TOPIC 54: Humourism: Mark Twain. Henry James and cosmopolitanism.

(Introduction) Mark Twain was an American humourist and novelist who

gained international fame for his travel narratives and for his adventure stories of boyhood.

(Introduction) He (Mark Twain) transcended

the apparent limitations of his origins to become a popular public figure and one of America’s best and most beloved writers.

(Introduction) Henry James, an American novelist who later became a naturalised English citizen,

was a great figure in the transatlantic culture.

(Introduction) His fundamental theme (Henry James) was

the contrast between the American and the European high society.

(Introduction) His biography reflects the contradiction of being an artist and

a man looking for a position between two cultures, the European and the American one.

(Introduction) The literary contributions of Mark Twain and Henry James were namely produced in the second half of the nineteenth century and were associated to

the literary streams of humourism and cosmopolitanism, respectively.

(Introduction) The literature of the time was both shaped by and reflected the prevailing ideologies of the day such as

• The question of slavery

• The North East industrial revolution

• The aftermath of the Civil war

• The Gold Rush period

• and contrast between American and European culture.

(Introduction) The literature of the time was both shaped by and

reflected the prevailing ideologies of the day

(America in the 19th C) The history of the United States underwent a dramatic transformation

• After the War of Independence (1775-1783)

• and the Civil War (1861-1865).

(America in the 19th C) This period is acknowledged as the time when America achieved

actual economic and cultural independence from Europe, paving the way for it to become the most powerful nation in the world over the next two centuries.

(America in the 19th C) This period is acknowledged as the time when America achieved actual economic and cultural independence from Europe,

paving the way for it to become the most powerful nation in the world over the next two centuries.

(America in the 19th C) In the first half of the 19^th century, American territory expanded from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean - this was called

the Wild West.

(America in the 19th C) In the first half of the 19^th century, American territory expanded

from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean

(America in the 19th C) The population increased in cities, millions of people participated in the prosperity of the industrial revolution;

men, women and children worked for hours in deplorable conditions for low wages.

(America in the 19th C) Labour organisations,

which were weak before the war, became stronger and spread on a national basis.

(America in the 19th C) In the South, although the war theoretically freed the slaves during

the reconstruction period, the Black population (known as “freedmen”) continued to face discrimination and, later, segregation.

(America in the 19th C) Despite the federal protections, in the 1870s, white Democrats who had previously supported slavery regained control of

the Southern state governments.

(America in the 19th C) During this time, The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and other violent groups were active,

intimidating African Americans and preventing them from voting.

(America in the 19th C) The last quarter of the century was a period of economic growth, as most of the great industrial fortunes were either initiated or consolidated.

This was known as 'The Gilded Age ' - the name was taken from Twain's novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) that satirised the get-rich-quick mentality that dominated the years following the war.

(America in the 19th C) The last quarter of the century was a period of economic growth,

as most of the great industrial fortunes were either initiated or consolidated.

(America in the 19th C) This was known as 'The Gilded Age ' - the name was taken from Twain's novel

The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) that satirised the get-rich-quick mentality that dominated the years following the war.

(America in the 19th C) A key factor in the United States’ economic expansion after the Civil War was

the construction of the railway system which was essential for transportation and trade.

(America in the 19th C) With the creation of the railway,

the westward expansion to the Pacific Ocean happened more quickly and efficiently.

(America in the 19th C) As a consequence, Native Americans were displaced from their land, which was

taken by miners, farmers and immigrants.

(America in the 19th C) In regards to literature of the time, American writers faced significant challenges, such as

a lack of audience and legal protection and most importantly, the absence of publishers.

(America in the 19th C) Therefore, until 1825, many authors

had to pay printers to publish their works.

(America in the 19th C) Initially, Western American writers and their works

were often considered distinct from those of Eastern writers, due to the stark differences in their environments and experiences.

(America in the 19th C) Mark Twain was

one of the first prominent writers from the West.

Mark Twain birth name

Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Mark Twain YEARS

1835-1910

Samuel Langhorne Clemens is one of the most popular American writers, best known by his pen name,

Mark Twain, name associated with the piloting of steamboats.

Mark Twain was born in

Florida, Missouri, in 1835.

He grew up in the town of Hannibal, on the banks of the Mississippi River,

which became the source of inspiration for his fictional St. Petersburg, where his two most famous characters, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn lived their adventures.

