American Literature

The 19th century. Narrative

1783: USA Independence.
1798: Lyrical Ballads.
In this century, when the writers wanted to publish their works, it was not considered as a huge movement.
“American writers were led to the short story in part by what Henry James would have called the
“thinness” (small villages) of American life, its lack of a rich and complex social texture…/ the brief tale
seemed the natural form for their intense but isolated experiences. At the same time they were acutely
responsive to the developments of English and European Romanticism. This collision of local and
fragmented social experience with a cosmopolitan artistic vision proved ideal for the growth of the short
story” A.Walton Litz., Major American Short Stories. Oxford, 1975
This quotation shows the problem of literature which was present in the society of USA in the ninetieth
century. Problems related which short stories, for instance the unexpected ending. This was invented at that
time.

NEW ENGLAND TRANSCENDENTALISM

 It is the summit of American Romanticism
 Leaders: Emerson and Thoreau
 Manifesto: Nature written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1836, which is regarded as the Bible …..
 Club: Transcendentalist Club
 Journal: The Dial
 Sources: German idealism, Transcendentalism, and American Puritanism (founding belief and
ideology when the US was found)
Major features (ideas):
- Placing emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul (spirit), as the most important thing in the
universe. A new way of looking at the world.
- Stressing the importance of the individual - self-reliance. A new way of looking at man.
- Offering fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the spirit of God. (Nature was not purely
matter. It was alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. It was the garment of the
Oversoul). “The Universe is composed of Nature and the Soul”. “Spirit is present
everywhere” The individual soul communed with the Oversoul and was therefore divine.
[Nature as a teacher, in the sense of learning/ Oversoul]
 Influence
- New England Transcendentalism was important to American literature.
- It inspired a whole new generation of famous authors as Emerson
…..
A SUMMARY OF EMERSON’S IDEAS
The transcendence of the Oversoul. Emerson advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God
in nature. In his opinion, man is made in the image of God and is just a little less than Him. His Nature,
which is generally regarded as the Bible of Transcendentalism, records his “moment of ecstasy”, the
moment of losing one’s individuality.
The infinitude of man and human perfectibility. Emerson believes that the possibilities for man to develop
and improve himself are infinite. Man should and could be self-reliant. Everyone makes himself by making
his world, and he makes the world by making himself. The world exists for the individual and man should
decide upon their own destinies. The regeneration of the individual leads to the regeneration of society.
Emerson’s ideas was an expression of spirit of his time, the hope that man can become the best person he
could hope to be.
Nature as symbolic of God. In the eyes of Emerson “nature is the vehicle of thought” and “particular
natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts”. Thus everything bears a secondary and an ulterior
sense. A flowing river indicates the ceaseless motion of the universe. The seasons correspond to the life span
of man. The ant is the image of man himself, small in body but mightly in heart.

EMERSON’S AESTHETICS
Emerson believes that good poetry and true art should reach, serve as a moral purification.
Emerson emphasizes ideas, symbols and imaginative words.
He advocated that American writer…
…..

EMERSON’S INFLUENCE
Emerson’s importance in the intellectual history of America lies in the fact that he embodied a new
nation’s desire and struggle to assert its own identity in its formative period.
His aesthetics brought about revolution…
-…..

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

……..

Thoreau is significant as a naturalist who emphasized the dynamic ecology of the natural world. Above all,
Thoreau’s quiet, one-man revolution is living at Walden..
……

THE REPUTATION OF HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Emerson: “He was bred to no profession; he never went to church; he never voted…”

HERMAN MELVILLE (1819-1891)

Sometimes, you might think of life as regard* of jokes.  “There are certain queer times and occasions
in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke”
Herman Melville, Moby Dick.
THEMES OF MOBY DICK
 Search for truth. The story deals with the human pursuit of truth and the meaning of existence.
 Conflict between Good and Evil.
 Conflict between Man and Nature.
 Isolation between man and man; man and nature; man and society.
 Solipsism

SYMBOLS
1. The Pequod.
The Pequod is a symbol of doom. It is painted a gloomy black and covered in whale teeth and
bone….
2. Moby Dick
Moby Dick possesses various symbolic meanings for various individuals.
-Symbol of nature for human beings, because it is mysterious, powerful.
-Symbol of evil for the Captain Ahab.
-Symbol of good and purity because of its whiteness.
3. Voyage of the Pequod
Symbol of the pursuit of ideals, adventure and the hunt in the vast wilderness.