American literature and art in the 19th - early 20th centuries. American writers

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History of American Literature

America, as you know, was officially discovered by the Genoese Columbus in 1492. But by chance, she received the name of the Florentine Amerigo.

The discovery of the New World was the greatest event in the global history of mankind. Not to mention the fact that it dispelled many false ideas about our planet, which contributed to significant shifts in the economic life of Europe and caused a wave of emigration to a new continent, it also affected the change in the spiritual climate in countries with a Christian faith (i.e., Christians). to. at the end of the century, Christians, as always, expected the "end of the world", "the Last Judgment", etc.).

America provided abundant food for the most enthusiastic dreams of European thinkers about a society without a state, without the social vices common to the Old World. A country of new opportunities, a country where you can build a completely different life. A country where everything is new and clean, where a civilized person has not yet spoiled anything. But there you can avoid all the mistakes made in the Old World - so thought European humanists in the 16th and 17th centuries. And all these thoughts, views and hopes, of course, found a response in literature, both European and American.

However, in reality, everything turned out quite differently. The history of the settlement of the newly discovered lands by immigrants from Europe was bloody. And not all writers of that time decided to show this truth of life (the Spaniards Las Casas and Gomara reflected this in their works).

In today's speech, the name "America" usually refers to only a part of that huge continent that was discovered at the end of the 16th century, namely the United States. This part of the American continent will be discussed.

Since the 17th century, the settlement of this territory by immigrants from Europe began. It continued in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 17th century, a state arose called New England and subordinate to the English king and parliament. And only in the 70s of the XVIII century, 13 states gained strength in themselves to force England to recognize their independence. Thus, a new state appeared - the United States of America.

Fiction in the proper sense of the word, and in a capacity that allows it to enter the history of world literature, begins in America only in the 19th century, when such writers as Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper appeared on the literary scene.

During the period of the first settlers, in the 17th century, when the development of new lands was just beginning, the foundation of the first settlements was not yet up to literature. Only a few settlers kept diaries, records, chronicles. Although the soul of their authors still lived in England, its political and religious problems. They are not of particular literary interest, but are more valuable as a living picture of the first settlers of America, a story about the difficult days of settling in new places, ordeals, etc. Here are some famous diaries: Jen Winthrop 1630-1649, A History of New England, William Bradford's A History of the Settlement at Plymouth (1630-1651), John Smith's A General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624) .

Of the purely literary works, one should perhaps mention the poems of the poetess Anna Bredstreet (1612-1672), religiously edifying, very mediocre, but amusing the hearts of the first settlers (poem-dialogues "Quartets").

18th century

The 18th century in America passes under the flag of the struggle for independence. The central place is occupied by the ideas of the Enlightenment, which came from England and France. Cities grew in New England, universities were founded, newspapers began to appear. The first literary swallows also appeared: novels created under the influence of English enlightenment literature and the "Gothic" novel, Henry Breckenridge (1748-1816) - "Modern Chivalry, or the Adventures of Captain John Farrato and Tig O ^ Reegen, his servant", Brockden Brown ( 1771-1810) - Wieland, Ormond, Arthur Mervin; poems Timothy Dwight (1752-1818) - "The Conquests of Canaan", "Greenfield Hill".

The second half of the century was marked by the appearance of a large group of poets who reflected the political passions of the era in their works. Conventionally, they were divided into sympathizers with the federalists (the most famous group is the “university poets”) and supporters of the revolution and democratic government. One of the most significant poets, like-minded Paine and Jefferson - Philip Frenot (1752 - 1832). In his poems, he vividly reflected the political events in the country, although later he became disillusioned with the new American reality. In his best poems, he sang of nature and reflected on eternal life. Already in the work of Freno, it is easy to catch the beginnings of romanticism, which was fully formed in the USA only in the 19th century.

However, the main asset of American literature of the 18th century was its educational journalism with the names of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. These three people entered the history of American social thought, they left a noticeable mark in the history of world literature.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the author of the Declaration of Independence, the third president of the United States, is an undeniably talented and original person. A scientist, philosopher, inventor, possessing great and versatile knowledge, he should be mentioned in the history of literature as a brilliant stylist, who possessed a clear, precise and figurative language of a writer. His "Notes on Virginia", his "General Survey of the Rights of the British Empire" were valued by contemporaries not only for their expression of thought, but also for their literary merit. Mathematics, architecture, astronomy, natural sciences, linguistics (compiling dictionaries of Indian languages), history, music - all this was the subject of this person's hobbies and knowledge.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the brilliant and versatile minds of the 18th century. Public thought in America was formed under the influence of this powerful mind, a self-taught genius.

For 25 years, Franklin published the famous calendar "The Simpleton Richard's Almanac", which in America served as a kind of encyclopedia, a collection of scientific information and, at the same time, witty everyday instructions. He printed a newspaper. He organized a public library in Philadelphia, a hospital, and wrote philosophical essays. He described his life in his Autobiography (published posthumously in 1791). His Teachings of the Simpleton Richard went around Europe. Many European universities gave him an honorary doctorate. Well, and, finally, he is a politician who carried out responsible diplomatic missions in Europe.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) is a talented, selfless revolutionary and educator. Published the pamphlet Common Sense. On January 10, 1776, the pamphlet became the sensation of the day. He called Americans to the war for independence, to the revolution. During the French bourgeois revolution, T. Payne fought on the side of the rebels. In addition, Payne wrote the book "Age of Reason" - an outstanding work of American enlightenment thought of the 18th century. The book, part of which was written in a Parisian prison, contains in rather harsh terms a condemnation of Christianity.

The American Enlightenment did not produce authors on such a scale as the enlighteners of England, France, and Germany distinguished themselves. We will not find in the writings of Franklin, Jefferson, Paine and others the brilliance and wit of Voltaire, the depth of thought of Locke, the eloquence and passion of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the poetic imagination of Milton. These were more practitioners than thinkers and. Of course, least of all artists. They mastered the ideas of the European Enlightenment and tried, taking into account the possibilities, to apply them to their country. Thomas Paine was the boldest and most radical of them all.

American educators emphasized the issues of society, the individual and the state. Society is above the state. It can change its political system if the new generation finds it useful, they reasoned.

Thus, the American educational journalism of the 18th century theoretically substantiated the tasks of the bourgeois revolution. Thus, the American Enlightenment contributed to the development of emancipatory ideas and historical progress.

19th century

A priority direction in US policy in the XIX century. was the expansion of territories (attached: Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Upper California and other territories). One of the consequences of this is the military conflict with Mexico (1846-1848). As for the internal life of the country, the development of capitalism in the United States in the XIX century. was uneven. The "slowdown", the postponement of its growth in the first half of the 19th century, prepared for its especially wide and intensive development, a particularly violent explosion of economic and social contradictions in the second half of the century.

When studying the history of American culture and literature, one cannot help but pay attention to the fact that such an uneven development of capitalism left a characteristic imprint on the ideological life of the United States, in particular, it caused the relative backwardness, “immaturity” of social thought and the social consciousness of American society. The provincial isolation of the United States from European cultural centers also played its role. The social consciousness in the country was largely dominated by obsolete illusions and prejudices.

Disappointment with the results of the post-revolutionary development of the country leads American writers to search for a romantic ideal that opposes inhumane reality.

American romantics are the creators of the national literature of the United States. This, above all, distinguishes them from their European counterparts. While in Europe at the beginning of the XIX century. national literatures have secured for themselves qualities that have evolved over almost a whole millennium and have become their specific national features, American literature, like the nation, was still being defined. And in the New World, not only at the beginning of the 19th century, but also later, several decades later. The book market was dominated mainly by the works of English writers and literature translated from other European languages. The American book hardly made its way to the domestic reader. At that time, literary clubs already existed in New York, but English literature and an orientation towards European culture reigned in tastes: American in the bourgeois environment was considered "vulgar".

