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UNIT 54

1. INTRODUCTION.

MARK TWAIN AND HENRY JAMES: HUMORISM AND COSMOPOLITANISM.

1.1. Aims of the unit. The present unit, Unit 54, aims to provide a useful introduction to two relevant figures of American literature, Mark Twain and Henry James, whose literary contributions were namely

OUTLINE

produced on the second half of the nineteenth century and associated to the literary streams of

1. INTRODUCTION. 1.1. Aims of the unit. 1.2. Notes on bibliography.

humorism and cosmopolitanism, respectively. In general, the literature of the time was both shaped by and reflected the prevailing ideologies of the day, that is, the main social, economic, political, cultural, and technological conditions of this period, such as the question of slavery,

2. A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. 2.1. Before the Civil War. 3.1.1. War of Independence (1778-1783). 3.1.2. The aftermath of the war. 3.1.2.1. Social consequences. 3.1.2.2. Economic consequences. 3.1.2.3. Political consequences. 2.2. The Civil War (1861-1865). 2.3. The aftermath of the Civil War (1865-1901). 2.3.1. Social consequences. 2.3.2. Economic consequences. 2.3.3. Political consequences. 2.4. The twentieth century: up to the First World War (1914-1918).

the North East industrial revolution, the War with Great Britain, the aftermath of the Civil War, the Gold Rush period, the classic cultural capital of Boston, and the use of steaming ships in the Mississippi, among others. As we shall see, these two writers are a reference point in which social, economic, cultural, technogical and political allegiances are placed very much to the fore. Actually, Mark Twain (whose real name was Samuel Longhorne Clemens) reflects the social and political situation of the United States with humour as a means of social critic, where the questions of slavery, racism, hypocrisy and cruelty of modern civilization are highlighted; on the other hand, Henry

3. A LITERARY BACKGROUND: THE LATE NINETEENTH TWENTIETH-CENTURY LITERATURE: THE AMERICAN NOVEL. 3.1. Main literary features. 3.2. Main literary forms. 3.2.1. Drama. 3.2.2. Poetry 3.2.3. Prose: the American novel.

AND

EARLY

4. MARK TWAIN AND HENRY JAMES: HUMORISM AND COSMOPOLITANISM. 4.1. Mark Twain (1835-1910). 4.1.1. Life and works. 4.1.2. Main themes and style: humorism. 4.2. Henry James (1843-1916). 4.2.1. Life and works. 4.2.2. Main themes and style: cosmopolitanism. 5. MAIN EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS.

James denounces the absence of cultural interaction between the United States and the old Europe in terms of culture, traditions, monuments, treasures of art, and above all, values, since he was the first major American writer to become an expatriate. Hence his cosmopolitan vision when writing about the national virtues and vices in search of an ideal civilization. Then, we shall examine all this information within a historical and literary background so as to provide an appropriate context for M. Twain and H. James’ lives and literary works. Therefore, we shall divide our presentation in five main chapters. Chapter 2 namely offers a historical background of the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth century regarding social, economic and political changes. So, we shall divide our study in four main sections regarding the main events occurred before and during the nineteenth

6. CONCLUSION.

century: thus (1) before the Civil War, where we shall examine (a) the War of Independence

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

(1778-1783) and (b) the aftermath of the war in terms of (i) social, (ii) economic and (iii) political consequences; (2) the period of the Civil War itself (1861-1865); (3) the aftermath of the Civil War up to President Theodore Roosevelt (1865-1901), where we shall examine the main (a) social, (b) economic and (c) political consequences which gave way to (4) the early years of the twentieth century up to the First World War (1914-1918).

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In Chapter 3, we shall provide a literary background of this period with the aim of going

Specific bibliography on the life, works and style of Twain and James include respectively:

further into its main literary productions and, in particular, into the king style within the late

Gale (1973), Plots and Characters in the Works of Mark Twain; Gale (1982), Dictionary of

nineteenth and early twentieth-century literature, the American novel within American fiction.

Literary Biography; Foggel (1993), A Companion to Henry James Studies; Gordon (1999), A

Therefore, we shall start by briefly comparing (1) American vs. British literature in terms of

Private Life of Henry James; and Ford (1988), The New Pelican Guide to English Literature.

general features, and (2) the main literary forms, regarding (a) drama, (b) poetry, and (c) prose, out of which we shall locate the American novel within prose productions.

The background for educational implications is based on the theory of communicative competence and communicative approaches to language teaching are provided by the most

In Chapter 4 we shall attempt to provide an account of two American novelists, Mark Twain

complete record of current publications within the educational framework is provided by the

and Henry James within the literary the streams of humorism and cosmopolitanism in the

guidelines in B.O.E. (2004) for both E.S.O. and Bachillerato; and the Council of Europe,

United States. Therefore, we shall introduce, first, an American writer, journalist and humorist

Modern Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. A Common European Framework of

who won a worldwide audience for his stories of the youthful adventures of Tom Sawyer and

reference (1998).

Huckleberry Finn, that is, (1) Mark Twain (1835-1910), who is associated with humorism and; next, we shall introduce the figure of (2) Henry James (1843-1916), who is associated with cosmopolitanism and the link between the American and European culture. Both writers will be approached in terms of (a) life and main works, and (b) main themes and style.

Chapter 5 will be devoted to the main educational implications in language teaching regarding the introduction of this issue in the classroom setting. Chapter 6 will offer a conclusion to broadly overview our present study, and Chapter 7 will include all the bibliographical references used to develop this account of the United States History and Literature in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

2. A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY. Chapter 2 namely offers a historical background of the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth century regarding social, economic and political changes. So, we shall divide our study in four main sections regarding the main events occurred before and during the nineteenth century: thus (1) before the Civil War, where we shall examine (a) the War of Independence (1778-1783) and (b) the aftermath of the war in terms of (i) social, (ii) economic and (iii)

1.2. Notes on bibliography.

political consequences; (2) the period of the Civil War itself (1861-1865); (3) the aftermath of

An influential introduction to the historical background of the United States of America in the nineteenth century, is based on Thoorens, Panorama de las literaturas Daimon: Inglaterra y América del Norte. Gran Bretaña y Estados Unidos de América (1969); and White, The

the Civil War up to President Theodore Roosevelt (1865-1901), where we shall examine the main (a) social, (b) economic and (c) political consequences which gave way to (4) the early years of the twentieth century up to the First World War (1914-1918).

Horizon Concise History of England. American Heritage (1971). On the literary background, relevant works are: Rogers, The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature (1987); Albert, A History of English Literature (1990); Speck, Literature and Society in Eighteenth -Century England: Ideology Politics and Culture (1998); Cunliffe, American Literature to 1900

2.1. Before the Civil War. 2.1.1. War of Independence (1778-1783).

(1993); Alexander, A History of English Literature (2000); Ward & Trent, The Cambridge History of English and American Literature (2000); and Allan Neilson, Lectures on the Harvard Classics (2001).

