalent ending → should be happy to be back but remains sleepless ▪ breaks Puritan conventions ▪ particular perspective on Native Americans and White relations o Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) ▪ Antinomian: a person who is against Puritan law → counters Puritan conventions ▪ believed in immediate relationship with God ▪ accused and put to trial → slandered ▪ insisted that immediate relationship with God is more important than church or ministers ▪ her death by man hand meant God’s will for Puritans o Salem Witchcraft Persecution of 1692 ▪ members of community were accused of being a witch and having a pact with the devil ▪ testimony of afflicters: just saying ‘she’s a witch’ was enough evidence (dreams) ▪ skin conditions as signs of being a witch ▪ 1711: financial compensation for families and descendants of accused and killed ‘witches’ → easy way of getting rid of economic competitors 5. Indian-White relations − missionizing and its representation o repertoire of stereotypes and images of Native Americans ▪ used by ministers to make sure that ‘Indianizing’ was prevented ▪ polarisation of noble savages VS. wild monsters (incredibly racist views) − New England – major wars and conflicts o 1637/38: Pequot War o 1676/77: King Philip’s War o 1689-97: King William’s War − New England missions o increasing gap between Native Americans and Europeans o wars as God’s punishment for sinful colonies (Indians as instruments for punishment) o cultural domination → Native Americans as inferior o publication of Elliot Tracts (1647-1659) ▪ presentation of Native Americans as poor people who were missionized and civilised ▪ ‘the poor, naked, ignorant Indians who lately knew no civil order’ → European point of view ▪ significance explanation ethnographic documents New England’s self-definition as the civilising force