How to write a brief history of American literature

American literature has a short history. It emerged almost at the same time as American liberal capitalism and was less constrained by feudal aristocratic culture. In the early days of the United States, the population was sparse and there were large areas of undeveloped land, which provided great possibilities for the realization of personal ideals. The American people are rich in the spirit of democracy and freedom, and have strong concepts of individualism and individual liberation, which are prominently reflected in literature. The United States is also a multi-ethnic country. Immigrants continue to pour in, each bringing their own culture, which determines the diversity and complexity of American literary styles. The development process of American literature is a process of constantly absorbing and integrating the literary characteristics of various ethnic groups. Many American writers come from the lower classes of society, which gives American literature a strong flavor of life and civilian color, and its general characteristics are cheerful and bold. Complex content and bright colors are another characteristic of American literature. Personal freedom and self-restraint, Puritanism and pragmatism, radicalness and reaction, rebellion and obedience, elegance and vulgarity, high taste and low taste, profundity and superficiality, aggressiveness and cynicism, bright and obscure, sharp irony and gloomy Humor, careful carving and rough manufacturing, thinking and exploration of human destiny and the morbid pursuit of perfection can not only coexist at the same time, but also form a strong contrast. There has never been a trend or tendency that can unify the world of American literature for a period of time. American writers are sensitive and curious, and often before one wave falls, another wave rises. Writers are always in a process of exploration and experimentation. Since the 20th century, many literary trends originated in the United States, bringing both positive and negative impacts to world literature.

[Colonial Period]

Indian Culture When Europeans discovered the New World, the indigenous inhabitants of North America, the Indians, were in various stages of the primitive commune system. The Indians created their own culture in their struggle against nature, which is mainly folk oral creation, including myths, legends and heroic legends. Since they had no writing, these legends were later compiled and published, inspiring future American writers. The cultural immigrants of the early immigrants were busy fighting for survival when they first arrived in the New World, so the development of literature was slow at the beginning. The earliest published works about North America were travel notes, diaries and the like. The authors are all British. After the establishment of the British colonies, the rulers used religion, mainly Puritanism, as the main means to control colonial ideology, so many publications were about theological research. Famous writers include Cotton Mather (1663-1728) and Jonathan. Edwards (1703-1758) and others. With the growth of industry, trade and national consciousness, the call for religious freedom increased. The theocratic rule of Christian religion declined and was replaced by the consciousness of national independence such as humanism and liberal democracy. The first poetry collection published in North America by Diagnostic Song Creation, "Hymns of the Bay" is a hymn written in the form of a folk song. Michael Wigglesworth's poems all explain Calvinist doctrines and have become popular religious readings. The poetess Anne Bradstreet also wrote about religious life, but she expressed women's mood in a more or less secular tone. The clergyman Edward Tylor, who published only elegies during his lifetime, reflected the decline of strict Puritanism. The British influence is also obvious among these poets. Bradstreet owes his influence to Spenser, and the influence of John Doth and George Herbert can be seen in Taylor's poems.

The Revolution to the Civil War

American national literature was formed during the Revolution. The struggle produced a great deal of revolutionary poetry and produced some of America's first important essayists and poets. Political independence promotes cultural independence. After the war, American writers published more and more works and gradually got rid of the monopoly of British literature. The young democratic republic made people full of confidence and attracted more people from the old world to the new continent. Such social conditions contributed to the romanticism of literary creation in the first half of the 19th century. Writers absorbed the spirit of European romantic literature and described American history, legends and real life, gradually enriching and enriching the American national content. From the 1920s and 1930s to the eve of the Civil War, it was the heyday of the Romantic Movement. Writers of various styles emerged, and their works had distinctive national characteristics from content to form. Critics call this period the "first boom" of American literature. By the middle of the century, the tone of romantic literature shifted from optimism to doubt. Urgent social contradictions, such as slavery, led some writers to adopt realist creative methods.

