Resumen literatura norteamericana del siglo XIX, Apuntes de Literatura inglesa

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NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE THE AMERICAN 19TH CENTURY AN OVERVIEW  Land mass quadrupled (by conquest, purchase, or treaty)  Population growth  Civil War: the bloodiest war in the country’s history  Conflicts with Native Americans, Spanish and Mexico  By 1900, the USA produced 35% of the manufactured goods  Population progressively relocated to urban centres  Population: free an enslaved African Americans, Natives Americans nations, people of English, Welsh, Irish, German, Scottish, French descendent  Religious variety: Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans…  Immigrants from Scandinavia, China, Austria-Hungary, Poland, Russia, Greece, Italy, ...  From agrarian industry to heavy industry  Reform movements: abolitionism, suffragism, the temperance movement, labour unions  Immigration challenges (e.g. Chinese Exclusion Act 1882)  Reformer’s victories: Civil War Amendments, Married Women’s Property Act, regulations to protect workers UNIT 1: THE NATIVE AMERICAN QUESTION. CAPTIVITY NARRATIVES  The term makes reference to stories of non-Indians captured by Native Americans  Cowboys and Indians stories are the most popular manifestation of this literary form, but they are a relatively late adaptation of genre  A large number were written by and about women  Almost invariably these texts concern the capture of an individual or several family members rather than large groupings  Heavily influenced by spiritual autobiographies and sermons  Early texts: edification (more didactic, teach values) / later ones: entertainment (have fun)  Early texts used strategies from: o Sentimental fiction: fiction that makes people cry, that moves you (e.g. Dickens)  make the readers connect with the text on a sentiment level o Gothic fiction: elements that make people feel uncomfortable, afraid (e.g. Edgar Allan Poe) o They were mostly epistolary Reasons for taking prisoners  Revenge  Trade with white people  Bounty or ransom: asked white people for money in exchange for a person  Adoption (most important reasons): replace a member of the tribe who have died. Native Americans did not have the same constructs about racial purity Difference between narrators  Male narrators/protagonists (active-private and public spheres) o Emphasis on physical and mental qualities, strength, endurance and intelligence  Female narrators/protagonist (socially constructed as passive subjects) o Domestic and private role o Emphasis on physical frailty and their emotional nature o Destruction of families (discussion of motherhood and the relations to their babies) Conventions used in these texts  From protected innocence to confrontation with evil  Forced existence in alien society  No possibility to resist  Yearning for freedom, but also, they are afraid of escaping  Struggle between assimilation and maintaining a separate cultural identity  Growth in moral and spiritual strength  Deliverance Patterns  Separation: attack and capture  families  Torment: physical or psychological suffering  Transformation (accommodation / adoption)  Return (escape, release, or redemption)  Perpetuation of stereotypes: texts written for white people to white people and talking about Native Americans Narrative of the captivity and restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. Discussion 1) Rowlandson’s text is profoundly autobiographical. What are the advantages/disadvantages of writing such a text in the autobiographical mode? On the one hand, an autobiographical text is not objective since the author explains the events as she wants, so she can manipulate us. On the other hand, it is more attractive to the reader because they think that she is explaining a true event 2) What incidents and descriptions has Rowlandson decided to include in her narrative? What might she have omitted? How does she selection of material/episodes shape our reading of the narrative? She describes some violent incidents (her suffering as a mother). In addition, she may have omitted the fact that Native Americans are also people, she presents the Native Americans in a very simplistic way (they are only violent). She never talks about how Natives treated her (perhaps she was abused since most women who were captured were abused). Moreover, she presents the Native Americans as savages, animals and, thus, she wants to change people’s view of Native Americans, she wants the reader to see everything from her point of view. 3) How convincing do you find Rowlandson’s depiction of her captors? Why? It is not very much convincing because they are mended as demons (the description is biased). For example, there is a moment where they are dancing, and she explains it as a satanic dance. 