The War of Independence, also known as the American Revolution, was first regarded as a civil war against Britain, but when other countries entered the confrontation, namely France (1778), Spain (1779) and the Netherlands (1780), it became an international war. Initial confrontations

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were mixed (the British being successful at Brandywine but suffering badly at Saratoga), but the

as a result, they suffered discrimination in towns and cities (their discrimination is compared to

situation improved for the colonists when these three countries utilized the opportunity caused

the free blacks in the North).

by the confrontation to declare war on Britain as well. Eventually, by 1782, the British campaign was crumbling.

There is little question that the salient issue in the minds of the public and popular press of the time, and the histories written since, was the issue of slavery. Slavery had been abolished in

The British Parliament demanded an end to the war, largely due to its high expenses. The Prime

most northern states, but was legal and important to the economy of the Confederacy, which

Minister, now Lord North, resigned and, on 3 September 1783, treaties were signed at

depended on cheap agricultural labor. State sovereignty (for the South) and preservation of the

Versailles. Britain retained Canada and the West Indian Islands but the thirteen rebellious states

Union (for the North) have both also been cited as issues, but both were reflections of the

were formally recognised as the United States of America. On the other hand, France retained

slavery issue. Since Northern blacks possessed theoretical freedom, they suffered discrimination

their West Indian Islands and were given Tobago in addition, and Spain recovered Florida after

at all social levels (politics, employment, education, religion, and even in cemeteries).

twenty years of British control (but later sold it to the Netherlands). Yet, their situation improved between the 1830s and 1850s under the Age of Reform, where a great variety of ideals and movements flourished in favor of women’ rights, pacifism, abolition 2.1.2. The aftermath of the war.

of imprisonment, capital punishment, improving working classes conditions, and a better education, among others. Yet, a vast majority of Americans did not support these changes. The

Therefore, the aftermath of the war was particularly felt in the national division of the states due

Reform reflected the sensibility of a small number of people.

to the political struggle over slavery and the spread into new territories (the West). Hence, the North representing the modern, industrial, and business-minded states versus the South, which represented the cultures, colonial and aristocratic states. Yet, in general, the main consequences

2.1.2.2. Economic consequences.

following the loss of the American colonies were to be noticed at all levels. For instance: Economically, after the War of Independence two different economic models towards capitalism developed, thus represented by North and South ideals. On the one hand, the North, 2.1.2.1. Social consequences.

supported by the Middle West, based its economy on industry and farming in order to set up tariffs to protect themselves against rival European products; on the other hand, the South,

In social terms, the Constitution had been able to regulate conflicts of interest and conflicting

namely aristocratic, based its economy on cotton production in big plantations, and therefore,

visions for the new, rapidly expanding nation. But from 1820 to 1860 many other factors had

free trade of slaves. Slavery did not exist in the Northern states, so the North found it difficult to

changed, thus the rise of mass democracy in the North, the breakdown of the old two-party

accept the attitude of the South.

system, the increasingly virulent and hostile sectional ideologies (especially that of “free labor” in the North), the acquisition of new lands in the West in the 1840s and slavery in the south,

2.1.2.3. Political consequences.

which would catapult the nation into civil war. Also, the United States exerted an irresistible attraction on visitors and therefore, immigrants, namely from Germany and Ireland. Between the 1830s and 1840s, population grew at an amazing rate attracted by an efficient network of economic and cultural richness in the new land. The German did well whereas the Irish immigrants were not rich enough to buy land. Hence they had to take the menial and unskilled labour needed by the expanding economy, and

Political consequences were to be felt in Britain and in the American colonies. Let us examine the most relevant events in both continents. •

In the British Empire, there was an increasing interest in the east. The East India Company had long been the main agent of Imperial expansion in southern Asia and exercised many governmental functions. Although the company maintained sole responsibility for trade and patronage, in 1784 under the India Act, a Board of Control

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was established to oversee the revenue, administration and diplomatic functions of the

The political atmosphere before the Civil War was, therefore, one of unremitting crisis. The

company as well as the aspects of its military expansion.

underlying problem was that the United States had been on the whole a country, but not a nation and hence, the major functions of government (education, health, transport) were carried out at a

Yet, the new target of Britain was not only the East, but also the colonisation of the

state or local level. Yet, an enduring manifestation of hostility toward the nationalizing

Antipodes so as to establish penal colonies (1788). The colonisation of Australia and

tendencies in American life was the reassertion of strong nationalistic feelings threatened by the

New Zealand began with the desire to find a place for penal settlement after the loss of

West.

the original American colonies. The first shipload of British convicts landed in Australia in 1788, on the site of the future city of Sydney1 .

There were several points of view from West, East, North and South. On the one hand, the West developed a strong sectional feeling, blending its sense of uniqueness and the feeling of having

•

Regarding the American colonies, the resolution on the settlement in the West was to be

been exploited by the businessment of the East and, on the other hand, the East reasserted his

realized by a Federal government, which was established according to the interests of

national feeling. Moreover, the South persisted on Negro slavery, which had already been

the North states. Until 1789, the United States was governed by the Articles of

abolished or prohibited in all other parts of the United States. So, people from the South stated

Confederation, which created an extremely weak central government. The United States

an elaborate pro-slavery argument on defending their institutions on biblical, economic, and

had no power to levy taxes; for income, it relied essentially on money from the states. In

sociological grounds. On the contrary, the North reaffirmed its position towards industry and

addition, the government of the United States had no central executive branch, making

against slavery, and made a great effort to change the South’s point of view.

its already weak government further divided and lacking strong leadership. The government of the United States under the Articles was also weak with regards to

In fact, George Washington received every electoral vote and became president, and only a

foreign affairs, and during this period Britain and Spain treated the United States like a

handful of Anti-federalists were elected to Congress. When Washington determined not to

third-rate power.

continue, president John Adams was elected president, and in turn, Jefferson (a republican) in 1800, and James Madison in 1809. Britain and France were forced by Madison to respect the

Therefore, since the South was afraid of a possible centralized government, they started to think about the possibility of breaking with the Union and replaced the Articles of

commercial restraints in the seas, but the efforts were futile. Britain periodically humiliated the small American navy by seizing American ships.