A rather serious task was entrusted to the American romantics, in addition to the formation of national literature, they had to create the entire complex ethical and philosophical code of the young nation - to help it form.

In addition, it should be noted that for its time, romanticism was the most effective method of artistic development of reality; without it, the process of the nation's aesthetic development would be incomplete.

The chronological framework of American romanticism is somewhat different from European romanticism. The romantic trend in US literature developed at the turn of the second and third decades and retained its dominant position until the end of the Civil War (1861-1865).

Three stages can be traced in the development of romanticism. The first stage is early American Romanticism (1820-1830s). His immediate predecessor was pre-romanticism, which developed as early as within the framework of enlightenment literature (the work of F. Freno in poetry, C. Brockden Brown in the novel, etc.). The largest writers of early romanticism - V. Irving, D.F. Cooper, W.K. Bryant, D.P. Kennedy and others. With the appearance of their works, American literature for the first time receives international recognition. There is a process of interaction between American and European romanticism. An intensive search for national artistic traditions is underway, the main themes and problems are outlined (the war for independence, the development of the continent, the life of the Indians). The worldview of the leading writers of this period is painted in optimistic tones associated with the heroic time of the war for independence and the grandiose prospects that opened before the young republic. There is a close continuity with the ideology of the American Enlightenment. It is significant that both Irving and Cooper actively participate in the social and political life of the country, striving to directly influence the course of its development.

At the same time, critical tendencies are ripening in early romanticism, which are a reaction to the negative consequences of the strengthening of capitalism in all spheres of life in American society. They are looking for an alternative to the bourgeois way of life and find it in the romantically idealized life of the American West, the heroism of the War of Independence, the free sea, the country's patriarchal past, and so on.

The second stage is mature American romanticism (1840-1850s). This period includes the work of N. Hawthorne, E.A. Poe, G. Melville, G.W. Longfellow, W.G. Simms, transcendentalist writers R.W. Emerson, G.D. Toro. The complex and contradictory reality of America in these years led to noticeable differences in the worldview and aesthetic position of the romantics of the 1940s and 1950s. Most of the writers of this period are deeply dissatisfied with the course of the country's development. The gap between reality and the romantic ideal deepens, turns into an abyss. It is no coincidence that among the romantics of the mature period there are so many misunderstood and unrecognized artists rejected by bourgeois America: Poe, Melville, Thoreau, and later the poetess E. Dickinson.

In mature American romanticism, dramatic, even tragic tones predominate, a sense of the imperfection of the world and man (Hawthorne), moods of sorrow, longing (Poe), consciousness of the tragedy of human existence (Melville). A hero with a split psyche appears, bearing the stamp of doom in his soul. The balanced-optimistic world of Longfellow and the transcendentalists about universal harmony in these decades stand apart.

At this stage, American romanticism is moving from the artistic development of national reality to the study of the universal problems of man and the world on the basis of national material, and acquires philosophical depth. In the artistic language of mature American romanticism, symbolism penetrates, rarely found among the romantics of the previous generation. Poe, Melville, Hawthorne in their works created symbolic images of great depth and generalizing power. Supernatural forces begin to play a noticeable role in their creations, mystical motifs intensify.

Transcendentalism is a literary and philosophical trend that appeared in the 30s. The Transcendental Club was organized in September 1836 in Boston, Massachusetts. From the very beginning it included: R.U. Emerson, J. Ripley, M. Fuller, T. Parker, E. Olcott, in 1840 they were joined by G.D. Toro. The name of the club is associated with the philosophy of "Transcendental Idealism" by the German thinker I. Kant. Club from 1840 to 1844 published his own magazine, Dial. The teaching of American transcendentalism raised questions of a global nature for contemporaries - about the essence of man, about the relationship between man and nature, man and society, about the ways of moral self-improvement. As for their views on their country, the transcendentalists argued that America had its own great destiny, but at the same time they were sharply critical of the bourgeois development of the United States.

Transcendentalism marked the beginning of American philosophical thought and influenced the formation of national character and self-consciousness. And what is more remarkable, transcendentalism was used in the ideological struggle in the 20th century. (M. Gandhi, M. L. King). And the controversy around this trend has not subsided so far.

The third stage is late American romanticism (60s). The period of crisis phenomena. Romanticism as a method is increasingly unable to reflect the new reality. Those writers of the previous stage who are still continuing their path in literature enter a period of severe creative crisis. The most striking example is the fate of Melville, who went into voluntary spiritual self-isolation for many years.

During this period, there is a sharp division among the romantics, caused by the Civil War. On the one hand, the literature of abolitionism stands out, protesting against slavery from aesthetic, general humanistic positions within the framework of romantic aesthetics. On the other hand, the literature of the South, romanticizing and idealizing "southern chivalry", stands up in defense of a historically doomed wrong cause and a reactionary way of life. Abolitionist motifs occupy a prominent place in the work of writers whose work developed in the previous period - Longfellow, Emerson, Thoreau, etc., become the main ones in the work of G. Beecher Stowe, D.G. Whittier, R. Hildreth and others.

There were also regional differences in American Romanticism. The major literary regions are New England (Northeastern States), the Middle States, and the South. The Romanticism of New England (Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Bryant) is characterized primarily by the desire for a philosophical understanding of the American experience, for the analysis of the national past, for the study of complex ethical problems. The main themes in the work of the romantics of the middle states (Irving, Cooper, Paulding, Melville) are the search for a national hero, interest in social issues, a comparison of the past and present of America. Southern writers (Kennedy, Simms) often sharply and justly criticize the vices of America's capitalist development, but at the same time they cannot get rid of the stereotypes of glorifying the virtues of "southern democracy" and the advantages of the slave-owning order.

At all stages of development, American romanticism is characterized by a close connection with the socio-political life of the country. This is what makes Romantic literature specifically American in content and form. In addition, there are some other differences from European romanticism. American romantics express their dissatisfaction with the country's bourgeois development and do not accept the new values of modern America. The Indian theme becomes a cross-cutting theme in their work: American romantics show sincere interest and deep respect for the Indian people.

The romantic trend in US literature was not immediately replaced by realism after the end of the Civil War. A complex fusion of romantic and realistic elements is the work of the greatest American poet Walt Whitman. A romantic worldview - already outside the chronological framework of romanticism - is imbued with Dickinson's work. Romantic motifs organically enter the creative method of F. Bret Hart, M. Twain, A. Beers, D. London and other US writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Peculiar swallows of realism appeared in America already in the middle of the century. One of these - the most striking - is Rebecca Harding's story "Life in the Foundries" (1861). In which, without any embellishment and with almost documentary detail, the living conditions of American workers in the eastern region of the United States are drawn.

The transitional period was marked by the work of writers (W.D. Howells, G. James, etc.), whose method was called "soft", "gentle realism", or, according to Gowells' own definition, "reticent" realism. The essence of their views was the exclusivity and "enduring advantages" of American life over the life of the Old World; in their opinion, the problems that arose in the works of European realism and Russian (the most popular at that time) had no points of contact with American ones. This was the reason for their attempt to limit critical realism in the United States. But later the injustice of these views became so obvious that they had to abandon them.

Boston School. One of the most important places in the literature of the United States after the Civil War received a current known as the "literature of conventions and decorum", "traditions of refinement", etc. This trend includes writers who lived mainly in Boston and associated with the journals published there and with Harvard University. Therefore, the writers of this group are often referred to as "Bostonians". This included such writers as Lowell ("The Biglow Papers"), Aldrich, Taylor, Norton, and others.

Widespread at the end of the 19th century. received the genre of historical novel and short story. There were such works as "Old Creole Times" by D. Cable (1879), "Colonel Carter of Cartersville" by Smith, "In Old Virginia" by Page. Some of them were not devoid of artistic merit, such as "Old Creole Times", which vividly reproduced the life and customs of the American South at the beginning of the century. In this regard, Cable will act as one of the representatives of "regional literature".

