American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. For other uses, see Literature (disambiguation). ... This article is about the colonial history of the United States. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Theater of the United States is based in the Western tradition, mostly borrowed from the performance styles prevalent in Europe. ...

Overview

During its early history, America was a series of British colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States. Therefore, its literary tradition begins as linked to the broader tradition of English literature. However, unique American characteristics and the breadth of its production usually now cause it to be considered a separate path and tradition. The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian, V.S...

Colonial literature

Some of the earliest forms of American literature were pamphlets and writings extolling the benefits of the colonies to both a European and colonist audience. Captain John Smith could be considered the first American author with his works: A True Relation of ... Virginia ... (1608) and The General Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624). Other writers of this manner included Daniel Denton, Thomas Ashe, William Penn, George Percy, William Strachey, John Hammond, Daniel Coxe, Gabriel Thomas, and John Lawson. John Smith (1580-1631) was an English soldier and sailor, now chiefly remembered for his role in establishing the first permanent English colony in North America, and his brief association with the Native American princess Pocahontas. ... Daniel Denton (c. ... Thomas Ashe Thomas Ashe (12 January 1885 – 25 September 1917) born in Lispole, County Kerry, Ireland, a teacher, was a member of the Gaelic League, the Irish Republican Brotherhood as well as a founding member of the Irish Volunteers. ... For other uses, see William Penn (disambiguation). ... George Percy (September 4, ???1588) - 1631 was an English explorer and author. ... William Strachey (1572-1621) was an English writer and barrister, whose writings are among the primary sources for the history the English colonization of North America, and as one of the only narratives describing Powhatan society. ... Daniel Coxe was a governor of West Jersey from 1687 to 1688. ... John Lawson (1674-1711) was an Englishman who became the first Surveyor-General of North Carolina. ...

The religious disputes that prompted settlement in America were also topics of early writing. A journal written by John Winthrop discussed the religious foundations of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Edward Winslow also recorded a diary of the first years after the Mayflower's arrival. Other religiously influenced writers included Increase Mather and William Bradford, author of the journal published as a History of Plymouth Plantation, 1620–47. Others like Roger Williams and Nathaniel Ward more fiercely argued state and church separation. John Winthrop (12 January 1587/8–26 March 1649) led a group of English Puritans to the New World, joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 and was elected their first governor on April 8, 1630. ... A map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Capital Charlestown, Boston History  - Established 1629  - New England Confederation 1643  - Dominion of New England 1686  - Province of Massachusetts Bay 1692  - Disestablished 1692 The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called the Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it) was an English settlement on... Edward Winslow, 1651, by an anonymous artist Edward Winslow (1595–1655) was an American Pilgrim leader on the Mayflower. ... For other uses, see Mayflower (disambiguation). ... The Reverend Increase Mather (June 21, 1639 – August 23, 1723) was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay (now the Federal state of Massachusetts). ... William Bradford (March 19, 1590 – May 9, 1657) was a leader of the separatist settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, and was elected thirty times to be the Governor after John Carver died. ... The front page of the Bradford journal Written over a period of years by the leader of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation is the single most complete authority for the story of the Pilgrims and the early years of the Colony they founded. ... For other persons named Roger Williams, see Roger Williams (disambiguation). ... The Reverend Nathaniel Ward (1578 — October 1652) wrote the first constitution in North America in 1641. ...

Some poetry also existed. Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are especially noted. Michael Wigglesworth wrote a best-selling poem, The Day of Doom, describing the time of judgment. Nicholas Noyes was also known for his doggerel verse. Title page, second (posthumous) edition of Bradstreets poems, 1678 Anne Bradstreet (ca. ... For other uses, see Edward Taylor (disambiguation). ... Michael Wigglesworth (1631-1705) was a Puritan poet whose The Day of Doom was a bestseller in early New England. ... The Day of Doom (or dooms day, sometimes d-day) is a poem written by Michael Wigglesworth, published in 1662. ... Nicholas Noyes was a colonial minister in Salem, Massachusetts during the time of the Salem witch trials. ... Doggerel describes verse considered of little literary value. ...