Confederation with a stronger central government. Those who advocated the creation of such a government took the name Federalists, and quickly gained supporters throughout the nation. The most well-known Federalists include Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. These were the main contributors to the Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays which served in many ways as seminal documents for the new

By 1812, American relations with Britain did not improve. Rather, a popular clamour for war began to arise, namely due to the frustration and desire to redeem the national honour, and eventually, America declared the war against England in 1812. Two years later (1814), the Americans defeated England in 1814 and peace was reestablished in the United States by James Monroe (former secretary of state and president in 1816). This period was to be known as the

United States that was to come.

“Era of Good Feeling”. The Constitution of the United States was adopted as a direct response to the Articles of Confederation and as a result, a strong executive branch was created for the first time to give the government the power to tax. After the first elections then the old nationalists (Federalists) took the power. Moreover, the Federalists gained a great deal of prestige and advantage when George Washington joined their cause.

By 1860, the American society underwent both a sectional confrontation and an economic revolution.depression, sharpened by economic and class divides, realigning the interplay of race, class, and political ideology. In other words, the realignment of cleavages and cooperation among geographical, social classes, and party affiliations in politics between the depression of 1857 and the election of 1860 led to the election of a president so objectionable to Southern 1

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The majority of these convicts were young men, many of whom had committed only petty crimes. New

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slave-owing interests that it would trigger Southern secession, and consequently a war to save

the United States Congress passed the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution on July 25 of that year in

the integrity of the Union.

an attempt to prevent more slave states from leaving the Union. Also, it stated that the war was

Hence, in 1860 the presidential election of Abraham Lincoln took place in an atmosphere of

being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.

great tension and was not received in the same way in the North and South. In the South,

Subsequent encounters took place and the first victory of the war was under the Union flag

Lincoln’s election was taken as the signal for secession and South Carolina became the first

under the figure of Ulysses S. Grant, who captured Fort Henry, Tennessee on February 6, 1862.

state to withdraw from the Union. This time they were determined and soon, other states

Later on in September 5, the Confederates made its first invasion of the North under the rule of

followed their proposal. In 1861, in February 4, six Southern states sent representatives to

General Lee, who led 55,000 men of the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River at

establish a new independent government, but Lincoln was not in favour of the Union to be

White's Ford near Leesburg, Virginia into Maryland. Then, on September 17, 1862, Lee's army,

divided. Then, in his inaugural address, his speech closed with a plea for restoration of the

checked at last, returned to Virginia. Yet, the war’s turning point was made by George Meade,

bonds of union. The South, particularly South Carolina, ignored the plea, and on April 12, the

who stopped Lee’s invasion of Union-held territory at the Battle of Gettysburg between 1-3 July

South fired upon the Federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter in the Charleston, South Carolina

1863, inflicting 28,000 casualties on Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia , and again forcing it to

until the troops surrendered.

retreat to its state. In general terms, while the Confederate forces had some success in the Eastern holding on to their capital, fortune did not smile upon them in the West. Confederate forces were driven from

2.2. The Civil War (1861-1865).

Missouri early in the war. The Union's key strategist and tactician Ulysses S. Grant, won victories at Fort Donelson, Battle of Shiloh, Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Chattanooga,

The Civil War has been also called the main American social revolution, a watershed in the rise

Tennessee, driving Confederate forces out of Tennessee. Grant’s aim was to defeat the

of modern industrial society in the United States and as the result of free-labor industrial

Confederate forces and bring an end to the war.

capitalism, and the resolution of sectional conflict in the North. This war was fought between the northern states, popularly referred to as the “Union,” the “north,” or the “Yankees,” and the

At the beginning of 1864, Grant was given command of all Union armies in the East, who

seceding southern states, commonly referred to as the Confederate States of America, the

attempted to defeat Lee and fought several battles during that phase of the Eastern campaign:

“Confederacy.” the “south,” or the “rebels.”

the Battle of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor. Grant was tenacious and kept pressing the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of Robert E. Lee. He extended the Confederate army, pinning it down in the Siege of Petersburg and, after two failed

As stated above, the Civil War started with Lincoln’s victory in the presidential election of

attempts, he finally found a commander, Philip Sheridan, who could clear the threat to

1860, which triggered South Carolina’s secession from the Union. By February 1, 1861, six

Washington DC from the Shenandoah Valley.

more Southern states had seceded. On February 7, the seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America. The remaining southern states as yet remained in the Union, and less than a month later, on March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as president of the United States.

Yet, the North superiority was in the air. The main advantages widely believed to have contributed to the Union’s success include the North’s strong, industrial economy; the North’s strong compatible railroad links (and the South’s lack thereof); the North’s larger population; the North’s possession of the United States’ merchant marine fleet and naval ships; the North’s

Since then a march of Union troops under the command of the Confederate force was built up

established government; the North’s moral cause given to the war by Abraham Lincoln (the

by July 1861 at Manassas, Virginia . The first battle is known as the First Battle of Bull Run (or

Emancipation Proclamation); and last but not least, the recruitment of black men, including

First Manassas), whereupon they were forced back to Washington, DC by Confederate troops

many freed slaves, into the Union Army after the Emancipation Proclamation was approved.

under the command of Generals Joseph E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard. Alarmed at the loss,

On 9 April 1865 Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court house. The Battle of Palmito Ranch, fought on May 13, 1865, in the far south of Texas was the last

South Wales opened to free settlers in 1819. By 1858, transportation of convicts was abolished.

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land battle of the war and ended with a Confederate victory. All Confederate land forces had

settlers occupied their land and slaughtered indiscriminately buffalo herds, namely their main

surrendered by June 1865 whereas Confederate naval units surrendered as late as November of

way of survival. Eventually, federal soldiers were sent by the government to crush the Indian

1865.

conflict, and pushed them onto reservations. Following Brogan (1985), another kind of immigration is the early twentieth-century one, which

2.3. The aftermath of the Civil War (1865-1901).

was given at a higher scale. America had received immigrants from its colonial days due to its attractive image, which was derived to a large extent from its dynamic economy, but in a low number. Yet, immigration reached its highest point after the American economic recession in

The aftermath of the Civil War is namely represented by several international and national

the decade from 1901 to 1910, when millions of emigrants came from south-eastern Europe.

events which are interrelated regarding (1) social consequences reflected by the strong spirit of

This movement is known as the Melting Pot of America due to the ethnic diversity.

reform, reflected on important social and cultural changes; (2) economic consequences, which include the emergence of new industrialized fronts in the South and the West as a result of the

After obtaining its independence, the United States lacked a cultural pattern and was

late consequences of international events, such as the Industrial Revolution and the imperialist

continuously searching for an identity. In this sense, the mass immigration has helped the

policy of powerful countries; and finally, the main (3) political consequences in this period.

United States define the national culture as politically egalitarian and democratic since the first large-scale immigration occurred. Also, it has provided richness, color, cultural heritage and art to American life. Yet, immingration also creates conflicts, such as those regarding housing,

2.3.1. Social consequences.

sanitation, crime and, therefore, legal system due to problems of assimilation and adjustment.