On the whole, the development of the historical genre had a rather negative significance for American literature of that time. The historical novel led away from the pressing problems of our time. In most books of this genre, the past was idealized, nationalistic and racist aspirations were kindled, and that historical truth, which is the main condition for a truly artistic historical novel, was almost completely absent.

Many creators of the historical novel sought only to entertain the reader. It was this task that D.M. Crawford, author of many pseudo-historical novels. That is why realist writers fought against pseudo-historical novels, seeing them as one of the most important obstacles to the development of realistic literature.

Along with the historical and adventurous-adventure novel, the genre of "business story" became widespread. Works of this type usually told about a poor, but energetic and enterprising young man who, through his work, perseverance and perseverance, achieved success in life. The sermon of businesslikeness in literature (S. White "Conquerors of the Forests", "Companion"; D. Lorrimer "Letters of a self-created merchant to his son") was reinforced by the teachings of pragmatists in American philosophy. W. James, D. Dewey and other American pragmatists laid a philosophical foundation for businessmanship, contributed to the development of the cult of individualism and business among the broad strata of the American population.

The development of American literature is largely associated with the American Dream. Some writers believed in it, propagandized it in their works (the same "delicious literature", later - representatives of apologetic, conformist literature). Others (most of the romantics and realists) sharply criticized this myth, showed its underside (for example, Dreiser in "An American Tragedy").

American novel of the 19th century.

Quite a strong position in American literature of the XIX century. occupied by the novel. American writer Bret Hart even said that the short story is "the national genre of American literature." But one cannot, of course, assume that interest in the novel was the exclusive privilege of the Americans. Quite successfully, the short story (story) developed in Europe as well. However, the main form of European literary development in the XIX century. was a realistic social novel. It was different in America. Due to the historical circumstances of the country's social and cultural development, the critical-realist novel did not find its proper embodiment in American literature. Why? The main reason for this, like many other anomalies of American culture, must be sought in the backwardness of public consciousness in the United States during the 19th century. The failure of American literature to create in the nineteenth century a great social novel is explained, firstly, by its unpreparedness, lack of historical experience and unwillingness to perceive this experience in European literature, and, secondly, by those significant objective difficulties that any social reality presents for the artist’s understanding, “shrouded in a fog of immature economic relations” (Engels). A great critical-realistic novel appeared in the USA, but with a significant delay, only at the beginning of the 20th century.

American literature in each of its generations puts forward outstanding master storytellers like E. Poe, M. Twain, or D. London. The form of a short entertaining narrative becomes typical of American literature.

One of the reasons for the prosperity of the novel is the rapidity of life in America at that time, as well as the "magazine way" of American literature. A prominent role in American life, and hence in literature, XIX century. still plays the oral story. American oral history goes back originally to the legends (which survive for almost the entire nineteenth century) of trappers.

The main component of the novel is "American humor". The humorous life-descriptive short story of the 1930s is formed mainly on the basis of folklore. And an essential element of American folklore was the oral tradition of the Negroes, who brought with them the traditions of the African primitive epic (The Tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Harris).

A typical feature of American short stories is such a construction of the story, where there is always a sharpened plot leading to a paradoxical, unexpected denouement. It should be noted that it was precisely in this that he saw the advantages of a short story by E. Poe, as well as in its size, which makes it possible to read it at once, thus. not lose the integrity of the impression, which, in his opinion, is impossible in the case of the novel.

The short story also plays an outstanding role in the art of American romanticism (Poe, Hawthorne, Melville).

In the 60s and 70s, the development of the American short story is associated with the names of such writers as Bret Hart, Twain, Cable. Their main theme is public and private relations in the colonized lands. One of the most striking works of this period is "California Tales" by Bret Garth.

In the 1980s and 1990s, a new generation of writers appeared (Garland, Norris, Crane), who are characterized as representatives of American naturalism. Their naturalistic short story depicts American life in sharp and harsh terms, groping for its fundamental social contradictions and not being afraid to draw experience from European socio-political and fiction. But the social protest of the American naturalists was nowhere reduced to a rejection of the capitalist system as a whole. And yet the role of these writers in the movement of American literature towards social realism is much more significant than it can be limited within the framework of naturalism.

20th century

In the new, twentieth century, the problems of American literature are determined by a fact of tremendous significance: the richest, most powerful capitalist country, leading the whole world, is producing the most gloomy and bitter literature of our time. Writers have acquired a new quality: they have become characterized by a sense of tragedy and doom of this world. Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" expressed the desire of writers for great generalizations, which distinguishes the literature of the United States of that time.

In the XX century. the short story no longer plays such an important role in American literature as in the 19th century, it is replaced by a realistic novel. But all novelists continue to pay considerable attention to it, and a number of prominent American prose writers devote themselves mainly or exclusively to the short story.

One of them is O. Henry (William Sidney Porter), who made an attempt to outline a different path for the American novel, as if “bypassing” the already clearly defined critical-realist direction. O. Henry can also be called the founder of the American happy ending (which was present in most of his stories), which later will be very successfully used in American popular fiction. Despite the sometimes not very flattering reviews of his work, it is one of the important and turning points in the development of the American short story of the 20th century.

A peculiar influence on American novelists of the 20th century. provided by representatives of the Russian realistic story (Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gorky). The features of the construction of the plot of the story were determined by essential life patterns and were fully included in the general artistic task of a realistic depiction of reality.

At the beginning of the XX century. new trends appeared that made an original contribution to the formation of critical realism. In the 900s, a current of "mudrakers" arose in the USA. "Mudrakers" - an extensive group of American writers, publicists, sociologists, public figures of a liberal orientation. In their work there were two closely interconnected streams: journalistic (L.Steffens, I.Tarbell, R.S. Baker) and literary and artistic (E.Sinclair, R.Herrick, R.R.Kauffman). At certain stages of their career, such major writers as D. London and T. Dreiser came close to the muckrakers movement (as President T. Roosevelt called them in 1906).

The performances of the "mudrakers" contributed to the strengthening of socially critical tendencies in US literature and the development of a sociological variety of realism. Thanks to them, the journalistic aspect becomes an essential element of the modern American novel.

The 10s were marked by a realist take-off in American poetry, called the "poetic renaissance." This period is associated with the names of Carl Sandberg, Edgar Lee Master, Robert Frost, W. Lindsay, E. Robinson. These poets addressed the life of the American people. Based on the democratic poetry of Whitman and the achievements of realist prose writers, they, breaking outdated romantic canons, laid the foundations of a new realistic poetics, which included updating the poetic vocabulary, prose prose, and in-depth psychologism. This poetics met the requirements of the time, helped to display American reality in its diversity by poetic means.

The 900s and 10s of our century were marked by the long-awaited appearance of a great critical-realistic novel (F. Norris, D. London, Dreiser, E. Sinclair). It is believed that critical realism in the latest US literature was formed in the process of interaction of three historically determined factors: these are the real elements of the protest of American romantics, the realism of Mark Twain, which grew up on an original folk basis, and the experience of American writers of a realistic direction, who perceived in one way or another tradition of the 19th century European classic novel.

American realism was the literature of public protest. Realist writers refused to accept reality as a natural result of development. Criticism of the emerging imperialist society, the depiction of its negative sides, became the hallmarks of American critical realism. New themes appear, brought to the fore by the changed conditions of life (the ruin and impoverishment of farming; the capitalist city and the little man in it; the denunciation of monopoly capital).

The new generation of writers is connected with the new region: it relies on the democratic spirit of the American West, on the elements of oral folklore and addresses its works to the widest mass readership.

It is appropriate to say about the stylistic diversity and genre innovation in American realism. The genres of the psychological and social short story, the socio-psychological novel, the epic novel, and the philosophical novel are developing, the genre of the social utopia is becoming widespread (Bellamy's Looking Backward, 1888), and the genre of the scientific novel is being created (S. Lewis's Arrowsmith). At the same time, realist writers often used new aesthetic principles, a special look “from the inside” at the surrounding life. Reality was portrayed as an object of psychological and philosophical understanding of human existence.

