Exploring the evolution of American literature from 1492 to 1820, this work examines the diverse voices and cultural influences that shaped early American writing. It delves into the historical context, highlighting key authors and their contributions, as well as the themes of identity, colonization, and the quest for freedom. The book provides insights into how literature reflected and influenced societal changes during this formative period, making it a crucial resource for understanding the foundations of American literary tradition.
Slavný americký román, jenž se stal po právu jedním z pilířů moderní americké prózy. V době svého vzniku v roce 1884 nepřinesl Marku Twainovi úspěch jako předchozí román o Tomu Sawyerovi. Byl stažen z amerických knihoven jako kniha poskytující špatný příklad mládeži. Vždyť vybrat si za vypravěče kluka ze spodiny společnosti – to chtělo odvahu. A postavit příběh na přátelství chuďase Hucka a uprchlého černocha Jima a vytvořit mezi nimi pouto silné a vřelé, prověřené tolika nebezpečími, kterou skýtá plavba po řece Mississippi za svobodou –, to si vyžádalo víc než odvahu, ale naprosto nový pohled člověka, který přehlédl svou dobu. Román je mnohovrstevnatý a bohatý. V dětství ho čteme okouzleni dobrodružstvím, později ho čteme jinýma očima, a pokaždé se nám odkrývají další souvislosti a zaujmou nová místa. Dobrodružství Huckleberryho Finna nyní vychází v novém překladu Jany Mertinové, který vyprávění dodal nebývalou svěžest a přitažlivost. Přiměje vás k pláči i k smíchu zároveň, jak budete znovu s hrdiny prožívat jejich naděje i zklamání.
One of the earliest major American novels, Wieland (1798) is a thrilling tale of suspense and intrigue set in rural Pennsylvania in the 1760s. Based on an actual case of a New York farmer who murdered his family, the novel employs Gothic devices and sensational elements such as spontaneous combustion, ventriloquism, and religious fanaticism. Also included is Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist, the unfinished sequal to Wieland, in which Brown considers power and manipulation while tracing Carwin's career as a disciple of the utopist Ludloe.
For the first time in four decades, there exists an authoritative and up-to-date survey of the literature of the United States, from prehistoric cave narratives to the radical movements of the sixties and the experimentation of the eighties.This comprehensive volume--one of the century's most important books in American studies--extensively treats Hawthorne, Melville, Dickinson, Hemingway, and other long-cherished writers, while also giving considerable attention to recently discovered writers such as Kate Chopin and to literary movements and forms of writing not studied amply in the past. Informed by the most current critical and theoretical ideas, it sets forth a generation's interpretation of the rise of American civilization and culture.The "Columbia Literary History of the United States" contains essays by today's foremost scholars and critics, overseen by a board of distinguished editors headed by Emory Elliott of Princeton University. These contributors reexamine in contemporary terms traditional subjects such as the importance of Puritanism, Romanticism, and frontier humor in American life and writing, but they also fully explore themes and materials that have only begun to receive deserved attention in the last two decades. Among these are the role of women as writers, readers, and literary subjects and the impact of writers from minority groups, both inside and outside the literary establishment.