The main social consequences were to be felt since ancient times, such as (1) the question of slavery, and also, due to the industrialization and expansion to the West regarding (2) immigration movements to the West and from different parts of the world, and the new (3) distribution of social classes. •

•

Distribution of social classes.

On the other hand, the effects of the Industrial revolution on society made the spirit of reform be stronger, and were to be felt namely on the American people lives and, therefore, social classes since thousand of people moved from farms to cities. Hence we can distinguish three main social classes: a small percentage of high social class, who enjoyed wealth and luxury lives; a

The question of slavery.

larger percentage of middle class, who lived comfortably, but below the level of the former; and The question of slavery is closely related to the Emancipation Proclamation, which was

a huge number of people who belonged to the low social class and lived in extreme poverty.

supposed to free all slaves who were in territory under Confederate control at the time of the Proclamation. Yet, slaves were not freed in the remaining states and parts of the Confederacy

It is worth mentioning that during the early 1900’s the reformers wanted to reduce poverty by

until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment by third quarters of the states, which did not

improving the living conditions of the poor and regulating big business. Also, the government

occur until December of 1865. A good deal of ill will among the Southern survivors resulted

aimed at putting an end to corruption, making government closer to the people, and obtaining

from the destruction inflicted on the South by the Union armies as the end of the war

other goals such as the women suffrage. Yet, by 1917, since the reformers had achieved most of

approached, the resulting shift of political power to the North, and the Reconstruction program

their aims and some of them were called progressives, this period of American history is often

instituted in the South by the Union after the end of the war.

known as the Progressive Era (Palmer, 1980).

•

Migrations to the West and from the rest of the world.

On the one hand, as a result, thousands of Americans and immigrants started farms in the West,

2.3.2. Economic consequences.

namely on the Great Plains. Mine and cattle industry also developed in that area, so after 1870, settlement became so widespread in the West that it was no longer possible to draw a

First of all, following Musman (1982), “after the Civil War, American industry changed

continuous frontier line. This expansion to the West meant the end of native Indians since new

dramatically.” On the one hand, “machines replaced hand labor as the main means of

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manufacturing, thus increasing the production capacity of industry.” As a result, “a new

rebelled against the Spanish rule in 1895, the repression was hard. Yet, soon the rising

nationwide network of railroads enabled businessmen to distribute goods far and wide” and

public in America demanded for intervention.Yet, on February 15, 1898, the American

promoted the rise of big business and the industrialization of the South and the West.

battleship Maine was blown up off the coast of Havana, in Cuba and, although it is not clear enough who caused the explosion, many Americans blamed Spain.

On the one hand, the rise of big business was the result of the increase in American industry produced by the value of goods between 1870 and 1916, and several production developments.

As a result, on April 25, 1898 McKinley gave way to the Congress to declare the war on

Thus, the improvement of production methods favoured the use of machines in manufacturing.

Spain. The war was officially ended by the Treaty of Paris in the same year. Militarily

This use made factories employ thousands of workers, which were assigned specific jobs. This

speaking, this war was brief and relatively bloodless whereas its political and diplomatic

system of labor is known as the division of labor, which sped up production and had a

consequences were enormous. Actually, this event marked a turning point in the history

tremendous impact on economy. It also allowed prices to get lower and meant that more people

of the United States foreign policy since Spain relinquished Cuba (whose independence

could afford more products.

was recognized in 1902) and ceded to the United States the Philippine Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

On the other hand, the emergence of new industrialized fronts in the South and the West took place when the South decided to rebuild its society since, in economic terms, it had been behind

Expansion of the nation to include regions outside of the North American continent was

the rest of the nation. Hence, though some industry developed in the region, the South remained

denounced as imperialism by the Democratic Party, and became the principal issue of

an agricultural area throughout the period of American industrialization. On the other hand, the

the 1900 presidential campaign. The nation, however, supported the policy of expansion

West industrialization started when the Congress passed the Homestead Act (1862) by means of

as carried out by the McKinley administration. In September 1901 McKinley was

which public land was offered to people for free or at very low cost, which had a great impact in

assassinated by a crazed anarchist, and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became

social terms.

president. His administrations marked a new attitude held by a section of the Republican Party toward the important social, political, and economic questions of the time, and led gradually to a sharp split in the party.

2.3.3. Political consequences.

The main political consequences of the Civil war are the Spanish-American War (1898), the

2.4. The twentieth century: up to the First World War (1914-1918).

American domination policy in the Caribbean area, and the Mexican revolution, and the First World War (1914-1918). Yet, the only one which is framed within the nineteenth century is the

So, the turn of the century brought about the following consequences:

first one, the Spanish-American War. The other three events are examined in next section since they are framed within the turn of the century. •

The Spanish-American War (1898) was the principal event of the administration of President William McKinley (1897-1901), who fought over the issue of the liberation of Cuba, though it started under the rule of the previous President, Cleveland (1885-1893). Following Brogan (1985), most Americans wanted their country remain away from European affairs and thought it should offer an example of democracy and peace to the rest of the world. Actually, this war made the United States come up into the world politics on a new road to imperialism.

•

the American domination in the Caribbean, which ranges approximately from the presidence of Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1905) to that of Wilson (1913-1917), though the latter coincides with the First World War. As we mentioned before, the era of Th. Roosevelt is related to a period of progress and, therefore, his policy is known as Progressivism. Actually, Roosevelt, like Jackson and Lincoln, believed that the president had the duty of initiating and leading Congress to implement a policy of social and economic benefit to the people at large. Among domestic questions, Roosevelt addressed those of federal supervision and regulation of all interstate corporations; amendments of the Interstate Commerce Act to prohibit railroads from giving special

Previously to the event, it is worth remembering that Spain ruled over Cuba, Puerto

rates to shippers; the conservation of natural resources; federal appropriations for

Rico, the Philippines and other overseas possessions during the 1890’s. When Cuba

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irrigation of arid regions in the West; and the extension of the merit system in civil

Europe in 1914, the entrance of the United States into the war in 1917, and the making

service.

of peace in 1919.

Yet, for our purposes, the most relevant domestic affair had to do with the desire of Eastern business to have easy access to Pacific markets. An isthman canal was

And finally, for our purposes, the First World War (1914-1918) , which brought a period of diplomatic conflict between the United States and Great Britain and between the

government of Colombia, which owned Panama. Then, both governments negotiated a

United States and Germany since it was an outgrowth of European territorial problems

treaty and the construction of the canal began so soon that on August 15, 1914 it was

and nationalism. Following Palmer (1980), the great majority of Americans were firmly

opened to shipping. Hence when crisis appeared in the Caribbean area, Wilson was

neutral and determined to avoid intervention unless American rights and interests were

determined to protect American security even with the use of force. Therefore, a

violated, and in 1915 an official proclamation of neutrality was proclamated. This

protectorate was established by force in Haiti in 1915 and also a military occupation of

proclamation appealed the Americans to be impartial both in thought and action. Yet, in

the Dominican Republic in Nicaragua in 1916.