The typological feature of American realism was authenticity. Starting from the traditions of late romantic literature and the literature of the transition period, realist writers sought to portray only the truth, without embellishment and omissions. Another typological feature was the social orientation, the markedly social nature of novels and short stories. Another typological feature of American literature of the XX century. - its inherent publicity. Writers in their works sharply and clearly delineate their likes and dislikes.

By the 1920s, the formation of American national dramaturgy, which had not previously received significant development, dates back to the 1920s. This process proceeded in conditions of acute internal struggle. The desire for a realistic reflection of life was complicated by modernist influences among American playwrights. Eugene O^Neill occupies one of the first places in the history of American drama. He laid the foundations of the American national drama, created vivid psychological plays; and all his work had a great influence on the subsequent development of American drama.

An eloquent and peculiar phenomenon in the literature of the 1920s was the work of a group of young writers who entered literature immediately after the end of the First World War and reflected in their art the difficult conditions of post-war development. All of them were united by disappointment in bourgeois ideals. They were especially concerned about the fate of a young man in post-war America. These are the so-called representatives of the "lost generation" - Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Dos Passos, Francis Scott Fitzgerald. Of course, the term “lost generation” itself is very approximate, because the writers who are usually included in this group are very different in political, social and aesthetic views, in the characteristics of their artistic practice. And yet, to some extent, this term can be applied to them: the awareness of the tragedy of American life had a particularly strong and sometimes painful effect on the work of these young people who had lost faith in the old bourgeois foundations. F.S. Fitzgerald gave his name to the Lost Generation era: he called it the Jazz Age. In this term, he wanted to express the feeling of instability, the transience of life, a feeling that is characteristic of many people who have lost faith and hastened to live and thereby escape, albeit illusory, from their loss.

Around the 1920s, modernist groups began to appear that fought against realism, propagated the cult of "pure art", and engaged in formalist research. The American school of modernism is most vividly represented by the poetic practice and theoretical views of such masters of modernism as Ezra Pound and Thomas Stearns Eliot. Ezra Pound also became one of the founders of the modernist movement in literature, called Imagism. Imagism (from image) tore literature from life, defended the principle of the existence of "pure art", proclaimed the primacy of form over content. This idealistic conception, in turn, underwent minor changes over time and laid the foundation for another variety of modernism, known as vorticism. Vorticism (from vortex) is close to Imagism and Futurism. This movement made it an obligation for poets to figuratively perceive the phenomena they were interested in and depict them through words that took into account only their sound. Vorticists tried to achieve visual perception of sound, tried to find such words-sounds that would express movement, dynamics, without regard to their meaning and meaning. Freudian theories, which were widespread at that time, also contributed to the emergence of new trends in modernist literature. They became the basis of the stream of consciousness novel and various other schools.

Although the American writers who were in Europe did not create the original modernist schools. They were actively involved in the activities of various modernist groups - French, English and multinational. Among the "exiles" (as they called themselves), the majority were writers of the younger generation, who had lost faith in bourgeois ideals, in capitalist civilization, but could not find real support in life. Their confusion expressed itself in modernist quests.

In 1929, the first John Reed Club arose in the USA, uniting proletarian writers and advocating revolutionary art and literature, and in the 30s there were already 35 such clubs, and later on their basis the League of American Writers was created, which existed from 1935 to 1942. During its existence, four congresses were convened (1935, 1937, 1939, 1941), which laid the foundation for the unification of US writers around democratic social tasks, contributed to the ideological growth of many of them; this association has played a prominent role in the history of American literature.

"Pink Decade" It can be said that in the 1930s literature of a socialist orientation in the USA took shape as a trend. Its development was also facilitated by the stormy socialist movement in Russia. Among its representatives (Michael Gold, Lincoln Steffens, Albert Maltz, and others) there is a distinct desire for the socialist ideal, strengthening ties with social and political life. Very often in their works there was a call for resistance, for the struggle against the oppressors. This feature has become one of the important features of American socialist literature.

In the same years, a kind of “explosion of documentaryism” takes place; it was associated with the desire of writers to promptly, directly respond to current socio-political events. Turning to journalism, primarily to the essay, writers (Anderson, Caldwell, Frank, Dos Passos) turn out to be pioneers of new topics that later receive artistic comprehension.

At the end of the 1930s, there was a clear rise in the critical-realist trend after a noticeable decline at the beginning of the decade. New names appear: Thomas Wolfe, Richard Wright, Albert Maltz, D. Trumbo, E. Caldwell, D. Farrell and others. And the development of the epic genre, which was formed in the atmosphere of the popular struggle against monopolies and the fascist threat, became an outstanding achievement of critical realism in USA. Here, first of all, it is necessary to name the names of such authors as Faulkner, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Dos Passos.

During World War II, American writers joined the fight against Hitlerism: they condemned Hitler's aggression and supported the fight against the fascist aggressors. Publicistic articles and reports by war correspondents are published in large numbers. And later, the theme of World War II will be reflected in the books of many writers (Hemingway, Mailer, Saxton, etc.). Some writers, creating anti-fascist works, saw their task in unconditional support for the actions of the US ruling circles, which sometimes could lead to a departure from the truth of life, from a realistic depiction of reality. John Steinbeck took a similar position in those years.

After World War II, there is a slight decline in the development of literature, but this does not apply to poetry and drama, where the work of poets Robert Lowell and Alan Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, playwrights Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee gained worldwide fame.

In the post-war years, the anti-racist theme, so characteristic of Negro literature, deepens. This is evidenced by the poetry and prose of Langston Hughes, the novels of John Killens ("Young Blood, and Then We Heard Thunder"), and the fiery publicism of James Baldwin, and the dramaturgy of Lorraine Hensberry. One of the brightest representatives of Negro creativity was Richard Wright ("Son of America").

Increasingly, literature is created "under the order" of the ruling circles of America. The novels of L. Nyson, L. Stalling, and others, depicting in a heroic halo the actions of American troops during World War I and other "benefits" of America, are thrown into the book market in huge numbers. And during the years of World War II, the ruling circles of the United States managed to subjugate many writers. And for the first time on such a scale, US literature was put at the service of government propaganda. And as many critics note, this process had a detrimental effect on the development of US literature, which, in their opinion, was clearly confirmed in its post-war history.

The so-called mainstream fiction, which sets itself the goal of transporting the reader to a pleasant and iridescent world, is gaining popularity in the United States. The book market was flooded with novels by Kathleen Norris, Temple Bailey, Fenny Hearst, and other purveyors of "women's literature," producing lightweight, patterned novels with an indispensable happy ending. In addition to love books, popular literature was also represented by detective stories. Pseudo-historical works have also become popular, combining entertainment with an apology for American statehood (Kenneth Roberts). However, the most famous work in this genre was the American bestseller - the novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1937), depicting the life of the southern aristocracy during the era of the war between the North and the South and Reconstruction.

In the 1960s and 1970s in the United States, on the basis of the mass Negro and anti-war movement in the country, there was an obvious turn of many writers towards significant, social problems, the growth of socially critical sentiments in their work, and a return to the traditions of realistic creativity.

The role of John Cheever as the leader of US prose is becoming increasingly significant. Another representative of the literature of that time, Saul Bellow, was awarded the Nobel Prize and won wide recognition in America and beyond.

Among the modernist writers, the leading role belongs to the "black humorists" Barthelme, Bart, Pynchon, in whose work irony often hides the absence of their own vision of the world and who are more likely to have a tragic feeling and misunderstanding of life than its rejection.

In recent decades, many writers have come to literature from universities. And so the main themes became: memories of childhood, youth and university years, and when these topics were exhausted, the writers ran into difficulties. To a certain extent, this also applies to such remarkable writers as John Updike and Philip Roth. But not all of these writers remained in their perception of America at the level of university impressions. By the way, F. Roth and J. Updike in their latest works go far beyond these problems, although this is not so easy for them.