4) How does Rowlandson herself understand her experience with Native Americans? Discuss Rowlandson’s view on faith. She describes her experience as something positive because she has learned through her captivity and, thus, she is thankful for the suffering 5) How is Rowlandson’s account illustrative of Winthrop’s “City on a Hill” mentality? Michelle Burnham’s article “The journey Between: Liminality and Dialogism in Mary Rowlandson’s Captivity Narrative”  2 voices in Rowlandson’s narrative o A victimized, spiritually fallen women who regains her sense of devotional direction by submitting to a trial of faith and then writing a spiritual autobiography o A tough, victorious survivor, and thereby a chosen child of God, who adapts to her situation by using strategies that include barter, manipulation, and adaptation of certain “savage” characteristics of the Wamponoags Slotkin, Richard. Regeneration Through Violence  In a captivity narrative a single individual, usually a woman, stands passively under the strokes of evil, awaiting rescue by the grace of God. The sufferer represents the whole, chastened body of Puritan society. The Captive’s ultimate redemption by the grace of Christ is linked to the regeneration of the soul in conversion. The ordeal is at once threatful of pain and evil and promising of ultimate salvation.  Technology: often an unnecessary distraction. He saw the practical benefits of new inventions but also warned that these innovations couldn’t address the real challenges of personal happiness Civil Disobedience: Discussion Questions 1) What is Thoreau’s thesis? You must be consequent with you own ideas 2) What is the meaning of the first paragraph? It criticises the actions of the government, which is elected by citizens to represent them, but they end up acting as they want. For instance, the Mexican-American War was controversial because citizens were against the idea of declaring war to Mexico, because they believed there was no need to start a new conflict. However, the MP convinced the government to go to war, ignoring what citizens wanted. 3) The “individual”, according to Thoreau. He states that we should be ruled by our conscience and “be men first, and subjects afterwards”. “A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be “clay””. In other words, we should not let ourselves be manipulated, but follow our own ideals 4) What does the following mean? “The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies”. The citizens do not have conscious since they just follow the instructions of the government as if they were machines. 5) Why are people passive, according to Thoreau? Regarding slavery, Thoreau states that people are passive since they are concern about Negroes situation and think it is wrong, but they do not do anything because they benefit from slavery  “opposed in opinion, but not in action” UNIT 3: AMERICAN POETRY Walt Whitman (1819-1892)  Born in Long Island (2nd of 8 surviving kids)  Parents interested in Quakerism (religious group established in Pennsylvania). Financial problems  Printer and teacher  He decided to become a poet in 1850 he started writing Leaves of Grass. In addition, he continued re- writing and revising this work until his death  He opposed the expansion of slavery  Volunteer (nurse) during the Civil War Leaves of Grass  Leaves of grass is his major work (Song of myself is one of the poems in the collection)  He kept working on it all his life Walden (1854) “The mass of men leads lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From desperate city you go into the desperate country and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind” “I sometimes wonder that we can be so frivolous, I may almost say, as to attend to the gross but somewhat foreign form of servitude called Negro Slavery, there are so many keen and subtle masters that enslave both north and south. It is hard to have a southern overseer; it is worse to have a northern one; but worst of all when you are the slave-driver of yourself” - South: plantations  the owners used enslaved people to produce crops and cotton which were sold in Europe - North: factories  the owners benefitted from enslaved work  The origin: Emerson’s essay The poet. He said that the US needed it own poet to write about the new country  He received very bad reviews for Leaves of Grass (accusations of Whitman’s support to free love and homosexuality) His writing and influence  He revolutionized American poetry  He introduced free verse (no systematic rhyme)  Language and topics he dealt with were controversial  Also known as the “Democratic poet”  Poet of the urban (modern metropolis)  Symbolic relationship between the poet and society  He influenced many poets and writers: Hart Crane, Langston Hughes, Robert Lowell, Allen Ginsberg, D.H. Lawrence, Federico García Lorca, Pablo Neruda, among many others Song of myself (1855)  The title suggests a celebration of the individual (“I celebrate myself”)  Unconventional form (unfinished sentences, no rhyme...)  Equality: the human being as part of creation o “And all the men ever born also my brother / all the women my sisters and lovers”. A very radical idea in a country in which slavery was legal  The grass is a very powerful symbol, it reflects the relationship between human beings and nature o Vegetation  related to generation and life o Nature does not establish distinctions between human beings (“Growing among black folks as among white”)  Very sensual, organic and natural (it was seen as scandalous). Importance of the senses  “You shall listen to all sides and filter to them from yourself”  linked to Thoreau idea of self-reliance. In addition, he is encouraging us to experience things and be ourselves.  “But I do not talk of the beginning and the end” he does not believe in death  Importance of the present moment. We should appreciate the moment and live it to the fullest.  