American literature  

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-{{Template}}'''American literature''' refers to written or [[literature|literary work]] produced in the area of the [[United States]] and [[Colonial America]]. It owes a debt to [[European literature]] and [[British literature]].+{{Template}}'''American literature''' refers to written or [[literature|literary work]] produced in the area of the [[United States]] and [[Colonial America]]. It owes a debt to [[European literature]] and [[British literature]] but has a [[unique American style]] and its own epic, the [[Great American Novel]].
==Unique American style== ==Unique American style==
-With the [[War of 1812]] and an increasing desire to produce uniquely American work, a number of key new literary figures appeared, perhaps most prominently [[Washington Irving]], [[William Cullen Bryant]], [[James Fenimore Cooper]], and [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. Irving, often considered the first writer to develop a unique American style (although this is debated) wrote humorous works in ''[[Salmagundi]]'' and the well-known satire ''[[A History of New York, by Diedrich Knickerbocker]]'' (1809). Bryant wrote early romantic and nature-inspired poetry, which evolved away from their European origins. In 1832, Poe began writing short stories -- including "[[The Masque of the Red Death]]," "[[The Pit and the Pendulum]]," "[[The Fall of the House of Usher]]," and "[[The Murders in the Rue Morgue]]" -- that explore previously hidden levels of human psychology and push the boundaries of fiction toward [[mystery fiction|mystery]] and [[fantasy]]. Cooper's [[Leatherstocking]] tales about [[Natty Bumppo]] were popular both in the new country and abroad. 
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-In 1836, [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] (1803-1882), an ex-minister, published a startling nonfiction work called ''Nature'', in which he claimed it was possible to dispense with organized religion and reach a lofty spiritual state by studying and responding to the natural world. His work influenced not only the writers who gathered around him, forming a movement known as [[Transcendentalism]], but also the public, who heard him lecture.  
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-Emerson's most gifted fellow-thinker was perhaps [[Henry David Thoreau]] (1817-1862), a resolute nonconformist. After living mostly by himself for two years in a cabin by a wooded pond, Thoreau wrote ''[[Walden]]'', a book-length memoir that urges resistance to the meddlesome dictates of organized society. His radical writings express a deep-rooted tendency toward individualism in the American character. Other writers influenced by Transcendentalism were [[Bronson Alcott]], [[Margaret Fuller]], [[George Ripley]], [[Orestes Brownson]], and [[Jones Very]]. 
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-The political conflict surrounding [[Abolitionism]] inspired the writings of [[William Lloyd Garrison]] and his paper ''[[The Liberator]]'', along with poet [[John Greenleaf Whittier]] and [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]] in her world-famous ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]''. 
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-In 1837, the young [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] (1804-1864) collected some of his stories as ''[[Twice-Told Tales]]'', a volume rich in symbolism and occult incidents. Hawthorne went on to write full-length "romances," quasi-allegorical novels that explore such themes as guilt, pride, and emotional repression in his native [[New England (U.S.)|New England]]. His masterpiece, ''[[The Scarlet Letter]]'', is the stark drama of a woman cast out of her community for committing adultery.  
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-Hawthorne's fiction had a profound impact on his friend [[Herman Melville]] (1819-1891), who first made a name for himself by turning material from his seafaring days into exotic novels. Inspired by Hawthorne's example, Melville went on to write novels rich in philosophical speculation. In ''[[Moby Dick]]'', an adventurous whaling voyage becomes the vehicle for examining such themes as obsession, the nature of evil, and human struggle against the elements. In another fine work, the short novel ''[[Billy Budd (novel)|Billy Budd]]'', Melville dramatizes the conflicting claims of duty and compassion on board a ship in time of war. His more profound books sold poorly, and he had been long forgotten by the time of his death. He was rediscovered in the early decades of the 20th century.  
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-Anti-transcendental works from Melville, Hawthorne, and Poe all comprise the [[Dark romanticism|Dark Romanticism]] subgenre of literature popular during this time. 
== See also == == See also ==
*''[[Love and Death in the American Novel]]'' by [[Fiedler]] *''[[Love and Death in the American Novel]]'' by [[Fiedler]]
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American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. It owes a debt to European literature and British literature but has a unique American style and its own epic, the Great American Novel.

Unique American style

See also




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