American Literature is divided into Literary Time Periods based on the time in history, themes, purpose, and style of writing.
Many of the literary periods mirror larger literary periods that were occurring in Europe, but American Literature also branches off into its own unique styles. Each literary period occurred as a reaction against the previous movement and as a reaction to what was happening in the country at that time.
Below, you will find several key terms for this module. Spend time familiarizing yourself with these terms as the ideas govern the whole of American Literature.
The Puritans tended to write histories, journals, and diaries. These writings link their lives to the work of God. Many Puritans, such as William Bradford, are known for their Plain Style of writing.
Our founding fathers, otherwise known as rationalists, focused on their political agendas and their attempt to win independence from Britain in their writing. Many speeches were very persuasive, relying on techniques such as rhetorical questions, parallelism, and repetition to drive their points. These enlightened thinkers believed in reason over faith and in the power of science to further human progress. Many were deists who believed that God created the world and set it up to run on its own without Him having to help things along on a daily basis. They believed that people knew the difference between right and wrong and could work toward perfecting themselves and their society rather than relying on God's grace to cleanse them and make them better. General truths and observations about life in the form of short and witty sayings known as aphorisms helped to remind people to do good.
Romanticism was a literary and artistic movement of the 19th century that arose in reaction against 18th century Neoclassicism and placed a premium on imagination, emotion, nature, individuality, and the supernatural. Transcendentalism - Transcendentalism was an American literary and philosophical movement of the 19th century. Transcendentalists believed that intuition and the individual consequence transcend experience and thus are better guides to truth than senses and logical reason. They respected the individual spirit and the natural world, believing that divinity was present everywhere, in nature and in each person.
Anti-Transcendentalists/Dark Romantics used supernatural, natural, and imaginative elements of Romanticism and Transcendentalism, but believed in the darker side of human nature and were not as optimistic. Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne are a couple of famous Dark Romantics.
Realism is the presentation in art of the details of actual life. Realism was also a literary movement that began during the 19th century and stressed the actual as opposed to the imagined or the fanciful. The realists tried to write objectively about ordinary characters in ordinary situations. They rejected the heroic, adventurous, or unfamiliar subjects of Romanticism.
Regionalism in literature is the tendency among certain authors to write about specific geographical areas. They present the distinct culture of an area, including its speech, customs, beliefs, and history.
Local-color is a type of realism. Local-color writing can be created by the use of dialect and the description of customs, clothing, manners, attitudes, and landscapes such as that of Mark Twain and the Mississippi River.
Naturalists traced the effects of heredity and environment on people helpless to change their situations. They often focused on the man versus nature conflict.
Modernism affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology, and practical experimentation. Modernist literature moved away from traditional themes and styles and used bold experimentation
Postmodern literature refers to works written after World War II and is a reaction against the enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature. There is an emergence of ethnic and women writers in postmodern literature.
American Literary Time Periods
American literature traces the path of American narrative, fiction, poetry, and drama as they move from pre-colonial times to the present day.The first literary works of the English-speaking people of North America consisted mostly of journals, sermons, and histories. Poets such as Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor also emerged.
Much of the literature in our country also reflects what was going on at that particular time.The literature of the rationalists represents their desire to be free from the rule of England. Our founding fathers expressed these feelings in political documents and persuasive speeches.
Romanticism saw the first short story evolve.The father of the mystery story, Edgar Allan Poe, captured his readers through his use of remote settings and psychologically deranged characters. The transcendentalists, known as the first, true hippies, recorded their beliefs about nature and individualism through essays and poetry.
The Civil War dominated the thoughts of America and its writers during the Realism time period.It was a time when fiction represented real life events, and regionalism and naturalism made their entrance. The rights of women and African Americans were also predominant themes found in literature in the late 1800s.
The turn of the century saw a new focus in literature. Themes such as the American Dream and literature that represented the thoughts and feelings of Americans during World War I were popular.
New styles of poetry appeared with imagist poetry and free verse. Modernism moved away from more traditional themes and styles found in earlier literature.
Postmodernism, which consists of literature written after 1950 through the present day, reflects more multi-cultural literature and literature written by women. Dramas became even more prevalent, and science fiction displayed a changing technological world.