At the age of 11, Samuel’s father died, and

he had to work to as an apprentice for a printer to support his family.

At around the age of 21, Samuel

decided to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot on a steamboat.

He had to learn all the potential dangers

along the Mississippi River, but he eventually earned his pilot’s license.

When the war broke in 1861,

Samuel moved out west, earning a living writing for newspapers.

Mark Twain soon began writing

funny and full of adventures short stories.

Twain's love for adventure and risk got him into financial trouble later in life, as he

invested his earnings into failed businesses and inventions.

In order to pay the bills, he travelled around the world giving lectures and speeches,

eventually earning enough to pay off his financial troubles.

Mark Twain died of

a heart attack in 1910.

Mark Twain wrote a number of books. Some told amusing stories from his own travels such as

Roughing It and Innocents Abroad, which were very successful at the time.

Other popular books include

• The Prince and the Pauper

• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

• and Life on the Mississippi.

Though Twain's most famous books are the two "river novels":

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)

• and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885).

(Twain’s style) Mark Twain’s works were the result of

careful and conscious construction, not simply spontaneous expression.

(Twain’s style) He meticulously reviewed spelling and sentence structure

to accurately represent natural oral speech.

(Twain’s style) Additionally, he introduced

the use of vernacular language, not only in the dialogue but also through the narrator.

(Twain’s style) (use of vernacular language) For instance, his works were attempts to capture

the deadpan storytelling style of American backwoods tradition. Thus, capturing the authenticity of everyday speech and enhancing the realism of his writing.

(Humourism in Mark Twain) Mark Twain writing reflected the humour of the time.

Alike Henry James, Twain saw the European culture with a sceptical eye, and he is said to have broken away from the strong influence of European models and helped to lay the foundations of a distinctively American tradition known as humourism.

(Humourism in Mark Twain) Alike Henry James, Twain saw the European culture with a sceptical eye, and he is said

to have broken away from the strong influence of European models and helped to lay the foundations of a distinctively American tradition known as humourism.

(Humourism in Mark Twain) Mark Twain’s humourism is a distinctive blend of wit, satire and social commentary,

often characterised by his sharp observations of human nature and society.

(Humourism in Mark Twain) Mark Twain’s humourism is a distinctive

blend of wit, satire and social commentary,

(Humourism in Mark Twain) He was known for using humour as

a tool to expose the absurdities and injustices of life such as slavery, social inequality and the moral flaws of human beings.

(Humourism in Mark Twain) Using humour as a tool to expose the absurdities and injustices of life such as

• slavery

• social inequality

• and the moral flaws of human beings.

(Humourism in Mark Twain) His humour ranged from

light-hearted, playful jokes to darker reflections on life.

All modern American Literature comes from one book by Mark Twain entitled 'Huckleberry Finn'.

(E. Hemingway)

(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885) This novel is the sequel of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and begins in

the fictional St. Petersburg, Missouri.

(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885) Narrated by Huck Finn,

a young boy, the novel is known for its vivid descriptions and poetic imagery.

(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885) Huck runs away from his abusive father and embarks on

a journey down the Mississippi River with Jim, a runaway slave.

(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885) Along the way, Huck encounters a variety of characters from different social classes,

which help him overcome racial prejudices and develop a deep respect for Jim.

(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885) While the book features idyllic portrayals of nature,

like the great river, it also highlights themes of human cruelty like slavery.

(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885) The natural goodness of Huck

is continually contrasted with the corrupt world around him.

(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered

a classic of American realism, offering a depiction of the pre-Civil War South, particularly through the use of dialect.

Henry James YEARS

1843-1916

Henry James is one of the greatest American novelists and he is regarded as

one of its best critics and one of the founders of Realism.

(Henry James) However, he is also considered a British writer since

he spent the most of his life in England and became a British citizen shortly before his death.

(Henry James) He was born in New York City into a wealthy family; his father was

an eccentric intellectual and his older brother was a notable psychologist and philosopher.

(Henry James) He was privately tutored, entering

the Law School at Harvard but abandoning it in order to start writing critical essays and fictions.

(Henry James) Two prior visits to Europe culminated in

his decision to settle initially in Paris in 1875, when his first book Roderick Hudson was published, and one year later in London.

(Henry James) He was a very prolific writer, writing 22 novels along with numerous short stories, plays and essays.

Just before his death, he was awarded the Order of Merit (OM).

(Henry James) Although his genius was appreciated by the intellectual,

his works were not much accepted by the general public.