April 6, 1917 the United States was finally drawn into the war against Germany and its

Roosevelt gained worldwide importance through his dramatic speeches and actions as

•

•

demanded to link the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, but the only obstacle was the

allies due to the unrestricted German submarine warfare on Atlantic shipping.

president, his inauguration of the building of the Panama Canal, and his activities in

The United States contribution was decisive in the outcome because of its military

ending the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Roosevelt declined to run for reelection in

superiority both in armament and people. Hence it provided Britain with the ships to

1908 and the Republicans nominated his secretary of war, William Howard Taft in

overcome the submarine threat and also, with the American Expeditionary Force on

1909, based on Roosevelt’s recommendation. He was followed by Woodrow Wilson

September 1918 to France. As a result, this military power inclined the balance on the

who, like Roosevelt, believed that the presidency should be used for initiating and

western front and helped to end the war in November 1918. Next year, the United States

guiding national legislation in accordance with the chief executive’s interpretation of

was also influential in the writing of the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended the

the will of the people.

war in 1919.

the Mexican Revolution, by means of which Woodrow Wilson succeeded in carrying

The Senate of the United States rejected the treaty and the United States membership in

out notable revisions and reforms in the laws governing the tariff, the banking system,

the League of Nations (the covenant for which formed part of the treaty) which

trusts, labor, and agriculture. One of his main achievements in domestic affairs was to

temporarily reversed the tendency toward U.S. involvement in world affairs. Actually, a

deal with an uprising in Mexico in 1913 started by a Victoriano Huerta, a military

separate treaty of peace was signed by the U.S. and Germany in Berlin in August 25,

usurper who murdered the preceding president Francisco Madero. Wilson trie d to

1921.

persuade the dictator to step down from office and allow free elections for a new

Although the early 1920s brought improvements in architecture, education, technology,

democratic government. Then Wilson gave open support to Madero’s successor,

these years also saw the rising of mass law-breaking and the rise of organized crime.

Venustiano Carranza. Yet, when Civil War appeared, Wilson refused to interfere. It is at

Therefore, several acts were passed, such as the ‘Volstead Act’, which prohibited the

this point that the figure of Pancho Villa comes to the scene, seeking to provoke war

manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors (the Prohibition Amendment).

between the United States and Mexico. Wilson then sent a punitve expedition which

Yet, the late years of the 1920s witnessed the cease of this prohibition due to the 1929

was a failure. Relations between the two government were greatly improved when

Stock Market Crash and the turn of the decade saw the Great Depression which was an

Wilson extended recognition to Carranza’s new constitutional regime in 1917.

unparallelled economic disaster in the history of the United States.

Wilson also achieved a victory in domestic affairs when the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which legalized women’s voting rights, was passed in 1919 and ratified in 1920, hence the so-called Woman Suffrage. Yet, the most important issues of Wilson’s presidence were those arising from the outbreak of World War I in

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3. A

LITERARY

BACKGROUND:

THE

LATE

NINETEENTH

AND

EARLY

TWENTIETH-CENTURY LITERATURE: THE AMERICAN NOVEL.

independence was slowed by a lingering identification with England, an excessive imitation of English or classical literary models, and difficult economic and political conditions that hampered publishing.

In Chapter 3, we shall provide a literary background of this period with the aim of going further into its main literary productions and, in particular, into the king style within the late

Then American awareness of literary fashion still lagged behind the English, and fifty years

nineteenth and early twentieth-century literature, the American novel within American fiction.

after the building of a new nation attracted talented and educated people to politics, law, and

Therefore, we shall start by briefly comparing (1) American vs. British literature in terms of

diplomacy. Despite these pursuits brought honor, glory, and financial security, writing did not

general features, and (2) the main literary forms, regarding (a) drama, (b) poetry, and (c) prose,

pay. Hence early American writers, now separated from England, effectively had no modern

out of which we shall locate the American novel within prose productions.

publishers, no audience, and no adequate legal protection, so until 1825, most American authors paid printers to publish their work.

3.1. American vs. British literature: general features.

On the other hand, nineteenth-century literature in the Victorian period, that is, from 1837 to 1901 coincides with the late consequences of the British imperialism since the mid-Victorian

As we shall see, these two literary streams shall reflect the prevailing ideologies of the

period (from 1850 to 1873) saw the highest point of the British imperial expansion, and

nineteenth and early twentieth century both in Britain and in America. Thus, in Britain literature

economic and political prosperity. This literary period is characterized by its morality, which to

is to be framed into, first, the Victorian literature (1837-1901) where the novel and the romance

a great extent is a natural revolt against the grossness of the earlier Regency, and the influence

are the most popular literary forms, and second, the Edwardian (1901-1910) and Georgian

of the Victorian Court. In addition, literary productions are affected by the intellectual

literature, which will challenge previous productions by offering a late-nineteenth-century

developments in science, religion, and politics, where we observe a strong literary interaction

realism, which is defined as the pre-war literature up to the First World War.

between American and European writers (specially in political and philosopical writings).

Yet, in America, Twain and James also brought a new spirit of realism into the genre of

Yet, the early twentieth century period (from 1901 to 1914) is associated to the consequences of

romance and, as their European colleagues, also were shaken by the great processes of change

the end of the Victorian period, that is, loss of consensus due to the Great Depression (1873),

that were transforming the American life, that is, human nature, society, and the individual’s

the end of British economic supremacy and, therefore, the decline of the British empire; finally,

place of history. These fast changes were to be felt in technology, urbanization, secularization

the period of pre-war literature (up to the First World War) is associated with a stream of

and modernization at an international level, and in fact, the United States became a dominant

realism, both in American and in Britain, which diverted attention from the cruder conceptions

nation in the twentieth century. In the same way, literature also interpreted these changes as a

of imperial expansion to social problems. Hence Twain and James reflected these changes and

period of a fundamental redirection in the nature of the ideology of American society and also,

problems first, with humour, and secondly, from a cosmopolitan view, respectively.

cultural and technological development.

