HISTORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE

 

A HISTORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE

American Literature does not easily lend itself to classification by time period. Given the size of the United States and it's varied population, there are often several literary movements happening at the same time. However, this hasn't stopped literary scholars from attempting. Here are some of the most commonly agreed upon periods of American literature from the colonial period to the present. 

The Colonial Period (1607 – 1775)

This period encompasses the founding of Jamestown up to the Revolutionary War. The majority of writings were historical, practical, or religious in nature. Some writers not to miss from this period include Phillis Wheatley, Cotton Mather, William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, and John Winthrop. The first Slave Narrative, A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings, and Surprizing Deliverance of Briton Hammon, a Negro Man, was published in Boston in 1760.

The Revolutionary Age (1765 – 1790)

Beginning a decade before the Revolutionary War and ending about 25 years later, this period includes the writings of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. This is arguably the richest period of political writing since classical antiquity. Important works include the “Declaration of Independence,” The Federalist Papers and the poetry of Joel Barlow and Philip Freneau.

The Early National Period (1775 – 1828)

This era in American Literature is responsible for notable first works, such as the first American comedy written for the stage (The Contrast by Royall Tyler, 1787) and the first American Novel (The Power of Sympathy by William Hill, 1789). Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper and Charles Brockden Brown are credited with creating distinctly American fiction, while Edgar Allan Poe and William Cullen Bryant began writing poetry that was markedly different from that of the English tradition.

The American Renaissance (1828 – 1865)

Also known as the Romantic Period in America and the Age of Transcendentalism, this period is commonly accepted to be the greatest of American Literature. Major writers include Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville.  Emerson, Thoreau and Margaret Fuller are credited with shaping the literature and ideals of many later writers. Other major contributions include the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the short stories of Melville, Poe, Hawthorne and Harriet Beecher Stowe. In addition, this era is the inauguration point of American Literary Criticism, lead by Poe, James Russell Lowell and William Gilmore Simms. The years 1853 and 1859 brought the first African-American novels (Clotel and Our Nig).

The Realistic Period (1865 – 1900)

As a result of the American Civil War, Reconstruction and the age of Industrialism, American ideals and self-awareness changed in profound ways, and American literature responded.  Certain romantic notions of the American Renaissance are replaced by realistic descriptions of American life, such as those represented in the works of William Dean Howells, Henry James and Mark Twain.

This period also gave rise to regional writing, such as the works of Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Chopin, Bret Harte, Mary Wilkins Freeman and George W. Cable. In addition to Walt Whitman, another master poet, Emily Dickinson, appeared at this time.

The Naturalist Period (1900 – 1914)

This relatively short period is defined by its insistence on recreating life as life really is, even more so than the realists had been doing in the decades before. American Naturalist writers such as Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser and Jack London created some of the most powerfully raw novels in American literary history. Their characters are victims who fall prey to their own base instincts and to economic and sociological factors. Edith Wharton wrote some of her most beloved classics, such as The Custom of the Country (1913), Ethan Frome (1911) and House of Mirth (1905) during this time period.

The Modern Period (1914 – 1939)

After the American Renaissance, the Modern Period is the second most influential and artistically rich age of American writing. Its major writers include such powerhouse poets as E.E. Cummings, Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, Carl Sandburg, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Novelists and other prose writers of the time include Willa Cather, John Dos Passos, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Gertrude Stein, Sinclair Lewis, Thomas Wolfe and Sherwood Anderson. The Modern Period contains within it certain major movements including the Jazz Age, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Lost Generation. Many of these writers were influenced by World War I and the disillusionment that followed, especially the expatriates of the Lost Generation. Furthermore, the Great Depression and the New Deal resulted in some of America’s greatest social issue writing, such as the novels of Faulkner and Steinbeck, and the drama of Eugene O’Neill.

The Beat Generation (1944 – 1962)

Beat writers, such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, were devoted to anti-traditional literature, in poetry and prose, and anti-establishment politics. This time period saw a rise in confessional poetry and sexuality in literature, which resulted in legal challenges and debates over censorship in America. William S. Burroughs and Henry Miller are two writers whose works faced censorship challenges and who, along with other writers of the time, inspired the counterculture movements of the next two decades.

