A Brief Summary of the History of American LiteratureName：黄月红Class：0904Student ID: 2009212721Score: _Introduction Although the history of America just has around 200 years, it has made many great achievements in all the fields of human civilianization. And American Literature is one among them. From the time that Europeans laughed at America without its own literature to the time that the 10th American writer got the Nobel Prize in Literature, American literature is widely accepted in the whole world. Generally speaking, American literature can be divided into 5 parts: the Early American Literature, American Romanticism, American Realism and Naturalism, American Modernism, and American Post-modernism. Each period has an intimate relationship with some historical events. The early American literature, to some degree, is a descendant of European literature. From the period of Romanticism, American literature began to form its own features. As the industrialization developing, American society become more and more complicated, so literature in this land gradually varies in style. The theories of Romanticism, Realism and Naturalism are borrowed from Europe. But the situation inverts since the age of Modernism. America becomes the original land of both Modernism and Post-modernism. From then on, American literature has established its own stage on the world literature stage. 1 The American Romanticism (1810-1865)1) Period and Background The American Romantic period stretched from 1810 to 1865, which was crucial to the development of American literary traditions. It saw miraculous achievements in American literature. Both the outside and inside environment in the country contributed to the booming of American Romanticism.For one hand, American Romanticism came from Europe. At the end of 18th century, Romanticism gained its strength in Western Europe after the Industrial Revolution. Many American literary creations were inspired by the European Romanticists like William Wordsworth, Byron. To some degree, a lot of literary works in that era were created by imitating Europeans. For the other hand, politically, the country has gradually developed its new social order which contributed to building a democratic country. Economically, the Industrial Revolution was spread all around the country; as a result that America became a land of wealth and hope. People in such a circumstance began to seek the American own value to secure their existence. Owning to reasons above, the American Romanticism began to root in this fertile soil.2) The Early RomanticismIn the early romanticism writers mainly focused on feelings when the country was founded newly. The vast land provides peoples great passion on building their country. The themes in works usually were something on human rights and individualism. Heroes would die at the ending for protecting country. Washington Irving and William Cullen Bryant were representatives of this part. There was a group of poets called “fireside poets” because they often read their poems when families or friends sat around a fire. The poets were haunted with the traditional European culture. The most famous one was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.3) The TranscendentalismTranscendentalism was the most important part of American Romanticism. It was put forward by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The major concepts about transcendentalism could be summarized as following four points: first, it stresses the power of intuition. Second, it takes nature as symbolic of spirit of god. Third, it emphasizes the significance of the individual. Fourth, religion is an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal” over-soul”. In this period, there are a large amount of successful writers and poets, such as, George Putnam, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. 4) A Special Group: the Gothic The Transcendentalists believed the kindness of humans nature, while the Gothic writers thought the evilness of humans nature. Edgar Allan Poe belonged to the group. Most Poes works were illustrated in the Gothic way like Tell-tale Heart and the Black Cat. Nathaniel Hawthorne also belonged to this group. The criticism toward Puritanism often appeared in his works. His works, like Young Goodman brown, the Scarlet Letter, showed it clearly.5) The Features of Literary WorksThis literary period was regarded as 1st American Renaissance. It was not only because American writers used American as subjects in their works but because all the literary forms (except for drama), like fiction, non-fiction prose and poetry occurred. At this moment, America began to have its own literature works. It is writers or poets from Washington Irving who make contribution to this quick development. And different literary style owns its special function on it. For example, the fictions tending to explore in to the hidden reces