Among the middle generation of American writers, the most popular and significant are Kurt Vonnegut, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Gardner. The future belongs to these writers, although they have already said their special and original word in American literature. As for the developing concepts, they express various varieties of contemporary bourgeois currents in American literary criticism.

But, of course, modern US literature, already time-tested, will be studied, evaluated and comprehended, maybe from other positions only after a certain amount of time has passed - which will most likely be more reliable from the point of view of the development of American literature as a whole.

Bibliography

S.D. Artamonov, History of foreign literature of the XVII-XVIII centuries, M.: 1988

History of foreign literature of the 19th century, ed. M.A. Solovieva, M.: 1991

History of foreign literature of the 19th century, Part I, ed. A.S. Dmitrieva, M.: 1979

M.N. Bobrova, Romanticism in American Literature of the 19th Century, M.: 1991

History of foreign literature of the XX century 1871-1917, ed. V.N. Theological, Z.T. Civil, M.: 1972

History of foreign literature of the XX century 1917-1945, ed. V.N. Theological, Z.T. Civil, M.: 1990

History of foreign literature of the XX century, ed. L.G. Andreeva, M.: 1980

B.A. Gilenson, American literature of the 30s of the XX century, M.: 1974

A. Startsev, From Whitman to Hemingway, Moscow: 1972

Literary History of the United States of America, Volume III, ed. R. Spiller, W. Thorpe, T.N. Johnson, G.S. Kenby, M.: 1979

1. Jerome Salinger - "The Catcher in the Rye"
A classic writer, a mystery writer, at the peak of his career, he announced his retirement from literature and settled away from worldly temptations in a remote American province. Salinger's only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, was a watershed in the history of world literature. Both the title of the novel and the name of its protagonist, Holden Caulfield, have become codes for many generations of young rebels.

2. Nell Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
The novel, first published in 1960, was a resounding success and immediately became a bestseller. This is not surprising: Harper Lee, having learned the lessons of Mark Twain, found her own style of narration, which allowed her to show the world of adults through the eyes of a child, without simplifying or impoverishing it. The novel was awarded one of the most prestigious US literature prizes - the Pulitzer Prize, and was printed in millions of copies. It has been translated into dozens of languages around the world and continues to be reprinted to this day.

3. Jack Kerouac - "On the Road"
Jack Kerouac gave voice to a whole generation in literature, in his short life he managed to write about 20 books of prose and poetry and became the most famous and controversial author of his time. Some stigmatized him as a subverter of foundations, others considered him a classic of modern culture, but all the beatniks and hipsters learned to write from his books - to write what you know, but what you see, firmly believing that the world itself will reveal its nature. It was the novel "On the Road" that brought Kerouac worldwide fame and became a classic of American literature.

4. Francis Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
The best novel by American writer Francis Scott Fitzgerald, a poignant story of eternal dreams and human tragedy. According to the author himself, “the novel is about how illusions are wasted, which give the world such brilliance that, having experienced this magic, a person becomes indifferent to the concept of true and false.” The dream, in whose captivity Jay Gatsby is, coming into direct contact with the ruthless reality, breaks and buries the hero who believed in it as the truth under its debris.

5. Margaret Mitchell - "Gone with the Wind"
The great saga of the American Civil War and the fate of the wayward and ready to go over the heads of Scarlett O'Hara was first published 70 years ago and has not become outdated to this day. Gone with the Wind is the only novel by Margaret Mitchell for which she, a writer, emancipe and advocate for women's rights, won a Pulitzer Prize. This book is about how the love of life is more important than love; then, when the spurt to survival is successfully completed, love becomes preferable, but without love of life, she also dies.

6. Ernest Hemingway - "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
Full of tragedy is the story of a young American who arrived in Spain, engulfed in civil war.
A brilliant and sad book about war and love, true courage and self-sacrifice, moral duty and the enduring value of human life.

7. Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451

America, as you know, was officially discovered by the Genoese Columbus in 1492. But by chance, she received the name of the Florentine Amerigo.

18th century

The 18th century in America passes under the flag of the struggle for independence. The central place is occupied by the ideas of the Enlightenment, which came from England and France. Cities grew in New England, universities were founded, newspapers began to appear. The first literary swallows also appeared: novels created under the influence of English educational literature and the "Gothic" novel, Henry Breckenridge (1748-1816) - "Modern Chivalry, or the Adventures of Captain John Farrato and Tig O'Reegen, his servant", Brockden Brown ( 1771-1810) - Wieland, Ormond, Arthur Mervin; poems Timothy Dwight (1752-1818) - "The Conquests of Canaan", "Greenfield Hill".

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the brilliant and versatile minds of the 18th century. Public thought in America was formed under the influence of this powerful mind, a self-taught genius.

American educators emphasized the issues of society, the individual and the state. Society is above the state. It can change its political system if the new generation finds it useful, they reasoned.

19th century

Disappointment with the results of the post-revolutionary development of the country leads American writers to search for a romantic ideal that opposes inhumane reality.

The 19th century is a time of great change in the spiritual life of the United States. The industrial revolution and economic successes were destroying the strict puritanical prescriptions that condemned art created not by reason, but by feeling. Everything inspired optimistic confidence in the great destiny of America. People naively believed in their unlimited possibilities.

American romanticism

Unlike the European one, he was all focused on the future, optimistic. At the same time, he was characterized by longing for the irretrievably departed, sadness from contemplating the eternal cycle of life. Belief in a better future and prosperity for America reconciled most romantics with the darker sides of life.

The prominent representatives of romanticism in literature were the poet Henry Longfellow and the writer Fenimore Cooper, who were so different from each other.

Henry Longfellow (1807-1882) is a classic of American literature. His work is a milestone in American poetry of the 19th century. Unlike famous poets and writers, Longfellow fully enjoyed fame during his lifetime. When he died, mourning was declared not only in the United States, but also in England.

His best work was the poem "The Song of Hiawatha". It has become one of the most famous works of world literature.

"Song" is written based on Indian traditions and legends. Longfellow sang in it the Indian national hero of the fabulously harmonious age Hiawatha, who preached peace between the tribes, taught people agriculture and writing. The poem is imbued with a surprisingly touching description of nature and folk legends, the spirit of light sadness. It calls for harmony in relations between people, between nature and man.

The Indian theme is reflected in five novels by Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), united by a common hero - the hunter and tracker Natty Bumpo: "Pioneers", "The Last of the Mohicans", "Prairie", "Pathfinder", "St. John's Wort". The novel takes place in the 18th century. during the war between England and France in America. F. Cooper bitterly describes the inhuman extermination of Indian tribes and the destruction of a unique culture. The meeting of two civilizations turned into a tragedy. Honest and brave Natty Bumpo and his faithful friend the Indian chief Chingachguk were also crushed by the world of money-grubbing and gain.

In the wake of the movement to abolish slavery, several talented works arose. The most significant of these was the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 - 1896).

The book was a great reader success. She carried the truth about the horrors of slavery in the US South. Contemporaries said that it played a greater role in the struggle to abolish slavery than hundreds of propaganda pamphlets or rallies. Uncle Tom's Cabin has been staged in many theaters throughout the United States. In Boston, the play ran for 100 consecutive days, and in New York, only one of the theaters ran for 160 days. Fascinating content, a truthful description of the conditions of life of slaves and the mores of slave planters made "Uncle Tom's Cabin" one of the most popular books in world literature. It is still read with unflagging interest.

During the period of the democratic rise of the 50s, when the States were shaken by disputes between northerners and southerners and the Civil War was ripening in the country, the poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) appeared. An ordinary journalist, he published in 1855 the book "Leaves of Grass", which made him the great poet of America and brought him worldwide fame. This only book of the poet was unlike anything that had been written before him. An amazing creative take-off, the “Whitman riddle” people are unsuccessfully trying to solve.