[The Birth of National Literature]

The Independence Revolution was the background for the birth of American national literature. Long before the war broke out, the American colonial people already had a consciousness of national independence under the influence of European Enlightenment doctrines. Franklin's secular mottos are more appealing to the masses than Edwards's Puritan teachings. Franklin used a clear and humorous style to spread scientific culture and inspire the spirit of self-reliance. His patriotic enthusiasm and remarks about self-study and entrepreneurship had a profound impact on the American people's outlook on life, career and morality. The period of the Independence Revolution was filled with sharp struggles between resistance and compromise, forcing writers to engage in the battle in simple yet sharp forms such as political commentaries, speeches, and essays.

The orator Henry Henry who famously said "Give me liberty or give me death"; Thomas Paine who encouraged the soldiers to fight bravely like a drum like a war drum; Thomas Jefferson who wrote plainly but hit the mark with every word, were all fearless. warriors who hone their language arts for the needs of battle. The poetry of that period was also highly political, and a large number of revolutionary ballads came from the folk. Philip Freneau was a famous revolutionary poet at the time, and his creations created an excellent tradition of American poetry.

[Early Romantic Literature]

In the early 19th century, some works with the United States as the background and Americans as the protagonists began to appear, beginning to have the characteristics of the American nation. Irving devoted himself to

discovering the legends of early immigrants in North America, and his "Notes of His Experience" created the tradition of American short stories. In "Leatherstocking Tales", Cooper uses the demise of the Indian tribe as the background to show how brave and upright immigrants opened up the way to American civilization. The natural scenery described by the poet Brest is completely American. He praises the common local water crows and wild flowers, and through them he praises the harmony between people. The works of these writers are full of optimism and the spirit of the times. The darkly colored Poe reached new levels in poetry, short stories, and theoretical criticism, marking the diversity of national literature and its development in art.

Transcendentalism and Late Romanticism]

After the 1830s, New England, the cultural center of the United States on the northeastern coast, became the earliest industrial area. President Jackson's democratic line increased the democratic atmosphere in the country. This had two ideological consequences: on the one hand, there was the emergence of transcendentalist groups; on the other hand, some writers had a lot of doubts. The tone of romantic literature changed from optimism to suspicion and negativity. Transcendentalism is an ideological emancipation movement, which first manifested itself as a reform in religious and philosophical thought, and later expanded to the field of literary creation. In order to abandon the "God-centered" thinking of Calvinism, the transcendentalists, led by Emerson, absorbed the ideological materials of Kant's transcendentalism and European romantic theorists, and proposed that people know the truth intuitively, so within a certain range Man is God. The starting point of this school of thought is humanism, which emphasizes the value of human beings, opposes authority, advocates intuition, advocates the liberation of personality, breaks the shackles of theology and foreign dogma, and has a great influence on American writers. In the 1950s, with the emergence of various social problems caused by industrialization, writers were keenly aware of the shortcomings of democracy. Thoreau focused on the "self-help" spirit of transcendentalism and advocated returning to nature and maintaining pure humanity, which conflicted with the bourgeois social order. In Hawthorne and Melville, this contradiction manifests itself in abstract and mysterious forms. Hawthorne was deeply influenced by Calvinism and wanted to escape, so he turned to the exploration of the human condition and destiny, such as "The Scarlet Letter" (1850). Like Hawthorne, Melville attributed the social contradictions he felt to abstract "evil", and the power and incomprehensibility of "evil" gave works such as "Moby-Dick" (1851) a mysterious and pessimistic atmosphere.

"Brahmin"

Brahmin refers to a group of highly educated writers in New England during this period, or "gentleman poets". Longfellow, Lowe

Er (1819-1891) and Holmes (1809-1894) were both celebrities in the intellectual circles. Out of bourgeois democracy and humanitarianism, they praised the spirit of patriotism and opposed slavery. They sympathized with the Indians and also made some criticisms of social evils. Due to their origin status and cultural upbringing, their views and emotions were generally relatively moderate. After the 1830s, northern progressives launched an increasingly popular movement to abolish slavery. The situation of black people aroused the sympathy of many writers, from Emerson to Longfellow to Whitman, who wrote poems against slavery. The most influential work was Mrs. Stowe's novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin". (1852), Lincoln called her "the little woman who started a war". The poet Whittier has the largest number of poems protesting slavery, reflecting the major struggles of the abolitionist movement in the 19th century. Although abolition literature is limited to morality. However, it promoted the abolition of slavery and was the forerunner of realist creation in the literary history of the 19th century.