(Henry James) James is considered one of the great realistic novelists; it was

the psychological insight of his characters that reveal the realism of his works.

(Henry James) He is often thought of as

the father of the modern psychological novel.

(Early literary efforts: Henry James) James was one of the first major novelists to focus on the cultural differences between Americans and Europeans, exploring their relationships in terms of power and moral values.

This is known as the “international theme.”

(Early literary efforts: Henry James) James was one of the first major novelists to focus on the cultural differences between Americans and Europeans,

exploring their relationships in terms of power and moral values.

(Early literary efforts: Henry James) His early stories, written towards the end of the Civil War (1861-65),

often took the war as their subject.

Some of his early works (Henry James) are

• Roderick Hudson (1875)

• the American (1877)

• and The Portrait of a Lady (1881)

(Early literary efforts: Henry James) These novels had the common theme of the experience of Americans living abroad:

Roderick Hudson (1875) in Italy and The American (1877) in France.

In The American (1877),

a ‘new rich’ young man aspires to marry an aristocratic woman from Paris but is rejected by her parents due to his social status.

The first period finishes with The Portrait of a Lady (1881), which was the crowning achievement of his earliest career.

A young intelligent American woman travels to Europe and turns down an English suitor, believing something far better awaits her. She finally marries a refined yet manipulative man who has only sought her fortune.

(Early literary efforts: Henry James) These novels contain morals,

genuine Americans are good people but those who have been contaminated by Europe are not and excessive expectations in life are to blame.

(The search for popular success: second period) During a second period in the 1880s, Henry James initiated

a variety of literary experiments in order to gain public recognition.

(The search for popular success: second period) In his second period he wrote three novels of naturalistic type,

• The Bostonians (1886)

• The Princess of Casamassima (1886)

• and The Tragic Muse (1889).

(The search for popular success: second period) The first two deal with political matters,

The Bostonians (1886) is a satirical novel and addresses the emancipation of women, while The Princess of Casamassima (1886) explores acts of terrorism of the time.

(The search for popular success: second period) The Bostonians (1886)

is a satirical novel and addresses the emancipation of women

(The search for popular success: second period) The Princess of Casamassima (1886)

explores acts of terrorism of the time.

(The search for popular success: second period) The third work, The Tragic Muse (1889)

is concerned with the creative activity of the artist and commercial success, it is thought as the beginning of his playwright career.

Which work of Henry James is thought as the beginning of his playwritght career?

The Tragic Muse (1889)

(His more mature and final period) Henry James’s last and major period is characterised by

greater psychological depth, marking a return to the international subject but with much greater subtlety and complexity.

(His more mature and final period) marking a return to the international subject

but with much greater subtlety and complexity.

(His more mature and final period) In this period, he wrote his great novels:

• The Wings of the Dove (1902)

• The Ambassadors (1903)

• and The Golden Bowl (1904).

(His more mature and final period) They are demanding novels for the reader as the author formulates long sentences with

an increasingly allusive prose style, creating more distance with the general public.

(His more mature and final period) There is extensive use of

stream-of-consciousness technique.

(His more mature and final period) James increasingly focused on the inner lives of his characters,

exploring their consciousness and moral dilemmas.

(His more mature and final period) He also employs symbolism; for instance, in The Golden Bowl, the bowl

symbolises the fragility of human relationships, its eventual cracking represents the breakdown of relationships between the novel’s characters.

(Henry James and cosmopolitanism) The social American custom of going abroad to take in European art, literature and fashion was reflected in the nineteenth century American literature:

International or cosmopolitan subjects and travel books became fashionable and James was able to record in fiction the impact of Europe upon his fellow Americans.

(Henry James and cosmopolitanism) International or cosmopolitan subjects and travel books became fashionable and

James was able to record in fiction the impact of Europe upon his fellow Americans.

(Henry James and cosmopolitanism) Finally, his worldwide vision of an ideal society, and his emphasis on

the contrast between the young American civilization and the older European culture have made him popular within the literature of cosmopolitanism.

(Conclusion) Twain and James are similar as both lived in the same period and used

the American novel as a literary means to transmit their vision of reality. However, their backgrounds and vision of the world were very different.

(Conclusion) Twain´s works were centred in his West and the Mississippi river, whereas James’s tended to be set in

a privileged environment, in both America and Europe, which allowed for a cosmopolitan vision of the world and the contrast between America and European culture.