Whitman called himself a prophet of democracy. He sang of America, to self-forgetfulness - its working people. He sang the movement of the stars and every atom, every grain of the universe. Looking at the people, he distinguished an individual, leaning over the grass, he saw a blade of grass - a leaf of grass. Furiously in love with life, he rejoiced at any slightest sprout of it, merged with the elements of the surrounding world. The image of "grass" and "I" of the poet are inseparable:

"I bequeath myself to the dirty earth, let me grow my
favorite herb,
If you want to see me again, look for me at your place
under the soles."

Whitman created his own authentic Whitman style. His invention is free verse. The poet described the rhythm of the free verse in which “Leaves of Grass” was written in the following way: “This verse is like the waves of the sea: they either roll in or recede - radiant and quiet on a clear day, menacing in a storm.” Unlike the Romantic poets, Whitman's poetic speech is surprisingly human and direct:

"The first person you meet, if you, passing by, want to speak
With me why don't you talk to me
Why don't I start a conversation with you?"

Whitman praised not only the beauty of man and the beauty of the nature of his country. He sang about railroads, factories and cars.

"...Oh, we'll build a building
More magnificent than all Egyptian tombs,
More beautiful than the temples of Hellas and Rome,
We will build your temple, O holy industry..."

Well, America's great poet wasn't particularly perceptive. Intoxicated by the dream and fascinated by the world, he did not see the danger to man and humanity arising from the mighty pace of modern industry.

First warnings

Among American writers of the first half of the XIX century. there were many who criticized the negative aspects of American reality. "Liberty, equality and fraternity" came into conflict with life. In it, in the words of one of the romantics, the "almighty dollar" dominated.

While Whitman sang of America, Herman Melville said many bitter words about it in his famous novel Moby Dick, or the White Whale. Bourgeois civilization, he believed, brings evil and death to people. Melville denounced racism, colonization and slavery. A few years before it began, he predicted the American Civil War.

Another well-known American writer, Henry Thoreau, sharply criticized bourgeois civilization. He preached the simplification of man, his harmonious relationship with nature. Here is his famous description of the railroad: “Each sleeper is a man, an Irishman or a Yankee. On them, on these people, the rails are laid... and the wagons roll smoothly. The sleepers may someday wake up and stand up, ”Toro prophetically warned.

American realism

The largest American realist writers in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. were Mark Twain, F. Bret Harte, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) subjected to merciless criticism and ridicule of his main enemies - the "monarchy of money" and religion. Therefore, some of his books could not be printed in the USA for a long time. The best works of Mark Twain - "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", are dedicated to the lives of ordinary people in America.

occupies a special place in American literature. Bret Hart (1836-1902). He is famous for his stories and tales from the life of California gold diggers. They show the enslaving power of gold in a breathtaking and masterful manner. Garth's works were accepted in Europe as a new word in American literature.

At the end of the XIX century. a prominent place in American literature has occupied a short story. O "Henry proved to be a virtuoso master of the story, a light and cheerful short story. The largest writer of the early 20th century, Jack London (1876-1916), gained fame with his stories. They describe a new and unfamiliar world for Americans - fearless and courageous people, gold diggers of the North, the world of romance and adventure.The best works of Jack London are the stories "Love of Life", "The Mexican", the novels "White Fang" and "Martin Eden". In the story "White Plague" - a vision of the catastrophe of bourgeois civilization.

The reverse side of US economic prosperity is depicted in a grand way in the novels of America's preeminent writer Theodor Dreiser (1871 -1945). The trilogy "Financier", "Titan" and "Stoic" tells the story of a "superman" financier who came to a bitter conclusion about the futility of accumulation and money-grubbing. One of the writer's best works is the novel "An American Tragedy".

Painting

American painting was heavily influenced by Western Europe. It was characterized by romanticism and realism, and from the end of the 19th century - impressionism. Artists of the romantic direction were most interested in two big themes - nature and personality. Therefore, portraiture was widespread. In times of economic prosperity, artists tended to paint wealthy people and their families. American painting has not yet been distinguished by any special originality.

Heart of the Andes. Frederic Church (1826-1900). In the 1850s visited South America, after which he became famous in the United States for his vivid and impressive images of exotic landscapes

Mother and Child, 1890. American M. Cassatt became the first woman to achieve recognition among the Impressionists. Paintings on the themes of motherhood are simple, expressive and full of warmth

Only after the Civil War did American artists stop feeling like uncouth apprentices. Their works are becoming more and more "American".

The most famous American painters of the XIX century. there were representatives of the romantic direction: Cole, Darend and Bingham. The portrait painter Sargent enjoyed great popularity. However, Winslow Homer is considered to be a typical American artist of the end of the century.

Light Breeze, 1878. W. Homer (1836-1910). This painting was hailed as the artist's greatest achievement. Children's themes were popular in the second half of the 19th century, as well as in the days of Huckleberry Finn.

The Daughters of Edward Buat, 1882. J. Sargent (1856-1925). Born into a wealthy American family in Italy. He spent his whole life in Europe, occasionally making trips to the United States. Created virtuoso secular portraits

Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the 19th century in the United States began collecting works of European painting. Wealthy Americans traveled to Europe and bought art treasures there. In 1870, a group of public figures and artists founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the largest art collection in the United States.

Today it houses about 3 million works of world art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is on a par with the largest art museums in the world, such as the Hermitage and the Tretyakov Gallery in Russia, the Louvre in Paris or the British Museum in London.

Architecture

American architecture was as eclectic as European. It intricately intertwined elements of the styles you know - Gothic, Rococo and Classicism. In the second half of the XIX century. Americans have made a great contribution to the development of world architecture. They are credited with creating steel structures for large industrial and administrative buildings.

And it all started with a tragic event. In 1871, the city of Chicago was almost completely burned out by a great fire. It was necessary to rebuild the entire city, which caused a surge of various ideas. A group of architects led by Louis Sullivan designed the skeleton of a commercial skyscraper based on a steel frame filled with stone and cement. In the 1880s first in Chicago, and then in other cities, the first skyscrapers appeared, which became a symbol of the industrial power of America.

References:
V. S. Koshelev, I. V. Orzhehovsky, V. I. Sinitsa / World History of the Modern Times XIX - early. XX century., 1998.

In contact with

Despite its relatively short history, American literature has made an invaluable contribution to world culture. Although already in the 19th century all of Europe was reading the gloomy detective stories of Edgar Allan Poe and the beautiful historical poems of Henry Longfellow, these were only the first steps; It was in the 20th century that American literature flourished. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, two world wars and the struggle against racial discrimination in America, classics of world literature, Nobel Prize winners, writers are born who characterize an entire era with their works.

The radical economic and social changes in American life in the 1920s and 1930s provided the perfect breeding ground for realism, which reflected the desire to capture the new realities of America. Now, along with books whose purpose was to entertain the reader and make him forget about the surrounding social problems, works appear on the shelves that clearly show the need to change the existing social order. The work of the realists was distinguished by a great interest in various kinds of social conflicts, attacks on the values accepted by society and criticism of the American way of life.

Among the most prominent realists were Theodore Dreiser, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. In their immortal works, they reflected the true life of America, sympathized with the tragic fate of young Americans who went through the First World War, supported the struggle against fascism, spoke openly in defense of workers, and unashamedly depicted the depravity and spiritual emptiness of American society.

THEODORE DREISER

(1871-1945)

Theodore Dreiser was born in a small town in Indiana to a bankrupt small business owner. Writer from childhood he knew hunger, poverty and need, which was later reflected in the themes of his works, as well as in a brilliant description of the life of the ordinary working class. His father was a strict Catholic, limited and despotic, which made Dreiser hate religion till the end of one's days.

At the age of sixteen, Dreiser had to leave school and work part-time in order to somehow earn his living. Later, he was still enrolled in the university, but he could only study there for a year, again because of money problems. In 1892, Dreiser began working as a reporter for various newspapers, and eventually moved to New York, where he became editor of the magazine.