[The great democratic poet Sutterman]

The United States in the 19th century. Whitman's democratic spirit was fully developed in "Leaves of Grass" (1855). He reflected the optimistic spirit of the working people during the democratic revolution with a rich, broad and all-encompassing spirit. He praised labor and the great things. Nature, praising material civilization, praising the ideal image of "individual"; his praise is permeated with extensive love for mankind. The poet despises slavery and all social phenomena that are not in line with the ideal of freedom and democracy with his heroic and rough spirit. This unrestrained free verse style, like his ideological content, is also an innovation in the history of literature and has had a wide impact.

[Civil War to World War I]

From the end of the Civil War to the First World War, the general trend of American literature was the rise and development of realism and the decline of romanticism. In the 20 or 30 years after the end of the Civil War, capitalism was in the stage of free competition, democracy, and freedom. Ideals inspire people and writers, and optimism dominates literary creation.

After the 1980s, after several economic crises and social unrest, people doubted that the democratic system was "a paradise where everyone is free and happy." After the 1980s and 1990s, there were more and more works that criticized reality and exposed the darkness of society. The themes involved the bankruptcy of rural areas, the plight of the lower class people in cities, and labor struggles. Many works exposed racial discrimination, overseas aggression, and the collusion between the government and big companies. The work expresses the sentiment of utopian socialism.

[Vernacular Literature and Mark Twain]

Vernacular literature first appeared in the 1920s and 1930s, and further developed after the Civil War. This kind of literature describes local legends and real life, with strong local color, and the tone is optimistic and lyrical, such as Bret Hart (1836-1902), who described the life of miners in the west, or humorous and witty, such as Qiu Werther (1849-1909), this is a reflection of the healthy and lively life taste of post-war America. mark. Twain's creative activities lasted for nearly 50 years, and he was the main writer during this period. His representative work is "The Adventures of Huckleberry Faith" (1884). His early short stories absorbed the characteristics of humorous stories in western rural literature, and used humorous and comical exaggeration to express American social life. His criticism of postwar American society included political corruption, racial discrimination, education system, religious life, etc. These criticisms are mild and well-intentioned. After the 1980s, as his understanding of American democracy deepened, his satire increased, and later developed into angry protests and even pessimism and disappointment. Mark Twain was a master of the art of humor. He is sarcastic in his comedy and critical in his amusingness, creating a unique artistic style.

Psychological analysis novelist Henry James

Henry James, who was of noble birth and deeply influenced by European culture, is a representative writer who describes the mental outlook of the upper bourgeoisie. His style is elegant, meticulous, and particular about expression, which is in perfect contrast to Mark Twain, who was rough, humorous, and full of interest in life. Although James admires European culture, in terms of moral sentiments, he prefers Americans with low cultural accomplishments. Americans are innocent and kind-hearted; they are lovelier than Europeans (or Americans who live in Europe). This is a theme that often appears in his novels such as "The Portrait of a Lady" (1881). He pioneered the psychological analysis of novels. His works, especially his later works such as "The Wings of a Dove" (1902), painstakingly explore the characters' "most subtle and hazy" thoughts and feelings, and combine "those who beat in space" Pulse” transformed into image. In terms of the subtlety and meticulousness of psychological analysis, James reached an unprecedented level and opened up a new way for the expressive power of novel art.