Other early writings described conflicts and interaction with the Indians, as seen in writings by Daniel Gookin, Alexander Whitaker, John Mason, Benjamin Church, and Mary Rowlandson. John Eliot translated the Bible into the Algonquin language. Alexander Whitaker (1585-1616) was a Christian theologian, who settled in Virginia Colony in 1611, and established two churches near the Jamestown colony. ... John Mason was the name of two prominent figures in colonial New England prior to 1640. ... Dr. Benjamin Church Benjamin Church (August 24, 1734 - 1776) was the first Surgeon General of the Continental Army July 27, 1775 _ October 17, 1775. ... Historical marker in Princeton, Massachusetts commemorating Mary Rowlandsons release Mary White Rowlandson (1636 – January 5, 1711) was a colonial American woman, who wrote a vivid description of the nearly three months she spent living with Native Americans. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... Algonquin (or Algonkin) is an Algonquian language closely related to Ojibwe. ...

Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield represented the Great Awakening, a religious revival in the early 18th century that asserted strict Calvinism. Other Puritan and religious writers include Thomas Hooker, Thomas Shepard, Uriah Oakes, John Wise, and Samuel Willard. Less strict and serious writers included Samuel Sewall, Sarah Kemble Knight, and William Byrd. For other persons named Jonathan Edwards, see Jonathan Edwards (disambiguation). ... The Great Awakenings refer to several periods of dramatic religious revival in Anglo-American religious history. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Calvinism... Hookers Company reach the Connecticut, publishers: Estes & Lauriat, 1879 Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent Puritan religious and colonial leader remembered as one of the founders of the Colony of Connecticut. ... Thomas Shepard (1605-1649) was an American Puritan minister and a significant figure in early colonial New England. ... John Wise (August 1652 — April 8, 1725) was a Congregationalist reverend and political leader in Massachusetts during the American colonial period. ... Samuel Willard (1640-1707) was a Colonial clergyman. ... Samuel Sewall (March 28, 1652 - January 1, 1730). ... Sarah Kemble Knight (1666 - 1727) a preacher and traveler, born in Boston, the daughter of Thomas Kemble, a merchant. ... For other uses, see William Byrd (disambiguation). ...

The revolutionary period also contained political writings, including those by colonists Samuel Adams, Josiah Quincy, John Dickinson, and Joseph Galloway, a loyalist to the crown. Two key figures were Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine. Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin are esteemed works with their wit and influence toward the formation of a budding American identity. Paine's pamphlet Common Sense and The American Crisis writings are seen as playing a key role in influencing the political tone of the period. For other uses, see Samuel Adams (disambiguation). ... Josiah Quincy II (February 23, 1744 - April 26, 1775) was a famous American lawyer. ... John Dickinson (November 2, 1732 – February 14, 1808) was an American lawyer, artist and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. ... Joseph Galloway (1731–August 29, 1803) was an American Continental Congress Delegate from Pennsylvania; born at West River, Maryland; moved with his father to Pennsylvania in 1740; received a liberal schooling; studied law; was admitted to the bar and began practice in Philadelphia; member of the Pennsylvania House of... Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most well known Founding Fathers of the United States. ... For other persons of the same name, see Thomas Paine (disambiguation). ... Poor Richards Almanack (sometimes Almanac) was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of Poor Richard or Richard Saunders for the purpose of this work in the title. ... The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written by Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790; however, Franklin himself appears to have called the work his Memoirs. ... Common Sense by Thomas Paine Common Sense was a pamphlet first published on January 10, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War by Thomas Paine. ...

During the revolution itself, poems and songs such as "Yankee Doodle" and "Nathan Hale" were popular. Major satirists included John Trumbull and Francis Hopkinson. Philip Morin Freneau also wrote poems about the war's course. Yankee Doodle is a well-known US song, often sung patriotically today. ... For other persons named Nathan Hale, see Nathan Hale (disambiguation). ... John Trumbull (April 24, 1750-May 11, 1831), American poet, was born in what is now Watertown, Connecticut, where his father was a Congregational preacher. ... Francis Hopkinson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Philip Morin Freneau ( January 2, 1752 – December 18, 1832 ) was a United States poet and one of the most important writers/poets of The Age of Reason. He is often considered the first American poet, in a popular sense. ...

Early U.S. literature

James Fenimore Cooper portrait by John Wesley Jarvis, 1822.