His first significant work is the novel "Sister Kerry"- comes out in 1900. Dreiser tells the story of a poor country girl, close to his own life, who recovers in Chicago in search of work. As soon as the book barely made it to print, it immediately was called contrary to morality and withdrawn from sale. Seven years later, when it became too difficult to hide the work from the public, the novel nevertheless appeared on store shelves. Writer's second book "Jenny Gerhard" published in 1911 was also crushed by critics.

Further, Dreiser begins to write a cycle of novels "Trilogy of Desires": "Financier" (1912), "Titanium"(1914) and unfinished novel "Stoic"(1947). Its purpose was to show how, at the end of the 19th century, America was "big business".

In 1915, a semi-autobiographical novel was published. "Genius", in which Dreiser describes the tragic fate of a young artist whose life was broken by the cruel injustice of American society. Myself the writer considered the novel his best work, but critics and readers greeted the book negatively and it is practically not for sale.

Dreiser's most famous work is the immortal novel. "American tragedy"(1925). This is a story about a young American who is corrupted by the false morals of the United States, which leads him to become a criminal and a murderer. novel reflects american lifestyle, in which the poverty of workers from the outskirts stands out against the backdrop of the wealth of the privileged class.

In 1927, Dreiser visited the USSR and published a book the following year. "Dreiser looks at Russia", which became one of the first books about the Soviet Union, published by a writer from America.

Dreiser also supported the movement of the American working class and wrote several non-fiction works on this topic - "Tragic America"(1931) and "America Worth Saving"(1941). With tireless strength and the skill of a true realist, he depicted the social order around him. However, despite how harsh the world appeared before his eyes, the writer never did not lose faith to the dignity and greatness of man and his beloved country.

In addition to critical realism, Dreiser worked in the genre naturalism. He scrupulously depicted seemingly insignificant details of the everyday life of his heroes, cited real documents, sometimes very long in size, clearly described the actions related to business, etc. Because of this style of writing, criticism is often accused Dreiser in the absence of style and fantasy. By the way, despite such condemnations, Dreiser was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in 1930, so you yourself can judge their veracity.

I do not argue, maybe sometimes the abundance of small details is confusing, but it is their ubiquitous presence that allows the reader to most clearly imagine the action and, as it were, become a direct participant in it. The writer's novels are large in size and can be quite difficult to read, but they are undoubtedly masterpieces american literature, worth spending time on. It is highly recommended to fans of Dostoevsky's work, who will certainly be able to appreciate Dreiser's talent.

Francis Scott Fitzgerald

(1896-1940)

Francis Scott Fitzgerald is one of America's most famous writers. lost generation(these are young people called to the front, sometimes who have not finished school yet and start killing early; after the war they often could not adapt to civilian life, drank themselves, committed suicide, some went crazy). They were devastated people who had no strength left to fight the corrupt world of wealth. They try to fill their spiritual emptiness with endless pleasures and entertainment.

The writer was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in a wealthy family, so he got the opportunity to study in prestigious Princeton University. At that time, the university was dominated by a competitive spirit, under the influence of which Fitzgerald also fell. He tried with all his might to become a member of the most fashionable and famous clubs, which attracted with their atmosphere of sophistication and aristocracy. Money for the writer was synonymous with independence, privilege, style and beauty, and poverty was associated with avarice and narrow-mindedness. Later Fitzgerald realized the falsity of their views.

He never finished his studies at Princeton, but it was there that his literary career(he wrote for the university magazine). In 1917, the writer volunteered for the army, but he never took part in real military operations in Europe. At the same time he falls in love with Zelda Sayre who came from a wealthy family. They married only in 1920, two years later, after the resounding success of Fitzgerald's first serious work. "On the Other Side of Paradise" because Zelda didn't want to marry a poor unknown man. The fact that beautiful girls are attracted only by wealth made the writer think about social injustice, and Zelda was subsequently often called the prototype of the heroines his novels.

Fitzgerald's wealth grows in direct proportion to the popularity of his novel, and soon the spouses become epitome of luxury lifestyle they even came to be called the king and queen of their generation. They lived chic and ostentatious, enjoying a fashionable life in Paris, expensive rooms in prestigious hotels, endless parties and receptions. They constantly threw out various eccentric antics, scandals and became addicted to alcohol, and Fitzgerald even began to write articles for glossy magazines of that time. All this is undoubtedly destroyed the talent of the writer, although even then he managed to write several serious novels and stories.

His major novels appeared between 1920 and 1934: "On the Other Side of Paradise" (1920), "The Beautiful and the Damned" (1922), "The Great Gatsby", which is the writer's most famous work and is considered a masterpiece of American literature, and "Night is tender" (1934).

The Best Fitzgerald Stories Included in Collections "Tales of the Jazz Age"(1922) and "All those sad young people" (1926).

Shortly before his death, in an autobiographical article, Fitzgerald compared himself to a broken plate. He died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940 in Hollywood.

The main theme of almost all of Fitzgerald's works was the corrupting power of money, which leads to spiritual decay. He considered the rich to be a special class, and only over time began to realize that it was based on inhumanity, his own uselessness and lack of morality. He realized this along with his characters, who were mostly autobiographical characters.

Fitzgerald's novels are written in beautiful language, understandable and refined at the same time, so the reader can hardly tear himself away from his books. Although after reading the works of Fitzgerald, despite the amazing imagination a journey into the luxurious Jazz Age, there remains a feeling of emptiness and futility of being, he is rightfully considered one of the most prominent writers of the 20th century.

WILLIAM FAULKNER

(1897-1962)

William Cuthbert Faulkner is one of the leading novelists of the mid-twentieth century, in New Albany, Mississippi, in an impoverished aristocratic family. He studied at Oxford when the First World War began. The experience of the writer, received at this time, played an important role in shaping his character. He entered military flight school, but the war ended before he could complete the course. After that, Faulkner returned to Oxford and worked head of the post office at the University of Mississippi. At the same time, he began taking courses at the university and trying to write.

His first published book, a collection of poems "Marble Faun"(1924), was not successful. In 1925, Faulkner met the writer Sherwood Anderson which had a great influence on his work. He recommended Faulkner engage in poetry, prose, and gave advice to write about American South, about the place Faulkner grew up in and knows best. It is in Mississippi, namely in the fictional district Yoknapatofa most of his novels will take place.

In 1926 Faulkner wrote the novel "Soldier Award" who was close in spirit to the lost generation. The writer showed tragedy of people who returned to civilian life crippled both physically and mentally. The novel was also not a great success, but Faulkner was recognized as an inventive writer.

From 1925 to 1929 he worked carpenter and painter and successfully combines this with writing work.

In 1927 the novel was published "Mosquitoes" and in 1929 - "Sartoris". In the same year, Faulkner published the novel "Sound and Fury" who brings him fame in literary circles. After that, he decides to devote all his time to writing. His work "Sanctuary"(1931), a story about violence and murder, became a sensation and the author finally gained financial independence.

In the 1930s, Faulner wrote several gothic novels: "When I was dying"(1930), "Light in August"(1932) and "Absalom, Absalom!"(1936).

In 1942, the writer publishes a collection of short stories "Come down, Moses", which includes one of his most famous works - the story "Bear".In 1948 Faulkner writes "The Defiler of Ashes", one of the most important social novels associated with racism.

In the 40s and 50s, his best work, a trilogy of novels, was published. "Village", "City" and "Mansion" dedicated the tragic fate of the aristocracy of the American South. Faulkner's last novel "The Kidnappers" coming out in 1962, it also enters the Yoknapatof saga and depicts the story of the beautiful but dying South. For this novel, and for "Parable"(1954), whose themes are humanity and war, Faulkner received Pulitzer Prizes. In 1949, the writer was awarded "for his significant and artistically unique contribution to the development of the modern American novel".

William Faulkner was one of the most important writers of his time. He belonged to Southern School of American Writers. In his writings, he turned to the history of the American South, especially during the Civil War.