Whereas Europe could afford the luxury of romanticising its past and finding its ideal in the

3.2. Main literary forms.

pastoral, America’s past was too close. Yet America’s literature was in need of tradition in which literature could flourish as it did in Europe. Hence it would take fifty years of

Broadly speaking, the nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a wide variety of American

accumulated history for America to earn its cultural independence and to produce the first great

authors in the Victorian and pre-war period who produced their work within the field of the

generation of American writers: Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo

most important literary forms: drama, poetry and prose, but for our purposes we shall focus on

Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe,

M. Twain and H. James in the latter form: American fiction in prose style . Let us briefly

Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Henry James, and Emily Dickinson. America’s literary

examine the three literary forms so as to provide a basis for a detailed analysis in next chapter.

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3.2.1.

Drama.

3.2.3.

Prose: the American novel.

Drama was written as freely as ever, but did not monopolize the activities of the major poets.

Within prose we find different types of productions: novel (fictional and non-fictional) , literary

Following Albert (1990), “from the dramatic point of view the first half of the nineteenth

criticism, periodical literature (political, philosophical) , essays, and other miscellaneous works

century was almost completely barren” since the professional theatre of the period was in a low

which receive scanty notice. Yet, we shall focus on the novel (American fiction) in the United

state and the greater part of the dramatists work never saw the stage”, both in Britain and

States. The first fiction writers used American subjects, historical perspectives, themes of

America. “The popular pieces of the day were melodrama, farces and sentimental comedies,

change, and nostalgic tones. They wrote in many prose genres, initiated new forms, and found

which had no literary qualities whatever, were poor in dialogue and negligible in

new ways to make a living through literature. With them, American literature began to be read

characterization, and relied for their success upon sensation, rapid action, and spectacle”.

and appreciated in the United States and abroad.

The comic spirit in drama was in abeyance, but in general there were a few dramatic

Towards the middle of the century, American literature started to become independent as well

productions and therefore, little interest on this literary form. Yet, towards the end of the

as self-divided, since a tragic note in American literature becomes dominant in the novels, even

nineteenth century, the last decades of the reign saw major talents in a revival of literary theatre,

before the Civil War of the 1860s manifested the greater social tragedy of a society at war with

namely on the European continent (Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge,

itself. Similarly, there is no doubt that the Victorian era, even in America, was the age of the

Henry Arthur Jones, Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, John Galsworthy), but not in the American one.

English novel, namely realistic, thickly plotted, crowded with characters, and long. By the end of the period, the novel was considered not only the premier form of entertainment but also a primary means of analyzing and offering solutions to social and political problems,

3.2.2.

Poetry.

only challenged by the revival of realism towards the end of the century. It is in this background that we find relevant writers such as Mark Twain and Henry James.

Poetry, broadly speaking, reaches its peek in America in the 19th century although some of the most imaginative and creative poetry was created centuries earlier (Tu Fu of the Tang Dynasty in China in the 7th century B.C.;William Shakespeare in the 16th century; Dante in the thirteenth century). It is in the nineteenth-century where we include the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percey Bysshe Shelley, Walt Whitman, Lord Byron, and some of the greatest poets of the nineteenth century, along with examples of of their work. Literary writing was not as simple and direct as political writing. When trying to write poetry, most educated authors did it in an elegant neoclassical style. The epic, in particular, exercised a fatal attraction, and soon American literary patriots felt sure that the great American Revolution

The American novel, which shows a literary form in which happy country life is portrayed as a contrast to the complexity and anxiety of the urban society, as we can see in the American romancers’ use of the frontier, Indian society, Arcadian communities, Puritan villages, and shipboard societies. Whereas for the Romantic American writers the typical features of romance were the crime, religion, ghosts, magic , which are used as the basis of a tale of terror, the late nineteenth-century writers such as Twain and James were characterized by the use of humour and the cosmopolitan element in their works so as to reflect the social tragedies and the connections with the European continent.

naturally would find expression in the epic (a long, dramatic narrative poem in elevated language, celebrating the feats of a legendary hero). Yet, many American writers tried but none succeeded, and not surprisingly, satirical poetry and mock epics fared much better than serious 4. MARK TWAIN AND HENRY JAMES: HUMORISM AND COSMOPOLITANISM.

verse.

In Chapter 4 we shall attempt to provide an account of two American novelists, Mark Twain and Henry James within the literary the streams of humorism and cosmopolitanism in the United States. It is worth pointing out that these two authors, together with other contemporary

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writers (Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Francis Bret Harte) represent

the Pacific coast and soon he acquired a world-wide fame, and was recognized, together with

the first great literary generation produced in the United States, which combined fiction and

Bret Harte, as one of the foremost among a little group of overland writers.

reality. Yet, they used the novel as a means of transmitting their ideas, but differ in offering the vision of imperialism and the early years of the twentieth century with the emergence of

Next year (1864) Twain left for California, and worked in San Francisco as a reporter. After

realism, which represented social and political events of the time where the democratic

visiting Hawaii as a correspondent for The Sacramento Union, he published several letters on

American individual had to invent himself.

his trip and gave some lectures. A pleasure-trip to Europe and other continents (France, Italy,

Therefore, we shall introduce, first, an American writer, journalist and humorist who won a worldwide audience for his stories of the youthful adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, that is, (1) Mark Twain (1835-1910), who is associated with humorism and; next, we shall introduce the figure of (2) Henry James (1843-1916), who is associated with cosmopolitanism. Both writers will be approached in terms of (a) life and main works, and (b) main themes and

Egypt, the Holy Land) provided him with material to record his experiences in The Innocents Abroad (1869), where we see vivid an amusing pictures of Europe through the eyes of a typical American turning on the Old World the sceptical view of the New. This work established his popularity as an American humorist of the first rank, since he poked fun at both American and European prejudices and manners.

style. For him, a career in journalism was more than natural and his success as a writer gave him enough financial security. Then in 1870 he married Olivia Langdon and soon he set up in Nook Farm, a sort of literary suburb of Hartford, Connecticut, where neighbouring authors included

4.1. Mark Twain (1835-1910).

Charles Dudley Warner and Harriet Beecher Stowe. In this context, he published Roughing It 4.1.1. Life and works.

(1872), which was an account of his own experiences in the West and The Gilded Age (1873),

Mark Twain was the pseudonym of Samuel Taylor Clemens, who was born on November 30,

written in collaboration with C.D. Wagner.