 

The Contemporary Period (1939 – Present)

After World War II, American literature becomes broad and varied in terms of theme, mode, and purpose. Currently, there is little consensus as to how to go about classifying the last 80 years into periods or movements – more time must pass, perhaps, before scholars can make these determinations. That being said, there are a number of important writers since 1939 whose works may already be considered “classic” and who are likely to become canonized.  Some of these are:  Kurt Vonnegut, Amy Tan, John Updike, Eudora Welty, James Baldwin, Sylvia Plath, Arthur Miller, Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, Joan Didion, Thomas Pynchon, Elizabeth Bishop, Tennessee Williams, Sandra Cisneros, Richard Wright, Tony Kushner, Adrienne Rich, Bernard Malamud, Saul Bellow, Joyce Carol Oates, Thornton Wilder, Alice Walker, Edward Albee, Norman Mailer, John Barth, Maya Angelou and Robert Penn Warren.

  Works

Title	Publication date	Written As	Genre
Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle	1802	Jonathan Oldstyle	Observational Letters
Salmagundi	1807–1808	Launcelot Langstaff, Will Wizard	Satire
A History of New York	1809	Diedrich Knickerbocker	Satire
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.	1819–1820	Geoffrey Crayon	Short stories/Essays
Bracebridge Hall	1822	Geoffrey Crayon	Short stories/Essays
Tales of a Traveller	1824	Geoffrey Crayon	Short stories/Essays
A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus	1828	Washington Irving	Biography/History
Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada	1829	Fray Antonio Agapida	Romantic history
Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus	1831	Washington Irving	Biography/History
Tales of the Alhambra	1832	"The Author of the Sketch Book"	Short stories/Travel
The Crayon Miscellany	1835	Geoffrey Crayon	Short stories
Astoria	1836	Washington Irving	Biography/History
The Adventures of Captain Bonneville	1837	Washington Irving	Biography/Romantic History
The Life of Oliver Goldsmith	1840 (revised 1849)	Washington Irving	Biography
Biography and Poetical Remains of the Late Margaret Miller Davidson	1841	Washington Irving	Biography
Mahomet and His Successors	1849	Washington Irving	Biography/History
Wolfert's Roost	1855	Geoffrey Crayon Diedrich Knickerbocker Washington Irving	Biography
The Life of George Washington (5 volumes)	1855–1859	Washington Irving	Biography

 

