I am male. I am female. I am white. I am black. I am Hispanic. I am Indian. I am Chinese. I am young. I am old. I am rich. I am poor. I am beautiful. You are ugly.
We define ourselves based on surface characteristics. We look at others and place them in categories and clearly delineate our similarities and our differences. However, it is impossible to fully answer this question without first addressing the question "who are we?" for individuals are products of their environment, a theme which we will revisit throughout the semester.
Specifically, people are products of their culture. Culture is defined as a system of beliefs and values by which people organize their experience of the world. And so the first question today is what it is an American? Indeed, this is a difficult question because America is a true melting pot as Crevecoeur suggests, a culture made up of many cultures, many values, many religions. Yet, there is some indescribable bond that binds most of us together.
In addition, much of the early native literature is, in fact, not literature all but could best be described as orature. Stories of creation, heroism, and tribal history were told and retold from generation to generation just as they have been since the beginning of human history. While this may sound strange, you must remember that Gutenberg did not invent the printing press until 1436 in the old world.
Secondly, early works are not really American at all but, in fact, they are British or Anglo-centric writings written in the late Renaissance style. The more advanced works in the early great civilization reflect the values and purpose of Europe. And not until the 1800s when Emerson said we had listened too long to Europe did America truly find its own voice. America was no longer satisfied being a mere reflection of its Indo-European roots. Like the leaders of a political movement, artists -- writers, painters, sculptors, engineers -- consciously set out to define what it means to be an American.
Which brings us to our first vocabulary word of the semester: Canon--and not to be confused with a big gun cannon. Canon comes from the Greek word Kanon, which means reed or a measuring rod. Originally, Kanon applied to the list of books to be included in the Hebrew and Christian Bible -- this opposed to the apocryphal works (texts of dubious or uncertain origin).
Today, the word canon denotes the entire body of literature considered to be noteworthy or suitable for admiration and study. The works of a canon are considered to be first-rate examples of works that typify historical and literary time periods.
And finally, the third use of Canon reflects the generally accepted body of work for a particular author -- as opposed to works of dubious authorship. For example, the plays Pericles and the Two Noble Kinsmen have gained acceptance as authentic Shakespearean plays.
In many ways, early American literature is neither early or American. It is late rather than early, and most of the works are written in late Renaissance style. American literature is not literature in the traditional sense because rather than fiction short stories and poetry, we find that most of the works are nonfiction:
<aside> 💁♂️ journals, letters, religious doctrines, compacts, diaries, travel journals, religious poetry, speeches, songs, stories, and sermons.
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In part, this can be explained by appreciating just how hard life was pretty early settlers. They had little time to create art while beating back the wilderness, fighting Indians, scavenging for food, and fighting off disease.
Between World War I and World War II, people became concerned that there was no codified literary canon. Perry Miller and Francis Otto Matthiessen set out to find America's Beowulf. (These guys were the Harold Bloom of their day.) Instead, what they found was a collection of Anglo-centric works written almost exclusively by "dead white guys." Clearly, there were other people in early colonial America, including Indians (who in all fairness had few written works), and women. French, Dutch, British, Spanish and other nationalities living in the United States produced similar works over excluded from the Canon.
It wasn't until the 1970s that women's rights and black rights came to the forefront of the American consciousness. Since then, thanks to scholars Miller and Matthiessen, we have attempted to seek and include a more representative sample of works produced during the formation and struggle of the creation of the United States of America, works that fully represent all of America and its multi-cultural foundation. Today, in a more concerted effort has led to the inclusion of works by writers without regard to gender, race, national origin, or sexual orientation.