[The rise of realist literature]

After the 1980s and 1990s, with the gradual formation of monopoly capital, various social problems focusing on labor-capital conflicts became acute and superficial. Writers were worried and disappointed about the future of society. Howells abandoned the cheap optimism of his early days and began to express social contradictions. Under the influence of European realism and naturalism literature, a group of emerging writers reflected the negative side of society from many aspects. The farmers in the novels of John Hargarland (1860-1940) feel desperate; the farmers in the novels of F. Norris (1870-1902) are crushed by railroad capital; John S. Cleese (1871-1900) exposes the slum life in the city. ; O. Henry's petty bourgeoisie was teased by fate to the point of dumbfounding. Jack London, in particular, described workers and vagrants struggling at the bottom of society, and early expressed his desire for socialist revolution. Realist writers each have their own artistic characteristics. Garland writes realistically, Norris reflects a broad social picture, Kleith introduces impressionism techniques, and Jack London's writing is vigorous and powerful, and his narrative is fascinating. O. Henry used suspense, mutation and other techniques to open up the path of American short stories. These writers all contributed to the maturity of American literature. After entering the 20th century, realist literature developed into two branches. One group is the "muckrakers." "Muckrakers" write about urban life, specializing in exposing shocking corruption in large companies, and have a strong reformist flavor. The writing style is mostly news style, and the artistry of image description is poor. The other group is the realist novelists headed by Dreiser. Dreiser painted a broad and in-depth picture of the true picture of American society. His early works such as "Sister Carrie" (1900) describe the humiliation and harm experienced by working women after entering the big cities and upper class society.

[Black Literature]

African American literature originated from black slave songs. These songs, whether they are elegies or folk songs, express the painful feelings of black people who left their homeland and became slaves. Written literature first appeared in the 18th century and continued to increase after the 19th century. The form of expression is first poetry and then novel. Most of the authors were free black people. Except for a few who catered to the tastes of white readers, most writers poured out the suffering of black slaves and accused the evils of slavery. Before and after the Civil War, black writers led by Douglass (1817-1895) proposed the abolition of slavery and the pursuit of human rights for blacks. The militancy of black literature increases.

The poet Dunbar (1872-1906) and the novelist Chesnutt (1858-1932) who emerged after the Civil War were more mature in art. The former had rich imagination and implicit expression, while the latter exposed the racial discrimination in the South after the war. However, they still have illusions about white rulers, which reflects the ideological tendency of black intellectuals. Black literature became more mature after the war. Ralph Ellison's (1914- ) novel "The Invisible Man" and Baldwin's prose have both reached the level of first-rate literature. Their protests against racial injustice took on a more nuanced, deeper expression. They want people to realize that black people are human beings with all their humanity. During this period, the poems of the female poet Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-) were generally praised; the play "A Raisin in the Sun" (1959) by the female playwright Loren Hensberry (1930-1965) pioneered the role of black drama in Broadway production record. LeRoy Jones (1934- ) is a new generation of black poets. He gave himself another Muslim name to express his disdain for American culture.

[Between World War II]

From World War I to World War II, it was the second boom period of American literature. In the 1920s, various schools emerged one after another, expressing the various contradictions and problems of the spiritual world in the highly developed capitalist society. In the 1930s, left-wing literature basically dominated. From the late 1930s, the literary world divided into various schools, and a diverse situation emerged. In general, modernist literature and left-wing literature were the two largest literary trends of this period. From this period, American literature began to have a worldwide impact. After 1930, American writers successively received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

[The rise of modernist literature]