 Works

Date	Title: Subtitle	Genre	Topic, Location, Period
1820	Precaution[69]	novel	England, 1813–1814
1821	The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground[70]	novel	Westchester County, New York, 1780
1823	The Pioneers: or The Sources of the Susquehanna[71]	novel	Leatherstocking, Otsego County, New York, 1793–1794,
1823	Tales for Fifteen: or Imagination and Heart[72]	2 short stories	written under the pseudonym: Jane Morgan
1824	The Pilot: A Tale of the Sea[73]	novel	John Paul Jones, England, 1780
1825	Lionel Lincoln: or The Leaguer of Boston	novel	Battle of Bunker Hill, Boston, 1775–1781
1826	The Last of the Mohicans: A narrative of 1757 [74]	novel	Leatherstocking, French and Indian War, Lake George & Adirondacks, 1757
1827	The Prairie[75]	novel	Leatherstocking, American Midwest, 1805
1828	The Red Rover: A Tale[76]	novel	Newport, Rhode Island & Atlantic Ocean, pirates, 1759
1828	Notions of the Americans: Picked up by a Travelling Bachelor	non-fiction	America for European readers
1829	The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish: A Tale [77]	novel	Western Connecticut, Puritans and Indians, 1660–1676
1830	The Water-Witch: or the Skimmer of the Seas [78]	novel	New York, smugglers, 1713
1830	Letter to General Lafayette	politics	France vs. US, cost of government
1831	The Bravo: A Tale[79]	novel	Venice, 18th century
1832	The Heidenmauer: or, The Benedictines, A Legend of the Rhine	novel	German Rhineland, 16th century
1832	No Steamboats	short story
1833	The Headsman: The Abbaye des Vignerons[80]	novel	Geneva, Switzerland, & Alps, 18th century
1834	A Letter to His Countrymen	politics	Why Cooper temporarily stopped writing
1835	The Monikins[81]	novel	Antarctica, aristocratic monkeys, 1830s; a satire on British and American politics.
1836	The Eclipse[82]	memoir	Solar eclipse in Cooperstown, New York 1806
1836	An Execution at Sea [83]	short story	execution of a murderer on a ship
1836	Gleanings in Europe: Switzerland (Sketches of Switzerland)	travel	Hiking in Switzerland, 1828
1836	Gleanings in Europe: The Rhine (Sketches of Switzerland, Part Second)	travel	Travels France, Rhineland & Switzerland, 1832
1836	A Residence in France: With an Excursion Up the Rhine, and a Second Visit to Switzerland[84]	travel
1837	Gleanings in Europe: France	travel	Living, travelling in France, 1826–1828
1837	Gleanings in Europe: England	travel	Travels in England, 1826, 1828, 1833
1838	Gleanings in Europe: Italy	travel	Living, travelling in Italy, 1828–1830
1838	The American Democrat: or Hints on the Social and Civic Relations of the United States of America	non-fiction	US society and government
1838	The Chronicles of Cooperstown	history	Local history of Cooperstown, New York
1838	Homeward Bound: or The Chase: A Tale of the Sea[85]	novel	Atlantic Ocean & North African coast, 1835
1838	Home as Found: Sequel to Homeward Bound[86]	novel	Eve Effingham, New York City & Otsego County, New York, 1835
1839	The History of the Navy of the United States of America	history	US Naval history to date
1839	Old Ironsides[87]	history	History of the Frigate USS Constitution, 1st pub. 1853
1840	The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea' [88]	novel	Leatherstocking, Western New York, 1759
1840	Mercedes of Castile: or, The Voyage to Cathay	novel	Christopher Columbus in West Indies, 1490s
1841	The Deerslayer: or The First Warpath	novel	Leatherstocking, Otsego Lake 1740–1745
1842	The Two Admirals	novel	England & English Channel, Scottish uprising, 1745
1842	The Wing-and-Wing: le Le Feu-Follet [89] (Jack o Lantern)	novel	Italian coast, Neapolitan Wars, 1745
1843	Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief,[90] also published as ·               Le Mouchoir: An Autobiographical Romance ·               The French Governess: or The Embroidered Handkerchief ·               Die franzosischer Erzieheren: oder das gestickte Taschentuch	novelette	Social satire, France & New York, 1830s
1843	Richard Dale
1843	Wyandotte: or The Hutted Knoll. A Tale[91]	novel	Butternut Valley of Otsego County, New York, 1763–1776
1843	Ned Myers: or Life before the Mast[92]	biography	of Cooper's shipmate who survived an 1813 sinking of a US sloop of war in a storm
1844	Afloat and Ashore: or The Adventures of Miles Wallingford. A Sea Tale[93]	novel	Ulster County & worldwide, 1795–1805
1844	Miles Wallingford: Sequel to Afloat and Ashore[94] British title: Lucy Hardinge: A Second Series of Afloat and Ashore (1844)[95]	novel	Ulster County & worldwide, 1795–1805
1844	Proceedings of the Naval Court-Martial in the Case of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, &c.
1845	Satanstoe: or The Littlepage Manuscripts, a Tale of the Colony[96]	novel	New York City, Westchester County, Albany, Adirondacks, 1758
1845	The Chainbearer; or, The Littlepage Manuscripts	novel	Westchester County, Adirondacks, 1780s (next generation)
1846	The Redskins; or, Indian and Injin: Being the Conclusion of the Littlepage Manuscripts	novel	Anti-rent wars, Adirondacks, 1845
1846	Lives of Distinguished American Naval Officers	biography
1847	The Crater; or, Vulcan's Peak: A Tale of the Pacific[97] (Mark's Reef)	novel	Philadelphia, Bristol (PA), & deserted Pacific island, early 19th century
1848	Jack Tier: or the Florida Reefs[98] a.k.a. Captain Spike: or The Islets of the Gulf	novel	Florida Keys, Mexican War, 1846
1848	The Oak Openings: or the Bee-Hunter[99]	novel	Kalamazoo River, Michigan, War of 1812
1849	The Sea Lions: The Lost Sealers[100]	novel	Long Island & Antarctica, 1819–1820
1850	The Ways of the Hour	novel	"Dukes County, New York", murder/courtroom mystery novel, legal corruption, women's rights, 1846
1850	Upside Down: or Philosophy in Petticoats	play	satirization of socialism
1851	The Lake Gun [101]	short story	Seneca Lake in New York, political satire based on folklore
1851	New York: or The Towns of Manhattan [102]	history	Unfinished, history of New York City, 1st pub. 1864