Introduction to American Literature

1
Introduction to American Literature
2
The World at the Beginning of the American Era

• Geography--the Europeans were discovering new
  territories, including North America
• Religion
• 1456--Gutenberg printed his first Bible
  (education almost always leads to the
  undermining of authority)
• October 31, 1517--Luther posts 95 theses against
  indulgences
• 1534--Act of Supremacy

3
Astronomy

• Copernicus publishes On the Revolutions of the
  Heavenly Spheres, suggesting that the earth
  rotates around the sun.

4
Government

• In 1513, Machiavelli publishes The Prince, in
  which he depicts the lying, cheating, and
  stealing of successful rulers.

5

• The effect of all this was that Euopeans began to
  see the worlds instability. Humans began to see
  themselves as small beings in a big world.
  Traditional assumptions were broken down.

6
Traits of the American Character

• Sense of the endless frontier.
• America was a high-risk society.
• Naivete
• Capitalist Ethos
• Calvinistic Influence
• Diverse Cultural Influences
• Bill Murray Americans are people kicked out of
  every respectable county in the world.
• Practical versus Artistic
• Independent Temperament

7
What is American Literature?

• Literature that is distinctly American?
• This is no help.
• Literature written by Americans?
• Arent Canadians or Mexicans Americans?
• Does American literature include literature in
  other languages than English?
• A literary inheritance?
• American Literature and I have a bond.
• Henry James said that American writers must deal
  with being American.

8
The Canon

• What works should we study?
• Should we expand the canon to include more
  works by minorities and women?