Movements in
American
Literature
General Ideas
► Movements
do overlap with one another
► There are additional sub-movements
► Discussion continues as to what constitutes
a “movement” and what “movements”
actually exist
► People still attempt to write using
characteristics of the specific movements
► Each movement was generally a response
to a previous movement
Native
American
Literature
1490-1700s
Native American Lit 1490-1700’s
► This
movement is
based mostly on oral
tradition – which can
give us a hint as to
why there is very little
written material
► Nature and elements
of nature are the most
common aspect of
Native American
writings
► Those
stories, fables,
tales, myths and
chants were written
down later for
preservation, not
because that was
typical for Native
Americans of the time
Colonial and
Puritan
Literature
1500-1790
Early Settlers 1500’s – 1670’s
► This
group of writings
are from those who
were coming to
America to settle a
new land
► The accuracy of these
writings is often called
in to question
► Most
of the literature is
comprised of letters,
diaries, journals and
histories
► Authors include
Columbus, John Smith
and William Bradford
Puritans 1620-1790
► Written
by those who
were leaving Europe to
find religious freedom
► This society was
dominated by rules
and a fear of sin and
as a result spending
eternity in hell
► Literature
from this
period is typically in
the form of sermons,
poetry, diaries and
moral based stories
► Authors from this
period include: Anne
Bradstreet, Edward
Taylor and Jonathon
Edwards
Age
of
Reason
1750-1800
Age of Reason 1750-1800
► Also
known as
Rationalism/Classicism
and The Age of
Reason
► These writings
contributed, in part, to
the American
Revolution
► Best
known for political
and philosophical
writings focusing on
reason and common
sense
► Authors of this period
include Benjamin
Franklin, Thomas
Jefferson, Thomas
Paine, Patrick Henry
and Phillis Wheatly
Romanticism
1820-1860
Romanticism 1820-1860
►
►
►
Romanticism placed a
premium on imagination,
emotion, the supernatural,
religion, nature, and
individuality.
This movement contains
several other movements
(Gothic, transcendental,
etc.).
In part, it was a revolt
against social and political
norms of the Age of
Enlightenment and a
reaction against the
scientific rationalization of
nature.
► Not
surprisingly, this is
the largest body of
work to this point in
history and one that
we spend a lot of time
studying in school
► Romantic American
Authors: Cooper, Poe,
Thoreau, Emerson,
Dickinson, Hawthorn,
Melville
Music
► Enlightenment
composer: George
Frideric Handel
► Romantic
composer:
Louis Moreau
Gottschalk
Transcendentalism
1830-1850
Transcendentalism 1830-1850
►
►
Transcendentalists believe
that the basic truths of the
universe transcend the
physical world and lie
beyond the knowledge
that can be obtained from
the senses.
They feel that every
individual has the ability to
experience God firsthand
in his/her intuition.
► They
value nature and
believe in the spiritual
unity of all life, stating
God, humanity, and
nature share a
universal soul.
They feel that nothing
in nature is trivial or
insignificant; all is
symbolic and
important.
Transcendentalism 1830-1850
► They
also promoted
the belief that every
human being is born
inherently good.
► Authors include Ralph
Waldo Emerson and
Henry David Thoreau
► Here is one way to
explain it
Realism
and
Naturalism
1860-1914
Realism 1860-1914
►
►
Realism is the presentation
in art of the details of
actual life. It stressed the
actual as opposed to the
imagined or the fanciful.
It rejects heroic,
adventurous, or unfamiliar
subjects.
Realists tried to write
objectively about ordinary
characters in ordinary
situations.
►
►
Authors opted to depict
everyday and banal
activities and experiences,
instead of a romantic
presentation. It is
sometimes dark and
negative (especially
naturalism).
American Authors: Mark
Twain, W.E.B. Dubois,
Edith Wharton, Booker T.
Washington, Henry James,
Willa Cather
Selection from O Pioneers
by Willa Cather
One January day, thirty years ago, the little town of Hanover, anchored on a
windy Nebraska tableland, was trying not to be blown away. A mist of fine
snowflakes was curling and eddying about the cluster of low drab buildings
huddled on the gray prairie, under a gray sky. The dwelling-houses were set
about haphazard on the tough prairie sod; some of them looked as if they had
been moved in overnight, and others as if they were straying off by
themselves, headed straight for the open plain. None of them had any
appearance of permanence, and the howling wind blew under them as well as
over them. The main street was a deeply rutted road, now frozen hard, which
ran from the squat red railway station and the grain "elevator" at the north
end of the town to the lumber yard and the horse pond at the south end. On
either side of this road straggled two uneven rows of wooden buildings; the
general merchandise stores, the two banks, the drug store, the feed store, the
saloon, the post-office. The board sidewalks were gray with trampled snow,
but at two o`clock in the afternoon the shopkeepers, hav- ing come back from
dinner, were keeping well behind their frosty windows. The children were all in
school, and there was nobody abroad in the streets but a few rough-looking
country- men in coarse overcoats, with their long caps pulled down to their
noses. Some of them had brought their wives to town, and now and then a red
or a plaid shawl flashed out of one store into the shelter of another. At the
hitch-bars along the street a few heavy work-horses, har- nessed to farm
wagons, shivered under their blankets.
