ABSTRACT
This comprehensive history of American Literature traces its development from the earliest colonial writings of the late 1500s through to the present day. This lively, engaging and highly accessible guide:
- offers lucid discussions of all major influences and movements such as Puritanism, Transcendentalism, Realism, Naturalism, Modernism and Postmodernism
- draws on the historical, cultural, and political contexts of key literary texts and authors
- covers the whole range of American literature: prose, poetry, theatre and experimental literature
- includes substantial sections on native and ethnic American literatures
- explains and contextualises major events, terms and figures in American history.
This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to situate their reading of American Literature in the appropriate religious, cultural, and political contexts.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|138 pages
A superpower in the making: beginnings to World War I
chapter 1|44 pages
Beginnings to 1810
chapter 2|46 pages
Towards cultural independence: 1810 to the Civil War
part II|130 pages
The American century