What does the rest of the world think of American Literature?

[JCamilo]

No? But the great British Empire of Kipling, Stevenson, Haggard and cia.? The hero of Carlyle?

The great kings, from the Shakespeares Henries and cia., to the Arthurian themes, Elizabethean allegories, even a victorian age? The chivalirty of Walter Scott?

The great American Novel is the attempt of America find his "founding" epic on novel form, it does not work in english because their have it already. They have Milton and his great christian Epic and Chaucer and his pilgrims.

And really? Because Shakespeare and his kings are typically english. Chaucer and his pilgrism too. Milton reading of christian themes is not exactly italian or roman catholic. Pope humor is completely Monty Phytish. Jane Austen irony?Lord Byron nobility and rebelion? Kipling? The good morality of Steveson? The adventurer Richard Burton? The victorians Brownings and Tennyson?

I am sorry, but England is filled with writers typically english which take us back to england all the time. As an Empire it is world wide, it did had influence all over the world, but still imposed its own culture.

Meanwhile, you have americans writting about Spanish Civil wars, you have Poe (not so american), the gothic and germanism in Washington Irving, Henry James that is almost british, Mark Twain writing about Joana D'arc, Ezra Pound... well, even Melville and his ubber democratic Pequod, is universal as it gets. Luckly Faulkner is american, he could be from anywhere, the same can be said about Hemingway.

[lowradiation]

I'm and English Literature and History student at Northumbria uni, I have an option next year for a module entitled 'reading the american man', and i cannot wait to do it.

Reading list includes: Fitzgerald's Gatsby, Morrison's Song of Soloman, Talented Mr Ripley, Yates' Revolutionary Road, Fight Club, Cormac mccarthy all the way up to the recent Generation A.

The last few years I have become more and more fascinated by American 20th Century lit, having read Gtasby, On The Road, The Road and a few basics. Give me a dark, twisted vision of American culture or a non-conforming, dysfunctional American character any day of the week over Dickens. I'm leaning my degree towards contemporary and modern lit, alos become obssessed with American 20th C politics having studied Vietnam, Atomic Diplomacy etc. So much so I'm undecided whether I want to do postrad studies in either American lit or American history! I have a good decision to make I guess.

So guess the answer is yes, American lit is fairly prominent over the pond, my reading list for next summer includes: Roth, Mccarthy, Franzen, Foster-Wallace, Pynchon, DeLilo, as well as Moby Dick of course.

[Drkshadow03]

Yeah! America!!!!!

[LuggageFan]

I'm in the UK, but still I'm very biased, because I love American modern fiction, much more then modern European fiction. I dont know why. Probably mainly because I love America so much (and my surname is Hussain...who knew )

This is a funny topic to me, because as an American, I find British and other European authors much more enjoyable to read, with some exceptions. Terry Pratchett, Stieg Larssen, James Herbert, Wilbur Smith, Agatha Christie - less literature and more genre, perhaps, but still...

[kelby_lake]

No? But the great British Empire of Kipling, Stevenson, Haggard and cia.? Colonialism is an interesting influence and probably one of the characteristics of English Literature The hero of Carlyle?

The great kings, from the Shakespeares Henries and cia., to the Arthurian themes, Elizabethean allegories, even a victorian age? The chivalirty of Walter Scott?

The great American Novel is the attempt of America find his "founding" epic on novel form, it does not work in english because their have it already. They have Milton and his great christian Epic and Chaucer and his pilgrims. But do they speak for their country in the way that American Literature does? Great Literature and Great National Literature are different things


And really? Because Shakespeare and his kings are typically english But he set quite a few of his plays in Italy, two in France, one in Vienna, although everybody's name sounds Italian.. Chaucer and his pilgrism too. Milton reading of christian themes is not exactly italian or roman catholic. Pope humor is completely Monty Phytish. Jane Austen irony?Lord Byron nobility and rebelion? Kipling? The good morality of Steveson? The adventurer Richard Burton? The victorians Brownings and Tennyson?

I am sorry, but England is filled with writers typically english which take us back to england all the time. As an Empire it is world wide, it did had influence all over the world, but still imposed its own culture.

Meanwhile, you have americans writting about Spanish Civil wars Ah, there's a discussion on that in this thread:http://www.online-literature.com/for...ight=hemingway. War is the perfect setting to look at national values , you have Poe (not so american), the gothic and germanism in Washington Irving, Henry James that is almost british A lot of his novels were about the American/British clash, coming from the experience of an American in Britain, Mark Twain writing about Joana D'arc, Ezra Pound... well, even Melville and his ubber democratic Pequod, is universal as it gets. Luckly Faulkner is american, he could be from anywhere, the same can be said about Hemingway Not sure about this.