Explicit and erotic: descriptions of sexual intercourse  Lists and enumerations, he writes a catalogue of things that he sees. o He makes no distinction between acceptable and unacceptable situations (talks about suicide, adulterous relationships, …). This is why he is known as a “democratic poet”, because he includes everything and everyone in his poems  Idea that there is more to a being than its physical appearance (“I am not contained between my hat and my boots”  Devotes a part of the poem to talk about a runway enslaved person. He is defending the right to protect enslaved people and treat them as equals Intertextual reference to the New Testament Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) Harold Bloom “If you are American, then Walt Whitman is your imaginative father and mother, even if, like myself, you have never composed a line of verse” Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe “You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass… He has expressed that civilization, “up to date”, as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him” “The most eccentric, but also innovative, daring, and determined women artist of the 19th century; she exploded all the conventions by which 19th century literature was written” (Showalter, 2009) “Dickinson’s condition and subject was isolation [..]Her poetic mission, was to explore the dimensions of her cell: to find out what could be felt or known, what surmised or guessed at all, and what could be said and communicated within the constraints of experience and expression, that, for her, were the conditions of living”  By the age of 30, she had become an almost total recluse; rarely leaving her father’s house and garden in Amherst (MA), dressing completely in white, and conducting most of her friendships by letter  She never married. However, she did cultivate intense intellectual companionships with several men, whom she called her “tutors” (e.g. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Charles Wadsworth)  She wrote about 1.800 poems, but only 7 were published in her lifetime (6 of them without her consent) Poem 36  Loss: she lost two important people in her life and begged God for she did not want to lose them (“Twice have stood in a beggar before the door of God”)  “Angels” symbolize new people that have come into her life to take care of her  God is “Burglar! Banker- Father!” because he takes people way from us, gives us new blessings and is the one that care for us  “I am poor once more¿” she depicts life as a circle in which you constantly win and lose Poem 112  She discusses success. In the first stanza, she talks about how is more satisfactory and empowering to win when you don’t know the meaning of victory. To truly appreciate something, you have to really want it first and fight for it (“To comprehend a nectar / Requires sorest need”)  Military metaphor to exemplify what she introduces in the first stanza. She says that people that always win cannot really appreciate victory. It a discussion about how we don’t appreciate things until we don’t have them. Poem 269  Love and passion: “Wild nights – Wild nights / Were I with thee / Our luxury”  she expresses he desire to be with her lover  Second stanza: a metaphor that expresses that she has already reached her destruction  Third stanza: “Eden” stands to pleasure and freedom, and that is what she feels when she is with her lover  sexual desire Poem 340  Extended metaphor that refers to anxiety and psychological state. There is always intuitive sound and painful thoughts in her mind  she is describing a mental breakdown  Very powerful imaginary to depict her state of mind and how her brain works. Poem 598  She talks about the brain. She is inspired and fascinated by the capacities of the brain o It “is wider than the sky” because our imagination its limitless and powerful o It “is deeper than the sea” because it can absorb knowledge and store many things o It “is just the weight of God” because it is a creative force Poem 760  “Pain – has an element of Blank” because sometimes, when you are suffering, we cannot move past it. It has the power to erase the moments in which we don’t feel pain and often feels endless. It a profound human experience UNIT 4: SLAVERY AND RACIAL RELATIONS IN AMERICA The slave narrative Hume: “I am apt to suspect the negroes and in general all other species of men (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior to the whites. There never was a civilized nation of any other complexion than white, Biographical facts  Irish father, mother of French ancestry  She spoke French and English: bilingual and bicultural  Civil War in St. Louis (a divided city)  Her family had slaves in the house  Her half brother enlisted in the Confederate army, and died of typhoid fever  Married to Oscar Chopin liven in New Orleans  Her husband died of malaria, so she was left alone with six children  She started to write and publish short stories and a novel: At Fault (1890)  Active in St. Louis literary and culture circles, discussing the works of many wirters, including Hegel, Zola, and George Sand  Famous for her local color writing, her stories about the South, courageous women, and the issue of race  In 1989, she published The Awakening o Very controversial o A few critics praised the novel’s artistry, but most were negative o It took half of a century for people to grasp what she has accomplished with her work Questions 1. What did you think of the story? 