In the post-war period, The Federalist essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay prepresented a historical discussion of government organization and republican values. Thomas Jefferson's United States Declaration of Independence, his influence on the Constitution, his autobiography, the Notes on the State of Virginia, and the mass of his letters have led to him being considered one of the most talented early American writers. Fisher Ames, James Otis, and Patrick Henry are also valued for their political writings and orations. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (592x717, 187 KB)James Fenimore Cooper portrait by John Wesley Jarvis, 1822, New York State Historical Association File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (592x717, 187 KB)James Fenimore Cooper portrait by John Wesley Jarvis, 1822, New York State Historical Association File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Cooper portrait by John Wesley Jarvis, 1822 James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. ... John Wesley Jarvis (1780-1840), American painter, nephew of the great John Wesley, was born at South Shields, England, and was taken to the United States at the age of five. ... Title page of an early Federalist compilation. ... Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757[1]—July 12, 1804) was an Army officer, lawyer, Founding Father, American politician, leading statesman, financier and political theorist. ... James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836), was an American politician and the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817), and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. ... John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, and jurist. ... Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 N.S.–4 July 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–09), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. ... The United States Declaration of Independence was an act of the Second Continental Congress, adopted on July 4, 1776, which declared that the Thirteen Colonies in North America were Free and Independent States and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to... Notes was the only full-length book authored by Thomas Jefferson. ... Fisher Ames Fisher Ames (9 April 1758 - 4 July 1808) was a Representative of the United States Congress from Massachusetts. ... This article is about the political advocate. ... Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 – June 6, 1799) was a prominent figure in the American Revolution, known and remembered primarily for his stirring oratory. ...

The first American novel is sometimes considered to be Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy (1789). Much of the early literature of the new nation struggled to find a uniquely American voice. European forms and styles were often transferred to new locales and critics often saw them as inferior. For example, Wieland and other novels by Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810) are often seen as imitations of the Gothic novels then being written in England. The Power of Sympathy (1789) is a novel written by William Hill Brown, usually considered to be the first American novel. ... Year 1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Wieland or The Transformation: An American Tale is a Gothic novel by Charles Brockden Brown, first published in 1798. ... This article is about the literary concept. ... Charles Brockden Brown (January 17, 1771 - February 22, 1810), an American novelist, historian, and magazine editor of the Early National period, is generally regarded by scholars as the most ambitious and accomplished US novelist before James Fenimore Cooper. ... Strawberry Hill, an English villa in the Gothic revival style, built by seminal Gothic writer Horace Walpole The gothic novel was a literary genre that belonged to Romanticism and began in the United Kingdom with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

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 and fantasy. Cooper's Leatherstocking tales about Natty Bumppo were popular both in the new country and abroad. This article is about the U.S.–U.K. war. ... Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American author of the early 19th century. ... William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 - June 12, 1878) an American romantic poet, journalist, political adviser, and homeopath. ... Cooper portrait by John Wesley Jarvis, 1822 James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, literary critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... The Masque of the Red Death is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in the May 1842 edition of Grahams Ladys and Gentlemans Magazine as The Mask of the Red Death. The story was adapted in 1964 by Roger Corman into a... This article is about the short story by Edgar Allan Poe. ... The Fall of the House of Usher is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. ... The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841. ... Mystery fiction is a distinct subgenre of detective fiction that entails the occurrence of an unknown event which requires the protagonist to make known (or solve). ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, each featuring the hero Natty Bumppo, otherwise known as Leatherstocking, Pathfinder, Deerslayer, or Hawkeye. ... The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, each featuring the hero Natty Bumppo, otherwise known as Leatherstocking, Pathfinder, Deerslayer, or Hawkeye. ...

Humorous writers were also popular and included Seba Smith and Benjamin P. Shillaber in New England and Davy Crockett, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, Johnson J. Hooper, Thomas Bangs Thorpe, Joseph G. Baldwin, and George Washington Harris writing about the American frontier. Seba Smith (September 14, 1792 - July 28, 1868) was an American humorist and writer. ... Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber (1814 - 1890) was an American humorist. ... This article is about the region in the United States of America. ... Colonel David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; usually referred to as Davy Crockett and by the popular title King of the Wild Frontier. He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the... Augustus Baldwin Longstreet (1790-1870) was an American humorist. ... Johnson J. Hooper (c. ... Thomas Bangs Thorpe (1815–1878) is an American author best known for the short story The Big Bear of Arkansas, which was first published in the periodical Spirit of the Times in 1841. ... George Washington Harris (March 20, 1814, Allegheny City, Pennsylvania - December 11, 1869, near Knoxville, Tennessee), was an American humorist. ...

