Representation of American Culture in American Literature

  • American Declaration of Independence 1776

    • "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

    • Unalienable: Cannot be taken away from from, because it is intrinsically part of you

    • Can be taken away from you

  • Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address 1863

    • "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in LIberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal"

    • Lincoln gave a purpose to the Civil War

    • Signified the war would be for the purpose of making all men equal and ending slavery

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. 1963

    • "When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men -- yes, Black men as well as white men-- would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned."

    • What is a promissory note?

    • Answer: A contract and promise in written form

    • King used the IOU of the Constitution to African Americans to show how they were denied their right via a promissory note.

  • Art Characterizes the Values of the Community

    • Create art that reflects what you believe is important

    • What you are willing to sacrifice for.

  • The Nation as Art

    • The United States evolved very quickly compared to other nations

    • Created the evolution by making the rules and forcing it upon very quickly.

    • By creating the rules we made the "artisan" law--- the art.

    • There are mistakes but everytime they are mended

    • United States has millions of artists working on it, throughout generations

  • Who Gets To Represent

    • Who is part of the crew of artist?

  • The Wealthy:

    • If you are wealthy, you wealth gives you access to academic education.

    • Academic education is so expensive only the wealthy have access.

    • This meant that most of the literate population was wealthy.

    • If you can read something, you can likely write something, and since the wealthy have money they can distribute their ideas.

  • Emerging Democracy and Its Themes

    • In the late middle ages the emergence of middle class occurs

    • Middling Sort: Name of the middle class in 18th century

    • For example: Shakespeare

    • Middle class gains some money and are now also able to create literature and art

  • Themes of Democracy

    • Freedom

    • Oppression

    • (If you love freedom; you have to have oppression for at least yourself)

    • Representation

    • (Who gets to represent in democracy and form literature)

  • American Cinema

    • African American representation in cinema has progressed greatly

    • But, in the early days of Hollywood, African Americans usually were servants and lower roles.

  • Is American Art or Culture Ethnically Pure?

    • Some believe American Art is Ethnically Pure, Anglo Saxon.

    • The point of intersection of Eurasia and Africa Makes it almost impossible because of People having sex across ethnic lines.

    • In America, country music could not be ethnically pure because it is a combination of other musics

  • And the Instruments like the guitar and banjo which can from Africa

  • North America's First Nations

    • Native Americans were numerous and mixed groups

    • The Europeans did not find many different Natives though

    • Europeans brought a lot of food, (Pigs, Chickens, and Goats)

    • For example Hog Island:

    • English colonist barely survived year to year, but the pigs were thriving.

    • Animal in an environment that it will thrive and the pig population gets out of control.

    • The pigs are all over North America, way before America pushed westward

    • Pigs gave Native Americans diseases and thus killed Native American populations before the Europeans could travel westward.

    • Also the book of Genesis gives a reason

    • God gave us the gift of the Earth

    • Europeans believed in order to use this gift, you had to profit and build with it.

    • Native Americans believed in sustaining the land.

    • Europeans thought of the Native Americans as misusing the Genesis Gift.

  • Native American Literature in America

    • Native Americans soon entered their opinion in American LIterature

    • Examples:

    • Black Elk Speaks

    • Life Among the Piutes

    • Black Hawk

  • European Influence on Narratives

    • A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by Barolomé de Las Casas

    • Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America by Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca

    • The General History of Virginia, and New England by John Smith

  • England came later on

    • Spanish was the most powerful force and the french were right behind them.

    • England set of the colonies in secret because of the threat of the Spanish

    • Examples of Literature

    • Letters from an American Farmer by Hector St. John De Crevecoeur

  • Unwilling immigrants

    • African Americans from Senegal and the Gambia, Upper Guinea, and Windward Cost

    • The slave ships were overloaded in case of death to still instill a profit.

    • Examples of Literature

    • The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano

    • Incidents in the LIfe of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

    • Narrative of the Life of a Slave by Frederick Douglass

  • Immigrants Influence

    • Immigrants were encouraged to come over for work.

    • Chinese, Japanese, and Philippine on west coast built railroads

    • Eastern Europeans worked in factories in the East

    • Examples of Literary Works

    • The Flower Drum Song by C.Y. Lee

    • Mrs. Spring Fragrance by Sui Sin Far

    • The Human Comedy by William Saroyan

    • The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

    • The People. Yes by Carl Sandburg

    • Jews Without Money by Michael Gold

  • Today Immigrants still come

    • Cambodians

    • Vietnamese

    • Syrians

    • Iranians

    • Examples of Literary works

    • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

    • The Color Purple by Alice Walker

    • The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

    • No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

  • Synopsis

    • American Narrative is continuous

    • Always being written and always being edited by the next generation