My thoughts

It's not so much a question of quality. It's about having that nationalist quality.

[JuniperWoolf]

Yeah! America!!!!!

Haha, that's the song that goes through my head every time I witness that unique brand of excessive American patriotism at a global sporting event.

"U! S! A! U! S! A! U! S! A!"

It's one of the reasons why I love the olympics. Other countries don't really do that...

*edit* Except for China.

"Chi-na!" clap clap clap! "Chi-na!" clap clap clap!

After the taekwondo worlds, that's going to be stuck in my head for the rest of my life.

[JCamilo]

Kelby, it got confusing

Anyways, Colonialism is just another name for speak for their country or spreading the national culture. I am sure when africans point for european voices imposing their vallues in Africa, one of the fingers is pointing to England. Same with Asians. Lawrence was playing with Arabs, right?

I fail to see how Richard Burton does not speak for his country while Mark Twain does. Goethe speaks less about German than Chaucer who focused his pilgrame in a fact only relevant for the relation between church and crown in England, something rather unique that we find in Milton too.

Yes, Shakespeare is not so british, but which american is so american? Mark Twain sets stories in France and Camelot.... Hemingway in Spain... Melville in some islands... Bradbury in Mars (joking of course)... Poe in Paris, North Pole... And what is good of Haggard set stories in Africa? Or in Egypt? Just like, of course, Hemingway is an american talking about spanish war, Shakespeare still an english... the humor, the plot twists... So typical of him.

And James? By the simple fact he is focusing on English-american conflicts we already have an american looking beyond Manhattan. And look at Faulkner, many of his stories could happen anywhere who had those long plains, the isolation, the small cities minds, that is why he entered so well in South America while Virginia Woolf and Borges did not.

And think about philosophy, the entire Newton vs. Leibniz charada, the british liberal ideal... England is certainly an identidity in their literature, cann't see how not perceibe it, the nation talking with their voices like everyone else.

[stlukesguild]

"U! S! A! U! S! A! U! S! A!"

It's one of the reasons why I love the olympics. Other countries don't really do that...

*edit* Except for China.

"Chi-na!" clap clap clap! "Chi-na!" clap clap clap!

Oh yes, of course. Those civilized English would never act like such rude barbarians:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR2zXbg5fP0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtOXiQToz64

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GcpxjejhfU

Nor those Germans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyZ-tGa1uMY

Or even those Canadians:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJLGMMBuzhQ

Oh those horrible, brutish Americans with their "USA... USA..." chants.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

AMERICA! (explicit content )

[JuniperWoolf]

Oh those horrible, brutish Americans with their "USA... USA..." chants.

The only nation who's chant most people have heard more often than literally any pop song is America's. I say while being completely objective: when it comes to narcassism, America takes the cake. You can't even say the word "America" in front of an American crowd without being interrupted by ecstatic cheers. It's frickin' hilarious. Everyone jokes about it, you should totally watch Team America: World Police.

[Emmy Castrol]

I usually prefer British literature to American (the British seem to be able to laugh at themselves a bit better) but there some American writers who I've liked - H.P. Lovecraft (until my husband forbid me to read anymore of his work), F. Scott Fitzgerald (for Gatsby only, his other works are terrible), Harper Lee, Carol Shields and for a contemporary, Curtis Sittenfield.

I like America for its sense of humanity, passion, its big ideas and its fearless love of freedom.

[mortalterror]

It would be difficult to find a nation that has produced a stronger and more influential body of literature over the last century than the US

We are agreed. There have been no new Dante's or Shakespeare's from any quarter for some time now, and in recent history America has had a very good run. I'd place our sweet spot between 1850 and 1950, and although the 20th century is much too varied and full of masterpieces for any one nation to be dominant, I believe that the United States was at least prominent among many good contenders of this period.

[OrphanPip]

Oh those horrible, brutish Americans with their "USA... USA..." chants.

I think you missed the point, none of that has to do with expression of nationalism at sporting events. There is certainly a distinctive way of expressing patriotism in the USA.

Besides, riots are a sporting event within and of themselves in Montreal.

[kelby_lake]

I like America for its sense of humanity, passion, its big ideas and its fearless love of freedom.

Literature-wise, I agree

[Drkshadow03]

AMERICA! (explicit content )

Did you just copy my post (6 posts above yours)?!