The New England Brahmins were a group of writers connected to Harvard University and its seat in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The core included James Russell Lowell, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Boston Brahmins, also called the First Families of Boston, are the class of New Englanders who claim hereditary and cultural descent from the English Protestants who founded the city of Boston, Massachusetts and settled New England. ... Harvard redirects here. ... Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Middlesex Settled 1630 Incorporated 1636 Government  - Type Mayor-City Council  - Mayor Kenneth Reeves (D) Area  - Total 7. ... James Russell Lowell (b. ... Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet whose works include Paul Reveres Ride, A Psalm of Life, The Song of Hiawatha and Evangeline. He also wrote the first American translation of Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy and was one of the five members... Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. ...

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. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. ... Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early-to mid-19th century. ...

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. Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau[1]) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, and philosopher who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Amos Bronson Alcott (November 29, 1799–March 4, 1888) was an American teacher and writer. ... Margaret Fuller, by Marchioness Ossoli. ... George Ripley, sometime between 1849 and 1860: a detail from Mathew Bradys daguerrotype of the New York Tribune editorial staff George Ripley (1802-July 4, 1880) was an American social reformer, Unitarian, and Transcendentalist. ... Orestes Augustus Brownson (1803-1876) was a New England intellectual and activist, preacher and labor organizer. ... Jones Very (1813 - 1880) was an essayist, trancendentalist, tutor in Greek at Harvard, and, after he proclaimed himself the second coming of Christ, a resident at McLean’s Asylum. ...

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. This article is about the abolition of slavery. ... William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December 12, 1805–May 24, 1879) was a prominent United States abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. ... This article is about the abolitionist newspaper. ... John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and forceful advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. ... Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and novelist, whose Uncle Toms Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential, even in Britain. ... Uncle Toms Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, is American author Harriet Beecher Stowes fictional anti-slavery novel. ...

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. His masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, is the stark drama of a woman cast out of her community for committing adultery. Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. ... Twice-Told Tales is a short story collection in two volumes by Nathaniel Hawthorne first published in 1826. ... This article is about the region in the United States of America. ... This article is about the 1850 book. ...

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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, 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. This article is homosexual and should be burned the second in a series of The History of Literature. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... See also: 15th century in literature, other events of the 16th century, 17th century in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 16th century in literature, other events of the 17th century, 1700 in literature, list of years in literature. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... Modernist literature is the literary form of Modernism and especially High modernism; it should not be confused with modern literature, which is the history of the modern novel and modern poetry as one. ... Structuralism as a term refers to various theories across the humanities, social sciences and economics many of which share the assumption that structural relationships between concepts vary between different cultures/languages and that these relationships can be usefully exposed and explored. ... Deconstruction is a term in contemporary philosophy, literary criticism, and the social sciences, denoting a process by which the texts and languages of Western philosophy (in particular) appear to shift and complicate in meaning when read in light of the assumptions and absences they reveal within themselves. ... Post-structuralism is a body of work that followed in the wake of structuralism, and sought to understand the Western world as a network of structures, as in structuralism, but in which such structures are ordered primarily by local, shifting differences (as in deconstruction) rather than grand binary oppositions and... Postmodernism is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Hypertext fiction is a genre of electronic literature, characterized by the use of hypertext links which provides a new context for non-linearity in literature and reader interaction. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... Jorge Luis Borges Argentine literature is placed among the most important in Spanish language, with world-famous writers such as José Hernández, Jorge Luis Borges, Manuel Puig, Julio Cortázar and Ernesto Sábato. ... Canadian literature may be divided into two parts, based on their separate roots: one stems from the culture and literature from France; the other from Britain. ... Mexican literature plays an important role in Mexican culture. ... Australian literature in English began soon after the settlement of the country by Europeans. ... New Zealand claims as its own many writers, even those immigrants born overseas or those emigrants who have gone into exile. ... Pakistani literature, that is, the literature of Pakistan, as a distinct literature came into being when Pakistan gained its nationhooood as a sovereign state in 1947. ... Kannada literature refers to the literature in Kannada language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka. ... Tamil literature is literature in the Tamil language which most prominently includes the contributions of the Tamil country (or Tamizhagam) history, a large part of which constitutes the modern state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some parts of Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... Hindi literature (Hindi: हिंदी साहित्य) Hindi poetry is divided into four prominent forms or styles, being Bhakti (devotional - Kabir, Raskhan); Shringar (beauty - Keshav, Bihari); Veer-Gatha (extolling brave warriors); and Adhunik (modern). ... Urdu literature has a long and colorful history that is inextricably tied to the development of that very language, Urdu, in which it is written. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Indian English Literature. ... The first evidence of Bengali literature is known as Charyapada or Charyageeti, which were Buddhist hymns from the 8th century. ... Marathi literature (मराठी साहित्य) is one of the most flourishing, progressive and popular elements of Indian literature. ... Literature written in Malayalam language. ... Japanese literature spans a period of almost two millennia. ... Vietnamese literature is literature, both oral and written, created by Vietnamese-speaking people. ... African literature generally refers to the novels, short stories, and poetry written by African writers during the 20th century. ... South Africa has a diverse literary history. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... This article is about science fiction literature. ... The history of ideas is a field of research in history that deals with the expression, preservation, and change of human ideas over time. ... Intellectual history means either: the history of intellectuals, or: the history of the people who create, discuss, write about and in other ways propagate ideas. ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. ... For other uses, see Moby-Dick in popular culture. ... Billy Budd is a short novel finished around 1891 by Herman Melville. ...

