American Literature

The Colonial Beginnings (1660-1776)

The first authors – the English who came to the new land in order to set up colonies, (before
– oral Native Indian literature)

The texts served the purpose of an ”advertisement” encouraging the readers to come and
settle in the New World. Back in England, people planning to move to America would read
the the books as both travel guides nad adventure stories.

Captain Jihn Smith

▪ a practical sea captain and a romantic adventurer, a promoter of colonization;

▪ True Relation of Virginia (I608) and A Description of New England (I6I6), The
General History of Virginia (1624) – his descriptions of the new settlement ephasize
adventure, missionary intention, practicality (difficulties, detailing coasts, terrain,
climate, crops and prospects for cultivation), as well as the potentials of America and
a dangerous conflict with the Indians;

Pilgrim Fathers

▪ Puritans who arrived in America on board the Mayflower in 1620 and established the
Plymouth colony.
▪ Puritans were a persecuted denomination in Britain, who wanted to ‘purify’
Christianity. They believed in predestination, a personal relationship with God, and a
rather literal interpretation of the Scripture.
▪ Like the Puritans in England, the Pilgrim Fathers believed that society should be based
on the laws of God.

William Bradford

▪ he was the leader of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.

▪ the author of Of Plymouth Plantation (1656) – a personal journal, much used by his
contemporaries, regarded the most interesting of the Puritan histories; it describes
the Puritans’ arrival in the New World, their early relations with the Indians as well as
their difficulties during the first winter there and the First Thanksgiving (1621).

Captivity narratives

▪ Captivity stories were told by those having been taken by the Native Americans,
enduring hardships, witnessing horrors, facing the cruelty, then of a rescue or escape
which permits them to recount these adventures.
Mary Rowlandson
▪ she was captured by the Native Americans, separated from her children, forced to
march 150 miles and kept in captivity for three months.
▪ A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682) - this
narrative reveals the depth of misunderstanding that white settlers had about their
native neighbors.
▪ In 1682 Mary Rowlandson published her captivity narrative, which became an instant
bestseller among the Puritans.

Ann Bradstreet

▪ Born in England, married at the age of 16, immigrated to America with her husband
and parents.
▪ The first real New England poet (1612-72), the author of poems mainly on religious
themes written in a simple labguage.
▪ Her poetry was published in London with the name "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung
Up in America by a Gentlewoman from Those Parts”

Characteristics of Puritan literature:

▪ Simple, plain language (‘pure’ language)

▪ Instructive character (proper conduct, moral principles, cultivation of faith)
▪ Examples taken either from the Bible of from their everyday life
▪ Religious interpretation of reality (God’s Providence seen everywhere, all people are
corrupt and must be saved by God)
▪ Fiction was treated suspiciously – preference to facts and religious texts
▪ Literary forms: sermons, religious poetry, journals, diaries