1835 in Florida, Missouri. The Clemens family consisted of two brothers (included Twain), a

Between 1876 and 1884 he published other several masterpieces, like The Adventures of Tom

sister, and the family-owned slave, Jenny, whose vivid storytelling was a formative influence on

Sawyer (1876), where he breaks away from the cultured gentility of New England literature to

the character of his novels some years la ter. As aVirginian family, he was brought up within the

give vivid, realistic, and racy pictures of life in the southern states; A Tramp Abroad (1880),

perspective of slave-owning tradition.

which tells of his further travels in Europe; The Prince And The Pauper (1881), a Tudor England story set in the sixteenth century of poor quality in which Edward VI of England and a

After his father’s death in 1847, he was in turn an apprentice to a pr inter, a journalist (since he wrote for his brother’s newspaper), and later on a silver-miner in Nevada, and a licensed Mississippi river-boat pilot. Yet, the Civil War put an end to the steamboat traffic and Clemens moved to Virginia City, where he edited the Territorial Enterprise. Then in the late summer of 1862, he was summoned by Joe Goodman, owner and editor of the Virginia City Enterprise, to come up and take the local editorship of that paper. Then he contributed to it with sketches under the pen name of ‘Josh,’ and Goodman recognized a talent full of possibilities.

little pauper change places. Moreover, we find Life On The Mississippi (1883) which reflects his childhood at the great waterway through a travel book and contains an attack on the influence of Sir Walter Scott, whose romanticism has caused according to Twain ‘measureless harm’ to progressive ideas.; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1883) is generally adjudged his greatest work together with Tom Sawyer because of the deep levels of human experience, the power of the character (the boy) to tell the truth, and the picture of American society at that time; and also A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889).

Twain realized he needed a pen-name for the more comedic and fantastic columns he was writing, and eventually, he chose a river term, used in making soundings, recalled from his

In the 1890s Twain lost most of his earnings in financial speculations and his run of properity

piloting days. So on February 3, 1863, ‘Mark Twain’ was born when Clemens signed a

was interrupted by the bankruptcy of a firm with which he was connected and then, he

humorous travel account with that pseudonym. The name presently became known up and down

undertook a lecturing tour round the world: first Hartford, and then in the United States and

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England. To recover from the bankruptcy, he started a world lecture tour round New Zealand,

whose vivid storytelling was a formative influence on the character of ‘Sam’ in his later novels.

Australia, India, and South Africa (during which one of his daughters died).

He was called a liberal since he stated in numerous times the moral superiority of the black race

After this, he wrote books as The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894), and Personal Recollections Of Joan of Arc (1896), which are works of a poorer quality; also the travel book Following the Equator (1897), in which he writes of the world-wide lecture tour made toward the end of his life; and the bitter story of The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg (1900) and the final fatalism of The Mysterious Stranger (posthumously published in 1916).

(Jim in Huckleberry Finn, Sam in Tom Sawyer, Uncle Daniel in The Golden Age). Also, although he set up in the East, his roots were those of a Westener, and constant references to the West are made through the river Mississippi under the figures of boys (Huck, Tom) and through his days as a silver-miner in Nevada, in the Far West. Pioneer conditions, the battle with the frontier, and the Indians made life very difficult there, but Mark treated them with humour since this literary form sold most in the so-calle d Posbellum America (1866-1913).

It is worth noting that during his long writing career, Twain also produced a considerable

Hence he wrote about the consequences of the Civil War since his best works are firmly

number of essays and romances based on non-personal experiences (The Prince and th e Pauper,

grounded in cruel reality, between tragedy and humour.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Joan of Arc). Yet, the death of his wife and his second daughter darkened the author’s later years, which he spent on completing his official autobiography, posthumously published (1924). Yet, though Twain died on 10 April, 1910, lives on in the hearts and minds of grateful readers everywhere.

4.2. Henry James (1843-1916): cosmopolitanism. 4.2.1.

Life and works.

Henry James was born on April 15, 1843 in New York City into a wealthy and cultured

4.1.2. Main themes and style: humorism. Twain believed that American novel lacked the analytical sensibility necessary to the novelist’s art, although he enjoyed magnificent popularity as a novelist. In general, from the very beginning of his journalistic career, Twain made fun with the novel and its tradition and this is the reason why he frequently returned to travel writing through a vein of humor. Alike Henry James, Twain saw the European culture with a sceptical eye and he is said to have broken away from the strong influence of European models, and helped to lay the foundations of a distinctively American tradition: humorism (Albert, 1990:412).

American family. His father was Sr. Henry James, who was one of the best-known intellectuals in mid-nineteenth-century America, so in his youth James travelled back and forth between Europe and America and studied with tutors in Geneva, London, Paris, Bologna and Bonn. By the late 1860’s the fascination of the older European civilization was making itself felt and he wrote his first essays and reviews, but after that, at the age of 19, he briefly attended Harvard Law School (1862). Yet, he preferred reading literature to studying law since from an early age James had read the classics of English, American, French and German literature and Russian classics in translation.

He aimed to please the masses, his strokes are bold and broad, and the humour ranges from

He was gifted with talents in literature, psychology, and philosophy and he is regarded as a

farce to bitter satire. Yet, the key to success relies on, first, introducing the double vision of the

prolific writer. Actually, James wrote novels, short stories, travel sketches, literary criticism,

world through the eyes of a child in most of his plays; second, to use his personal experience as

and autobiography (20 novels, 112 stories, 12 plays and a number of works of literary criticism).

a boy in Mississippi waterway, his mining days, and his days as a journalist; and the combination of a ‘treasure, a woman, and a dream’ as it is reflected in Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn. Moreover, he always offered episodic plots, but well handled, characters with warm humanity, and a spontaneous style which gives his writings an enduring charm. Regarding his themes, and as we stated above, the question of slavery is always present in his works since he was brought up within the perspective of slave-owning tradition, but his

He was a friend of the New England group of writers (among them James Russell Lowell, H.W. Longfellow, and William Dean Howells), and it was as a contributor to Howells’ Atlantic Monthly and other American magazines that James began his career as a writer. In fact, James published his first short story, A Tragedy of Errors and two years later, betweem 1866-69 and 1871-72 he was a contributor to the Nation and Atlantic Monthly. It was in the Atlantic that his first novel, Watch and Ward (1871) appeared first serially (it is the story of a bachelor who

conscience was Northerner (against racism). Actually, his family-owned Jenny, a black slave,

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adopts a twelve-year-old girl and plans to marry her). James wrote it while he was traveling

Between 1879-1880 his astonishing career saw a collection of tales and James’s most famous

through Venice and Paris.

short stories, of which James was an acknowledged master. To his credit he has almost a

After spending much time in Europe he settled initially in Paris, where he was contributor to the New York Tribune; then he moved to England, London, where he lived until 1897, and finally, he moved to Rye (1898), where where he spent the rest of his life and wrote his last novels. So, by 1875 he had established himself in London as his new home, and during his first years in Europe James wrote novels that portrayed Americans living abroad. Actually, the first of his novels was Roderick Hudson (1875), which deals with the contrast between the young

hundred tales, which began with his earliest contributions to American magazines and continued well into the middle of his writing life. Among them we may include the short novels Confidence; Hawthorne; and Wahington Square. Also, The Turn of the Screw (1898), a ghost story in which the question of childhood corruption obsesses a governess; and a short novel which shows James’ interest in the occult, The Altar of the Dead, The Beast in the Jungle, The Birthplace, and other Tales (1909).