Naturalism
►
Naturalists believed many
of the same things as
realists and the two terms
are often used
interchangeably. Realism
seeks only to describe
subjects as they really are;
however, naturalism also
attempts to determine
"scientifically" the
underlying forces (i.e. the
environment or heredity)
influencing these peoples’
actions.
Naturalists tended to view
people as hapless victims
of unchangeable natural
laws.
► Naturalists were influenced
by Charles Darwin.
► American Authors:
Stephen Crane, Jack
London, Theodore Dreiser,
Kate Chopin
►
Naturalist Literature
Selection from Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Although much remains obscure…I can entertain
no doubt…that the view which most naturalists
entertain, and which I formerly entertained -namely, that each species has been independently
created -- is erroneous. I am fully convinced that
species are not immutable; but that those belonging
to what are called the same genera are lineal
descendants of some other and generally extinct
species, in the same manner as the acknowledged
varieties of any one species are the descendants of
that species. Furthermore, I am convinced that
Natural Selection has been the main but not
exclusive means of modification.
Modernism
1914-1945
Modernism: Historical Context
Overwhelming technological changes of the 20th Century with
industrialism and invention changing life dramatically.
► “The Great War,” World War I, was the first war of mass
destruction due to technological advances; more killed in a
shorter period of time than ever before. Morals and values—
and religion itself—seemed to have been destroyed by the War.
► The disillusionment of youths caused them to rebel against the
older generation who they blamed for the mass destruction of
the War.
► The stock market crash of 1929 and the Depression with
followed fed into the feelings of society gone wrong.
►
Modernism 1914-1945
►
►
Leading up to WWI and
afterwards, “modern” life
seemed radically different
from traditional life -more scientific, faster,
more technological, and
more mechanized. Hence,
Modern literature shows
people as disconnected
from one another,
society, and/or God.
Common subjects were
grief over loss or
uselessness of past
traditions.
►
►
►
►
Modernists experimented
with and manipulated
forms, and believed that
knowledge is not
absolute.
Tone normally down,
depressed, or lost
Authors include: F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Ernest
Hemingway, William
Faulkner, Henry Miller and
T.S. Eliot
Includes Harlem
Renaissance
Modernist Literature
The Great Figure
By William Carlos Williams
Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
fire truck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city.
Modernist Music
► John
Cage: Rozart Mix
► Edgard
Varese: Poeme
Electronique
Harlem
Renaissance
1920-1930
Harlem Renaissance 1920-1930
►A
period of
outstanding creativity
among African
American writers
► Many of these works
were sophisticated
explorations of black
life and culture
► The
works revealed
and stimulated a new
confidence and racial
pride
► Authors include
Langston Hughes, Zora
Neale Hurston,
Countee Cullen and
Ralph Ellison
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
Dream a Little Dream
Postmodernism
1945 - Present
Post-Modernism: Historical Context
► Unlike
WWI, World War II ended with prosperity
and optimism for most Americans.
► Basic civil rights sought and granted for many
minorities. American pluralism is embraced.
Diversity / multiculturalism is one of the few virtues
most Americans would agree upon
► Technological progress has snowballed—especially
media and the pop culture it produces; media soon
presents values of and for mass populations.
Information technology brings the world closer in
many ways (ex: global culture), and technology is
driven by economy
Postmodernism 1945-Present
►
►
►
►
►
Reaction to modernism.
The world is absurd: no
values or truths are
eternal, everything is
momentary and relative.
There is no rock-solid
truth. Life just “is.”
Boundaries are blurred and
popular culture becomes a
driving force in literature
and art
Challenges most
limitations (including
decency), for they are
seen as oppressive.
►
►
►
There is a concern for the
individual , and the search
for identity is a common
theme, but a person has
no “true” identity.
Authors include Arthur
Miller, Kurt Vonnegut,
Edward Albee, Ken Kesey,
J. D. Salinger and Truman
Capote
Also includes the feminists:
Nikki Giovanni, Sylvia Plath
and Toni Morrison
Postmodern Literature
In a Classroom
by Adrieen Rich
Talking of poetry, hauling the books
arm-full to the table where the heads
bend or gaze upward, listening, reading aloud,
talking of consonants, elision,
caught in the how, oblivious of why:
I look in your face, Jude,
neither frowning nor nodding,
opaque in the slant of dust-motes over the table:
a presence like a stone, if a stone were thinking
What I cannot say, is me. For that I came.
Postmodernist Music
► Terry
Riley: The Cusp
of Magic
► Pink
Floyd: One of
These Days
Assignment
► Create
a poster on white computer paper
about one of the movements. It should
contain the following elements:





Name of the movement at the top
A brief description of the movement
A picture to describe the movement
Your name on the back
Design the poster in portrait layout
► These
will hang in the room