Anti-transcendental works from Melville, Hawthorne, and Poe all comprise the Dark Romanticism subgenre of literature popular during this time. Dark romanticism, also referred to as anti-transcendentalism is a label applied to some gothic fiction. ...

American lyric

Walt Whitman, 1856.

America's two greatest 19th-century poets could hardly have been more different in temperament and style. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was a working man, a traveler, a self-appointed nurse during the American Civil War (1861-1865), and a poetic innovator. His magnum opus was Leaves of Grass, in which he uses a free-flowing verse and lines of irregular length to depict the all-inclusiveness of American democracy. Taking that motif one step further, the poet equates the vast range of American experience with himself without being egotistical. For example, in Song of Myself, the long, central poem in Leaves of Grass, Whitman writes: "These are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands, they are not original with me...." Walt Whitman, 1855, taken from the Library of Congress, frontispiece to Leaves of Grass The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States. ... Walt Whitman, 1855, taken from the Library of Congress, frontispiece to Leaves of Grass The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States. ... Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. ... Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Song of Myself is a poem by Walt Whitman that was included in his book of poems Leaves of Grass. ...

Whitman was also a poet of the body -- "the body electric," as he called it. In Studies in Classic American Literature, the English novelist D.H. Lawrence wrote that Whitman "was the first to smash the old moral conception that the soul of man is something `superior' and `above' the flesh." D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 - 2 March 1930) was one of the most important, certainly one of the most controversial, English writers of the 20th century, who wrote novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, and letters. ...

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), on the other hand, lived the sheltered life of a genteel unmarried woman in small-town Amherst, Massachusetts. Within its formal structure, her poetry is ingenious, witty, exquisitely wrought, and psychologically penetrating. Her work was unconventional for its day, and little of it was published during her lifetime. Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: Country United States State Massachusetts County Hampshire County Settled 1703 Incorporated 1775 Government  - Type Representative town meeting Area  - Town  27. ...

Many of her poems dwell on death, often with a mischievous twist. "Because I could not stop for Death" one begins, "He kindly stopped for me." The opening of another Dickinson poem toys with her position as a woman in a male-dominated society and an unrecognized poet: "I'm nobody! Who are you? / Are you nobody too?"

Realism, Twain, and James

Mark Twain, 1907.

Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910) was the first major American writer to be born away from the East Coast -- in the border state of Missouri. His regional masterpieces were the memoir Life on the Mississippi and the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain's style -- influenced by journalism, wedded to the vernacular, direct and unadorned but also highly evocative and irreverently funny -- changed the way Americans write their language. His characters speak like real people and sound distinctively American, using local dialects, newly invented words, and regional accents. Other writers interested in regional differences and dialect were George W. Cable, Thomas Nelson Page, Joel Chandler Harris, Mary Noailles Murfree (Charles Egbert Craddock), Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Henry Cuyler Bunner, and William Sydney Porter (O. Henry). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (518x640, 18 KB) Summary http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (518x640, 18 KB) Summary http://www. ... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humanist,[2] humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. ... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humanist,[2] humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Life on the Mississippi cover Life on the Mississippi is a memoir by Mark Twain detailing his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War. ... Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain is commonly accounted as one of the first Great American Novels. ... George Washington Cable (12 October 1844 - 31 January 1925) was a novelist notable for the realism of his portrayals of Creole life in his native Louisiana. ... Thomas Nelson Page (b. ... Joel Chandler Harris Joel Chandler Harris Joel Chandler Harris (December 8, 1848 - July 3, 1908) was an American journalist from Georgia, best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories: Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings (1881), Nights with Uncle Remus (1883), Uncle Remus and His Friends (1892), and Uncle... Mary Noailles Murfree (January 24, 1850 - July 31, 1922) was an American fiction writer of novels and short stories who wrote under the pen name Charles Egbert Craddock. Mary Noailles Murfree was born near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, January 24, 1850, in the house later celebrated in her novel, Where the Battle... Mary Noailles Murfree (January 24, 1850-July 31, 1922) was an American fiction writer of novels and short stories who wrote under the pen name Charles Egbert Craddock. ... Sarah Orne Jewett Sarah Orne Jewett (September 3, 1849 – June 24, 1909) was an American author whose works were set in her native New England. ... Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (October 31, 1852 – March 13, 1930) was a prominent female American writer of the Victorian era known for her short stories and novels of life in New England villages. ... Henry Cuyler Bunner (3 August 1855 - 11 May 1896) was an American novelist and poet born in Oswego, New York. ... William Sydney Porter in his thirties O. Henry is the pen name of American writer William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910). ...

William Dean Howells also represented the realist tradition through his novels, including The Rise of Silas Lapham and his work as editor of the Atlantic Monthly. William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist author. ... For other uses, see Realism (disambiguation). ... The Rise of Silas Lapham is a novel written by William Dean Howells in 1885 about the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility. ... The Atlantic Monthly (also known as The Atlantic) is an American literary/cultural magazine that was founded in November 1857. ...

Henry James (1843-1916) confronted the Old World-New World dilemma by writing directly about it. Although born in New York City, he spent most of his adult years in England. Many of his novels center on Americans who live in or travel to Europe. With its intricate, highly qualified sentences and dissection of emotional and psychological nuance, James's fiction can be daunting. Among his more accessible works are the novellas Daisy Miller, about an enchanting American girl in Europe, and The Turn of the Screw, an enigmatic ghost story. For other uses of this name, see Henry James (disambiguation). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Daisy Miller is an 1878 novella by Henry James. ... The Turn of the Screw may also refer to the opera by Benjamin Britten or an album by the band 1208. ...

Turn of the century

Ernest Hemingway in World War I uniform.

At the beginning of the 20th century, American novelists were expanding fiction's social spectrum to encompass both high and low life and sometimes connected to the naturalist school of realism. In her stories and novels, Edith Wharton (1862-1937) scrutinized the upper-class, Eastern-seaboard society in which she had grown up. One of her finest books, The Age of Innocence, centers on a man who chooses to marry a conventional, socially acceptable woman rather than a fascinating outsider. At about the same time, Stephen Crane (1871-1900), best known for his Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage, depicted the life of New York City prostitutes in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. And in Sister Carrie, Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) portrayed a country girl who moves to Chicago and becomes a kept woman. Hamlin Garland and Frank Norris wrote about the problems of American farmers and other social issues from a naturalist perspective. Download high resolution version (445x720, 76 KB) This work is copyrighted. ... Download high resolution version (445x720, 76 KB) This work is copyrighted. ... Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Naturalism is a movement in theater, film, and literature that seeks to replicate a believable everyday reality, as opposed to such movements as Romanticism or Surrealism, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment. ... Edith Wharton (January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... For other uses, see Age of innocence. ... For the U.S. Continental Congress delegate, see Stephen Crane (delegate). ... The Red Badge of Courage (1895) is an impressionistic novel by Stephen Crane about the meaning of courage, as it is discovered by Henry Fleming, a recruit in the American Civil War. ... Sister Carrie (1900) is a novel by Theodore Dreiser about a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream by first becoming a mistress to powerful men and later as a famous actress. ... Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American author of the naturalist school, known for dealing with the gritty reality of life. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Hamlin Hannibal Garland (September 14, 1860 – March 4, 1940) was an American novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer. ... For other persons of the same name, see Benjamin Norris. ...