Many of the literary periods mirror larger literary periods that were occurring in Europe, but American Literature also branches off into its own unique styles. Each literary period occurred as a reaction against the previous movement and as a reaction to what was happening in the country at that time.
Below, you will find several key terms for this module. Spend time familiarizing yourself with these terms as the ideas govern the whole of American Literature.
The Puritans tended to write histories, journals, and diaries. These writings link their lives to the work of God. Many Puritans, such as William Bradford, are known for their Plain Style of writing.
Our founding fathers, otherwise known as rationalists, focused on their political agendas and their attempt to win independence from Britain in their writing. Many speeches were very persuasive, relying on techniques such as rhetorical questions, parallelism, and repetition to drive their points. These enlightened thinkers believed in reason over faith and in the power of science to further human progress. Many were deists who believed that God created the world and set it up to run on its own without Him having to help things along on a daily basis. They believed that people knew the difference between right and wrong and could work toward perfecting themselves and their society rather than relying on God's grace to cleanse them and make them better. General truths and observations about life in the form of short and witty sayings known as aphorisms helped to remind people to do good.
Romanticism was a literary and artistic movement of the 19th century that arose in reaction against 18th century Neoclassicism and placed a premium on imagination, emotion, nature, individuality, and the supernatural. Transcendentalism - Transcendentalism was an American literary and philosophical movement of the 19th century. Transcendentalists believed that intuition and the individual consequence transcend experience and thus are better guides to truth than senses and logical reason. They respected the individual spirit and the natural world, believing that divinity was present everywhere, in nature and in each person.
Anti-Transcendentalists/Dark Romantics used supernatural, natural, and imaginative elements of Romanticism and Transcendentalism, but believed in the darker side of human nature and were not as optimistic. Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne are a couple of famous Dark Romantics.
Realism is the presentation in art of the details of actual life. Realism was also a literary movement that began during the 19th century and stressed the actual as opposed to the imagined or the fanciful. The realists tried to write objectively about ordinary characters in ordinary situations. They rejected the heroic, adventurous, or unfamiliar subjects of Romanticism.
Regionalism in literature is the tendency among certain authors to write about specific geographical areas. They present the distinct culture of an area, including its speech, customs, beliefs, and history.
Local-color is a type of realism. Local-color writing can be created by the use of dialect and the description of customs, clothing, manners, attitudes, and landscapes such as that of Mark Twain and the Mississippi River.
Naturalists traced the effects of heredity and environment on people helpless to change their situations. They often focused on the man versus nature conflict.
Modernism affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology, and practical experimentation. Modernist literature moved away from traditional themes and styles and used bold experimentation
Postmodern literature refers to works written after World War II and is a reaction against the enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature. There is an emergence of ethnic and women writers in postmodern literature.
American Literary Time Periods
American literature traces the path of American narrative, fiction, poetry, and drama as they move from pre-colonial times to the present day.The first literary works of the English-speaking people of North America consisted mostly of journals, sermons, and histories. Poets such as Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor also emerged.
Much of the literature in our country also reflects what was going on at that particular time.The literature of the rationalists represents their desire to be free from the rule of England. Our founding fathers expressed these feelings in political documents and persuasive speeches.
Romanticism saw the first short story evolve.The father of the mystery story, Edgar Allan Poe, captured his readers through his use of remote settings and psychologically deranged characters. The transcendentalists, known as the first, true hippies, recorded their beliefs about nature and individualism through essays and poetry.
The Civil War dominated the thoughts of America and its writers during the Realism time period.It was a time when fiction represented real life events, and regionalism and naturalism made their entrance. The rights of women and African Americans were also predominant themes found in literature in the late 1800s.
The turn of the century saw a new focus in literature. Themes such as the American Dream and literature that represented the thoughts and feelings of Americans during World War I were popular.
New styles of poetry appeared with imagist poetry and free verse. Modernism moved away from more traditional themes and styles found in earlier literature.
Postmodernism, which consists of literature written after 1950 through the present day, reflects more multi-cultural literature and literature written by women. Dramas became even more prevalent, and science fiction displayed a changing technological world.
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