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Secondary |19th Century Primary Sources Here you'll find, in PDF format, a series of secondary sources on topics from American Puritanism to Transcendentalism To view these files, you may (if it's not already installed on your computer) have to download and install the FREE (that's free) reader. Click here to be directed to the Adobe website page which contains the reader (did I mention it was free?).
Bibliography of Secondary Sources for the Study of American Literature The best starting point is the series The Cambridge History of American Literature edited by Sacvan Bercovitch et al. Divided into several books (organized by chronology and genre), the volumes you should acquaint yourself with for this course are Volume I: 1590-1820 and Prose Writing 1820-1864 Volume II (these are well worth a birthday or Christmas present [though a bit pricey]). You should also get a good, brief overview of world literature (I strongly recommend The Reader's Companion to World Literature by Lillian Herlands Hornstein), that lists authors and provides book synopses and other information. It'll help familiarize the names and themes of various writers (and make you sound more intelligent at cocktail parties - or beer blasts). I recently discovered two books I wish I had as an undergraduate -- A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature by Wilfred L. Guerin (and those erstwhile companions) et al. Published by Norton, it takes a core set of readings -- Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," Shakespeare's Hamlet, Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," and Walker's "Everyday Use" -- and illustrates different ways of reading them. This is a perfect introduction to literary criticism -- and well written to boot. The second text is Lois Tyson's Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide, which explains several contemporary approaches to literature (psychoanalytic, Marxist, feminist, etc.) and, most importantly, lists a series of questions each type of critics asks. The texts which follow are by some of the major critics in American literature. Reading these works should prepare you for further study in the field. Baym, Nina. Women's Fiction: A Guide to Novels by and about Women in America (1820-1870), 1978. As the title suggests, this is an overview of "Women's Fiction" which sets out the primary themes of the genre, and analyzes many of the important texts (many of which are in the primary list). Lucid and engaging, it is an exemplar of historical and analytical research. Douglas, Ann. The Feminization of American Culture, 1977. A jeremiad against nineteenth sentimentality, best read in tandem with Tompkins' Sensational Designs. Its strength lies in the details of its argument, which provide a vivid portrait of religious life in ante and post bellum America. And since religion was the guiding social force, it amounts to a cultural reading of the period. Reynolds, David. Beneath the American Renaissance, 1989. A fascinating look at the popular readings that both fed and rebelled against established (read middle-class) culture. By contrasting and comparing less known but more popular writers with the American canon of Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Dickinson, Poe, and Hawthorne, this book breaths life into the period, illustrating the culture's fears and desires by what they read. Reynolds ranges widely, quoting from many long forgotten sources which fill in the background of our lives. He reminds us that audiences have long wanted sex, violence, and crime in their entertainments - and they have always gotten what they wanted. Slotkin, Richard. Regeneration Through Violence The Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600-1860. While throughout his text Slotkin promotes a particular argument (that our culture is based upon myths and shaped by violence), this is one of the most invigorating readings on Colonial American literature that I've come across. He deconstructs the many myths of America, and in the process illustrates the way words shape meaning, and in turn, shape culture. Tompkins, Jane. Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860, 1985. Similar to Reynolds, Tompkins is interested in, as she notes, "what kind of work is this novel trying to do?" (38). This cultural perspectives illuminates her readings of seldom taught but immensely popular writers of the period such as James Feinmore Cooper, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Susan Warner, and she makes a persuasive argument for the necessity of studying writers long dismissed as merely "popular" or "sentimental." A few reference works in our library might be helpful as well: American Colonial Writers, 1606-1734 Vol. 24, and The American Renaissance in New England, Vol. 1, both in the Dictionary of Literary Biography series. For selected works on individual writers, consult the bibliography pages (at the end) in your textbook. Primary Texts Annotated List of Novels Therefore, I've assembled a short list of some well-known popular novels that (after you read them) will make you the star of any American Literature class. Cummins, Maria Susana The Lamplighter (1854) Lippard, George. Quaker City (1845) His early experience as a Philadelphia legal clerk and reporter exposed him to the inequities and corruption of nineteenth century urban life. Viewing fiction as a vehicle for reform, he committed himself to exposing the seamy underside of the cities by confronting topics -- the abuses of capitalism and the upper class, the corruption of the judicial system, socialism, sexuality, abortion, adultery, occultism, violence and murder -- with a verve and directness remarkable for its time. Based on a true story, Quaker City; or, The Monks of Monk Hall, wove elements of sensation, pornographic, reform, temperance, occultist, and nativist fiction, into a labyrinthine plot centered around the seduction of Mary Arlington, a naive young girl, by Gustavus Lorrimer, a wealthy libertine, and the murderous revenge of Byrnewood, her brother. The Monk Hall of the title, once a convent, is now a private club where bankers, clergymen, lawyers and the wealthy remove their pious masks and revel in drink, gambling and illicit sex, all under the watchful eye of the door-keeper, Devil-bug. Filled with trap doors and secret passages, the Hall symbolizes both the corruption of contemporary life, and its ability to hide behind a genteel facade. Its many subplots (a hallmark of Lippard's narrative method), ranging from social climbing via adultery and murder to the establishment of a religious cult, coupled with the continual appearance of "heaving bosoms," assured the novel's success. Alternately attacked and praised, its lurid rendition of city life prompted a flood of imitative "City" novels. Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick (1851) Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) Warner, Susan Wide Wide World (1850) An early domestic novel which repeats the pattern of an orphaned girl who gradually learns she must submit to God's will. Its power is derived from the fully drawn portrait of the heroine, Ellen Montgomery, and the narrative drive, which keeps you turning the page. In its detailing of the women's domestic duties, it's one of those "window" texts that shed light on the habits and culture of the period.
Links To Primary Sources These sources are saved in Adobe Acrobat files. While you probably have the reader installed on your computer, if the link does not open, go to the Adobe website, install the free reader, and click again. These are rather large files and may take a while to load so be patient. Save to your computer for offline viewing. 1848 essay on "The Philosophy of the Ancient Hindoos" Sensation Tales Annuals I've included two sections here that cover the first 100 (or so) pages of a 500+ page text. Together, they should give you an idea of what the text offered readers. Note: this file takes a while to load The Token and Atlantic Souvenir (1836) I've included the first 50 pages (or so) of the text, along with stories by an unnamed author, "The Man of Adamant" (it also includes his "The Great Carbuncle"). This same author later accrued fame by writing a novel called The Scarlet Letter. I've also included one story "The Tiara" which comes before "The Adamant Man" to give a perspective on Hawthorne's contemporaries. I've also included a sketch entitled "Mrs. Hutchinson" by Hawthorne, which may illuminate her symbolic use in The Scarlet Letter. Reading texts these books is like looking into the window of an idealized 19th century American house - with an emphasis on the word idealized. These works often tell us more about the aspirations and desires of a culture than the reality. They represent what arbiters of behavior - writers, clergy, politicians, publishers - deemed as correct and productive. The reality can be found in the journals, diaries and letters, which show that the house was not always in order - and as the excerpt below shows, often had peepholes.
I wonder what our Puritan friend Bradford would do if he got a hold of Hoffman . . . .
© 2009 David Bordelon
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