More directly political writings discussed social issues and power of corporations. Some like Edward Bellamy in Looking Backward outlined other possible political and social frameworks. Upton Sinclair, most famous for his meat-packing novel The Jungle, advocated socialism. Other political writers of the period included Edwin Markham, William Vaughn Moody. Journalistic critics, including Ida M. Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens were labeled the The Muckrakers. Henry Adams' literate autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams also depicted a stinging description of the education system and modern life. Edward Bellamy, circa 1889. ... Looking Backward: 2000-1887 is a utopian novel by Edward Bellamy, a lawyer and writer from western Massachusetts, and was first published in 1888. ... Upton Sinclair Jr. ... For the episode of The Twilight Zone, see The Jungle (The Twilight Zone). ... Socialism is a broad array of ideologies and political movements with the goal of a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community for the purposes of increasing social and economic equality and cooperation. ... Charles Edwin Anson Markham (April 23, 1852 - March 7, 1940) was an American poet. ... William Vaughn Moody (1869 - 1910) was a U.S. dramatist and poet. ... Ida M. Tarbell, 1904 Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857–January 6, 1944) was a teacher, an author and journalist. ... Eric Parker is the most amazing kid alive and he will go on the win a national title at SYracuse University--71. ... McClures Magazine (cover, Jan, 1901) published many early muckraker articles. ... Henry Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian, journalist and novelist. ... The Education of Henry Adams records the struggle of Bostonian Henry Adams (1838-1918), in early old age, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth. ...

Experimentation in style and form soon joined the new freedom in subject matter. In 1909, Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), by then an expatriate in Paris, published Three Lives, an innovative work of fiction influenced by her familiarity with cubism, jazz, and other movements in contemporary art and music. Stein labeled a group of American literary notables who lived in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s as the "Lost Generation". Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American writer who became a catalyst in the development of modern art and literature. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... Three Lives (1909) was Gertrude Steins first published work. ... For other uses, see Lost Generation (disambiguation). ...

The poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was born in Idaho but spent much of his adult life in Europe. His work is complex, sometimes obscure, with multiple references to other art forms and to a vast range of literature, both Western and Eastern. He influenced many other poets, notably T. S. Eliot (1888-1965), another expatriate. Eliot wrote spare, cerebral poetry, carried by a dense structure of symbols. In "The Waste Land" he embodied a jaundiced vision of post-World War I society in fragmented, haunted images. Like Pound's, Eliot's poetry could be highly allusive, and some editions of The Waste Land come with footnotes supplied by the poet. In 1948, Eliot won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Ezra Pound in 1913. ... For other uses, see Idaho (disambiguation). ... Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965), was a poet, dramatist and literary critic. ... The Waste Land (1922)[1] is a highly influential 434-line modernist poem by T. S. Eliot. ... Nobel Prize in Literature medal. ...

American writers also expressed the disillusionment following upon the war. The stories and novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) capture the restless, pleasure-hungry, defiant mood of the 1920s. Fitzgerald's characteristic theme, expressed poignantly in The Great Gatsby, is the tendency of youth's golden dreams to dissolve in failure and disappointment. Sinclair Lewis and Sherwood Anderson also wrote novels with critical depictions of American life. John Dos Passos wrote about the war and also the U.S.A. trilogy which extended into the Depression. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American Jazz Age author of novels and short stories. ... This article is about the novel. ... Sinclair Lewis Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 — January 10, 1951) was an American novelist and playwright. ... Sherwood Anderson in 1933. ... John Roderigo Dos Passos (January 14, 1896 — September 28, 1970) was an American novelist and artist. ... The U.S.A. Trilogy is the major work of American writer John Dos Passos. ...

F. Scott Fitzgerald, photographed by Carl van Vechten, 1937.

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) saw violence and death first-hand as an ambulance driver in World War I, and the carnage persuaded him that abstract language was mostly empty and misleading. He cut out unnecessary words from his writing, simplified the sentence structure, and concentrated on concrete objects and actions. He adhered to a moral code that emphasized grace under pressure, and his protagonists were strong, silent men who often dealt awkwardly with women. The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms are generally considered his best novels; in 1954, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1125x1536, 263 KB) Alternative version: Image:F Scott Fitzgerald. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1125x1536, 263 KB) Alternative version: Image:F Scott Fitzgerald. ...