At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States' economy had developed greatly. Monopoly capital is further concentrated, large cities are densely populated, and the workers' and peasants' movement is growing in scale. The social outlook and people's spiritual outlook can no longer be accurately reflected by the traditional realism techniques and Whitman style of the 19th century. The first 10 years before the war prepared the ground for the birth of new styles and new schools. European modernist literature and art were continuously introduced to the United States. In the second half of the 19th century, American poetry was in a transitional stage. After Whitman, only one important poet appeared, Emily Dickinson. She went against the exaggerated romantic style of poetry and opened the way to modern American poetry with irregular rhymes, strange contrasts and free associations. In 1912, the Poetry Journal was founded in Chicago, marking the beginning of modernist literature and art. In the first three volumes of "Poetry Magazine", there appeared Pound (1885-1973), William Lindsay (1879-1931), A. Lowell (1874-1925), William C. Williams (1883- 1963), Sandburg (1878-1967), W. Stevens (1879-1955), Al Lee Masters (1868-1950), Ma Moore (1887-1972) and others work. These men later became accomplished American poets. Among them are the Imagists, the Chicago School of Poetry who are close to the working people, the pastoral poets of the 20th century, the new ruralists, and the abstract philosophical poets. The main thing they have in common is that they express the increasingly prominent alienation of people in modern capitalist society, and more or less reveal panic and pessimism. Even as pastoral as it is, Frost's New England landscape is shrouded in the shadow of alienation, strangeness, and death. The representative work of modernist poetry is Eliot's "The Waste Land" (1922). This poem provides a symbolic metaphor for modern Western society. The representative figure of modernism in drama is O'Neill, whose plays were influenced by symbolism, expressionism and Freudism. He doubted the rationality of American society and created the tragedy of modern America. In terms of novels, G. Stein (1874-1946) and Sher Anderson (1876-1941) pioneered the path of American modern novels.

[The Lost Generation]

A few years after the end of World War I, the disgust with the war began to be reflected in literature. Most of the writers of the "Lost Generation" participated in this war, and they generally felt that they had been deceived and betrayed. They no longer believe in hypocritical moral preaching, but express their passive protest with a cynical attitude towards life. The representative work of the "Lost Generation" is Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" (1926). Some writers did not catch up with the war, such as "Singer of the Jazz Age" Fitzgerald. His emotions were connected with the "Lost Generation". Writers such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald sang laments of disillusionment. A little later, Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938) wrote millions of words of novels in just 10 years. The protagonists in them were all himself, and the theme was the constant pursuit of a goal that even the author himself did not know clearly. .

The development of realist literature

During this period, traditional realist literary works continued to appear and develop. Dreiser's works of this period, including "The Desire Trilogy" (1912, 1914, 1947) and "American Tragedy" (1925), reflect and criticize reality more and more profoundly. Sheen Lewis's "High Street" (1920) shattered the myth that "villages and towns are beautiful paradise".

His later works exposed issues in business, technology, and religion. The Babbitt he created became a typical figure of the vulgar, exaggerated, and materialistic middle class. The female writer Gila Cather (1873-1947) began by praising the pioneers, then criticized the power of money, and later explored the spiritual beauty that modern America lacks from history.

"Harlem Renaissance"

Black literature also developed greatly in the 1920s. Under the influence of the promotion of "primitivism" by the literary and artistic circles at that time, the "Harlem Renaissance" emerged in the black area of ??New York. Hughes (1902-1967) and Cullen (1903-1946) were all outstanding writers who emerged at that time. While describing alien sentiments, their works also explored ancient black traditions and established national self-esteem. By the end of the 1930s, the militancy of black literature further increased, and excellent works such as Richard Wright's "Native Son" (1940) appeared.

Left-wing literature and anti-fascist literature

In 1929, a major economic crisis occurred in the United States, and various social contradictions sharply intensified. The workers' and peasants' movement surged, and the influence of Marxism expanded. John Reed (1887-1920) was the founder of left-wing literature. Since the 1930s, the ranks of left-wing writers have rapidly expanded, many left-wing literary groups and organizations have been established, various literary publications have been founded, and many conferences have been held under the leadership of the American Communist Party. In terms of works, left-wing writers have produced a solid body of work. Famous writers who have established themselves in the literary world, such as Dos Passos and Steinbeck, have also created some excellent social protest novels under the influence of this trend of thought, such as the "America" ??trilogy (1930, 1932, 1936) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939). In the late 1930s, the situation at home and abroad changed, and the left-wing literary ranks began to divide. Writers such as Hemingway and Hellman participated in the anti-fascist struggle, and their works reminded the people to be wary of new threats.