2. The story is known as “Desiree’s Baby”. Originally, it was titled “The Father of Desiree’s Baby”. Which title do you prefer? Why? 3. Scholars struggle to place this story within a single literary movement. Some see it as a realist story, others as naturalist, and others as romantic. Find elements in the story that support the three options o Romantic: drama, sentimentalism o Realistic: portrays a reality of the United States 4. How does the story depict the theme of racial identity? The issue of the story is to determine if the baby is Black or not  Racial identity changes Desirée and her baby’s life. References to her “obscure orgin” 5. The story deals with survival. Where you can see it? 6. Find the meaning of the following French Words: “Desirée”, “La Blanche”, and “L’Albri”. Do you think they are symbolic? If so, how? o Desirée´= much desired o La blanche o L’albri = shelter, the meaning of the name is kind of ironic since despite feeling safe at first, she is finally rejected by her husband 7. Although the main focus of the story is race, it does comment on gender as well. How? 8. Find elements in the story that foreshadow the ending 9. What do you think happens to Desirée? What evidence is there in the text to support your opinion? 10. How does religion feature in the story? UNIT 5: AMERICAN GOTHIC Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)  Writer, editor, and literary critic  Known for his poetry and short stories (mostly tales of mystery and the macabre)  Regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States  One of the country's earliest short story writers ( a "very American" genre)  Critics consider him to be the inventor of detective fiction and an important contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction  Born in Boston in a family of actors (father abandoned them; mother died)  Poe was adopted by John and Frances Allan of Richomond Virginia  Allan wanted him to prepare for a legal career, but Poe left for Boston where he started publishing his first poems. Influenced by Coleridge, and other English Romantic poets  Poe saw “the poet” as a priest or shaman  1836: he married his cousin Virginia  He worked as an editor of various journals including “Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine”, “Graham’s Magazine”, “New York Mirror”, “Godey’s Lady’s Book”  In 1835 he attracted attention with one of his first stories: “MS found in a Bottle”  This story was followed by others that appealed to the contemporary taste for violent humour and the macabre  Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque (1840) first collection. In its preface: o Poe claimed that many of his stories were Gothic because they had horror as their “thesis” o But that terror was not of the conventional kind, since it had little to do with the usual Gothic paraphernalia; it was, instead, a “terror of the soul”  “In his Gothic stories, he first destabilizes the reader by using unreliable narrators: madmen and liars [..] and then he locates the terror within, as something that springs from and bears down upon the inner life. In Poe’s stories, the source of mystery and anxiety is something that remains inexplicable”  The cause of Poe’s death remains mystery  alcoholism, syphilis, rabies, cholera???  Influence: o Charles Baudelaire o Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: “each [of Poe’s detective stories] is a root from which a whole literature has developed” o Jules Verne and H.G. Wells  Among those who disliked Poe: Emerson, Yeats, Huxley Gothic fiction  Origin: English author Horace Walpole The castle of Otranto (1764)  hyperbolic language and high-pitched emotions o It originated in England in the second half of the 18th century o Very successful in the 19th century: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) o Parody: Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey 1818  “Gothic” refers to the pseudo-medieval buildings, emulating Gothic architecture, in which many of these stories take place. However, American Gothic works tend to transform European architecture into American landscape as material for intriguing hauntings. This extreme form of Romanticism was very popular in England and Germany “The tell-tale heart” (1843)  Unreliable narrator: explains the story from his point of view and tries to justify his actions (he killed a man, but he tries to convince us that he is not crazy). The story undermines his discourse, they contradict each other (Knowledge of the reader vs. experience of the narrator) “The Philosophy of Composition” (1846) - Length: o “The initial consideration was that of the extent. If any literary work is too long to be read at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression for, if two sittings be required, the affairs of the world interfere, and everything like totality is at once destroyed” - Impression o “I prefer commencing with consideration of an effect. Keeping originality always in view -for he is false to himself who ventures to dispense with so obvious and so easily attainable a source of interest- I say to myself, in the first place, “of the innumerable effects, or impressions, of which the heart, the intellect, or the soul is susceptible, what one shall I, in the present occasion, select?”  We never know the reason why he killed the man  He keeps highlighting his cleverness and skill in committing the crime  The story discusses the psychological dimension of criminal minds and their mental deterioration