In his books, he tried to deal with racism, knowing full well that it is not so much social as psychological. Faulkner saw African Americans and whites as inextricably linked to each other by a common history. He condemned racism and cruelty, but was sure that both whites and African Americans were not ready for legislative action, so Faulkner mainly criticized the moral side of the issue.

Faulkner was proficient with the pen, although he often claimed to have little interest in writing technique. He was a bold experimenter and had an original style. He wrote psychological novels, in which great attention was paid to the replicas of the characters, for example, the novel "When I was dying" built like a chain of characters' monologues, sometimes long, sometimes one or two sentences. Faulkner fearlessly combined opposing epithets to great effect, and his writings often have ambiguous, indefinite endings. Of course, Faulkner knew how to write in such a way that excite the soul even the most fastidious reader.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

(1899-1961)

Ernest Hemingway - one of the most widely read writers of the 20th century. He is a classic of American and world literature.

He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of a provincial doctor. His father was fond of hunting and fishing, he taught his son shoot and fish and also instilled a love for sports and nature. Ernest's mother was a religious woman who was entirely devoted to the affairs of the church. On the basis of different views on life, quarrels often broke out between the writer's parents, because of which Hemingway couldn't feel at home.

Ernest's favorite place was a house in northern Michigan, where the family usually spent their summers. The boy always accompanied his father on various trips to the forest or fishing.

Ernest's school gifted, energetic, successful student and excellent athlete. He played football, was a member of the swim team and boxed. Hemingway also loved literature, writing weekly reviews, poetry and prose for school magazines. However, the school years were not calm for Ernest. The atmosphere created in the family by his demanding mother put a lot of pressure on the boy, so that he ran away from home twice and worked on farms as a laborer.

In 1917, when America entered World War I, Hemingway wanted to join the army, but due to poor eyesight, he was refused. He moved to Kansas to live with his uncle and started working as a reporter for the local newspaper. The Kansas city star. Journalistic experience clearly visible in the distinctive style of Hemingway's writing, laconic, but at the same time clear and precise language. In the spring of 1918, he learned that the Red Cross needed volunteers for Italian front. It was his long-awaited chance to be at the center of the battles. After a short stop in France, Hemingway arrived in Italy. Two months later, while rescuing a wounded Italian sniper, the writer came under fire from machine guns and mortars and was badly injured. He was taken to a hospital in Milan, where, after 12 operations, 26 fragments were removed from his body.

An experience Hemingway received in war, was very important for the young man and influenced not only his life, but also his writing. In 1919 Hemingway returns as a hero to America. Soon he travels to Toronto, where he begins working as a reporter for a newspaper. The Toronto star. In 1921, Hemingway married the young pianist Hadley Richardson, and the couple moves to Paris, the city that the writer has long dreamed of. To collect material for his future stories, Hemingway travels around the world, visiting Germany, Spain, Switzerland and other countries. His first job "Three Stories and Ten Poems"(1923) was not successful, but the next collection of short stories "Nowadays", published in 1925, achieved public recognition.

Hemingway's first novel "And the Sun Rises"(or "Fiesta") published in 1926. "Bye weapons!", a novel depicting World War I and its aftermath, comes out in 1929 and brings great popularity to the author. In the late 20s and into the 30s, Hemingway released two collections of short stories: "Men Without Women"(1927) and "Winner Gets Nothing" (1933).

The most outstanding works written in the first half of the 30s are "Death in the Afternoon"(1932) and "Green Hills of Africa" (1935). "Death in the Afternoon" narrates about the Spanish bullfight, "Green Hills of Africa" and the well-known collection "Snows of Kilimanjaro"(1936) describe Hemingway's hunting in Africa. nature lover, the writer skillfully draws African landscapes for readers.

When in 1936 began Spanish Civil War Hemingway hastened to the theater of war, but this time as an anti-fascist correspondent and writer. The next three years of his life are closely connected with the struggle of the Spanish people against fascism.

He took part in the filming of the documentary "Land of Spain". Hemingway wrote the script and read the text himself. The impression of the war in Spain reflected in the novel "For whom the Bell Tolls"(1940), which the writer himself considered his best job.

A deep hatred of fascism made Hemingway active participant in World War II. He organized counterintelligence against Nazi spies and hunted German submarines in the Caribbean on his boat, after which he served as a war correspondent in Europe. In 1944, Hemingway took part in combat flights over Germany and even, standing at the head of a detachment of French partisans, was one of the first to liberate Paris from German occupation.

After the war Hemingway moved to Cuba, occasionally visited Spain and Africa. He ardently supported the Cuban revolutionaries in their struggle against the dictatorship that had developed in the country. He talked a lot with ordinary Cubans and worked hard on a new story. "The Old Man and the Sea", which is considered the pinnacle of the writer's work. In 1953 Ernest Hemingway received Pulitzer Prize for this brilliant story, and in 1954 Hemingway was awarded Nobel Prize in Literature "for storytelling once again demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea."

During his trip to Africa in 1953, the writer was in a serious plane crash.

In the last years of his life he was seriously ill. In November 1960, Hemingway returned to America in the town of Ketchum, Idaho. Writer suffered from a number of diseases, because of which he was admitted to the clinic. He was in deep depression, as he believed that FBI agents were watching him, listening to telephone conversations, checking mail and bank accounts. In the clinic, this was taken as a symptom of mental illness and the great writer was treated with electric shock. After 13 Hemingway sessions I lost my memory and ability to create. He was depressed, suffered from bouts of paranoia, and increasingly thought about suicide.

Two days after his release from the psychiatric hospital, on July 2, 1961, Ernest Hemingway shot himself with his favorite hunting rifle at his home in Ketchum, leaving no suicide note.

In the early 80s, the Hemingway case at the FBI was declassified, and the fact of surveillance of the writer in his last years was confirmed.

Ernest Hemingway was by far the greatest writer of his generation, with an amazing and tragic fate. He was freedom fighter, vehemently opposed wars and fascism, and not only through literary works. He was incredible master of writing. His style is distinguished by conciseness, accuracy, restraint in describing emotional situations, and concrete details. The technique he developed was included in the literature under the name "iceberg principle", because the writer gave the main meaning to the subtext. The main feature of his work was truthfulness, he was always honest and sincere with his readers. While reading his works, there is confidence in the reliability of events, the effect of presence is created.

Ernest Hemingway is the writer whose works are recognized as real masterpieces of world literature and whose works, no doubt, should be read by everyone.

MARGARET MITCHELL

(1900-1949)

Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the daughter of a lawyer who was chairman of the Atlanta Historical Society. The whole family loved and was interested in history, and the girl grew up in atmosphere of stories about the Civil War.

At first, Mitchell studied at the Washington Seminary, and then entered the prestigious Smith College for Women in Massachusetts. After graduating, she began working at The Atlanta Journal. She wrote hundreds of essays, articles and reviews for the newspaper, and in four years she has grown to reporter, but in 1926 she suffered an ankle injury that made her work impossible.

The energy and liveliness of the character of the writer were traced in everything she did or wrote. Margaret Mitchell married John Marsh in 1925. From that moment on, she began to write down all the stories about the Civil War that she heard as a child. This resulted in a novel "Gone With the Wind", which was first published in 1936. The writer has been working on it for ten years. This is a novel about the American Civil War, told from the point of view of the North. The main character is, of course, a beautiful girl named Scarlett O'Hara, the whole story revolves around her life, family plantation, love relationships.

After the release of the novel, the American classic bestseller, Margaret Mitchell quickly became a world-famous writer. Over 8 million copies have been sold in 40 countries. The novel has been translated into 18 languages. He won Pultzer Prize in 1937. The very successful movie with Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and Leslie Howard.

Despite numerous fan requests for a continuation of O'Hara's story, Mitchell did not write more. not a single novel. But the name of the writer, like her magnificent work, will forever remain in the history of world literature.

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