American civilization and the older European culture; and that was followed by similar novels like The American (1876-77), the story of a New World innocent who discovers at once the

Other stories appeared in The Madonna of the Future and other Tales (1879), The Aspern

cultural richness of Europe and its underlying depravity.

Papers and other Stories (1888), Terminations (1895), and The Two Magics (1898). Between

This was followed by The Europeans (1878), where he reversed the international pattern in his witty, meticulously controlled study of the way in which two ‘Europeanized’ Americans readjust to the life of staid and quiet Boston; Daisy Miller (1879), where the young and innocent American, Daisy finds her values in conflict with European sophistication; and James’ masterpiece The Portrait Of A Lady (1881) where again a young American woman becomes a

1906 and 1910 James revised many of his tales and novels for the New York edition of his complete works. On the other hand, his autobiographical writings were A Small Boy and Others (1913), Notes of a Son and Brother (1914), and the third volume, The Middle Years, appeared posthumously in 1917. This posthumous fragment is known as Terminations (1917), not to be confused with the short story of that name.

victim of her provincialism during her travels in Europe. The outbreak of First World War was a shock for James and in 1915 he became a British citizen Other novels mark the beginning of Henry James’ second period as a novelist, such as The Princess Casamassima (1886); The Bostonians (1886), which is set in the era of the rising feminist movement and portrays the English characte r; What Maisie Knew (1897), on depicting the child’s mind of a preadolescent young girl, who must chose between her parents and a motherly old governess; two works which he left unfinished at his death, The Sense of the Past and The Ivory Tower, both of which were published posthumously in 1917.

Also, The Tragic Muse (1890), The Spoils of Poynton (1897), and The Awkward Age (1899). Yet, the highwater mark of his career was reached in the three novels, The Wings Of The Dove

as a declaration of loyalty to his adopted country and in protest against the US’s refusal to enter the war. James suffered a stroke on December 2, 1915, and he died three months later in Rye on February 28, 1916. His letters, published in 1920, his Notes on Novelists (1914), and the essay, The Art of Fiction (1884) are of the utmost importance to the readers of James, and further light is thrown upon his work by The Notebooks of Henry James (1947). Note that although James is best known for his novels, his essays also attract a more general audience.

4.2.2. Main themes and style: cosmopolitanism.

(1902), where a heritage destroys the love of a young couple; The Ambassadors (1903), which is considered James’ most perfect work of art; and The Golden Bowl (1904), in which, turning

Following Albert (1990:439), “a study of James is essential to the sutdy of the modern novel

again to the them of the contrast between European and American cultures, he achieves a

because he was one of the first to view it as an artistic form. To him the novel was primarilyan

subtlety of character-study, a delicacy of perception, and an elaboration of artistic presentation

art form to be judged solely by artistic canons, concerned, not with moral purpose, but with the

which rank them high among modern novels (Albert, 1990:439).

objective and impartial presentation of the reality of life.” James is concerned with the detailed and elaborate study of the subtlest shades of human reactions to the situations which he conceived.

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Hence his technique is namely based on the consciousness of a single character, discarding the

Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn when we were little, or cried with Henry James’ What Maisie

omniscience of a traditional novelist. Also, the character, often standing outside the main drama

Knew or The Bostonians? As we can see, American literature is so close to our culture and, in

of the novel, acts as commentator and guide to the reader in many of James’ works. His main

particular, to most of our students through the media: TV, films, radio, books, and magazines,

themes are closely related to his technique since the key to James’ is found in his own life. He

among others.

was an American fascinated by the charm of an older civilization, where he finds most of his themes: the impact of European society upon America and the study of the processes of

Currently, action research groups attempt to bring about change in classroom learning and

adjustment and their effect upon the development of the individual character.

teaching through a focus on literary production under two premises. First, because they believe learning is an integral aspect of any form of activity and second, because education at all levels

Henry James is regarded as a superb stylist. His preoccupation with technique is felt in the

must be conceived in terms of literature. The basis for these assumptions is to be found in an

mastery of language, his quest for the exact word, the perfect image, and the delicately

attempt, through the use of various modes of literary forms, to develop understanding of

suggestive rhythm. His descriptive powers are highlighted by an excellent dialogue form. He

students’ shared but diverse social and physical environment.

encompasses brilliantly aesthetic and phychological considerations on form, by combining the old tradition in novel with the new one.

Learning involves a process of transformation of participation itself which has far reaching implications on the role of the teacher in the teaching-learning relationship. This means that

Simple and unadorned in his ealry fiction, James becomes increasingly ambiguous and elliptical

literary genres are an analytic tool and that teachers need to identify the potential contributions

in his late years. Similarly, his characters follow the obscure and subtle forces ruling human

and potential limitations of them before we can make good use of the genre analysis techniques:

conduct and are framed within the central consciousness of James’ technique, the stream of

poems, comedies, historical accounts and romances. We must bear in mind that most students

consciousness, to be recaptured by his followers (Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Richardson and

will continue their studies at university and there, they will have to handle successfully all kind

James Joyce). Finally, his worldwide vision of an ideal society, and his emphasis on the contrast

of genres, especially poetry and fiction ones within our current framework.

between the young American civilization and the older European culture have made him popular within the literature of cosmopolitanism.

But how do nineteenth and twentieth American literature tie in with the new curriculum? American literature may be approached in linguistic terms, regarding form and function (morphology, lexis , structure, form) and also from a cross-curricular perspective (Sociology, History, English, French, Spanish Language and Literature). Yet, Spanish students are expected

5. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING.

to know about the American culture and its influence on Europe (or the other way round, from James’ point of view) since students are required to know about the world culture and history.

Literature, and therefore, literary language is one of the most salient aspect of educational

So, American literature is easily approached by means of the subjects of History, Language and

activity. In classrooms all kinds of literary language (poetry, drama, novel, prose, periodicals,

Literature by establishing a paralelism with the Spanish one (age, literature forms, events).

newspapers, pamphlets), either spoken or written, is going on for most of the time. Yet, handling literary productions in the past and, in particular, American History and Literature,

In addition, one of the objectives of teaching the English language is to provide good models of

makes relevant the analysis of the main literary works, such as novels, letters, poems,

almost any kind of literary productions for future studies. Following van Ek & Trim (2001), ‘the

newspapers, essays, among others, which reflect the social, political, economical and cultural

learners can perform, within the limits of the resources available to them, those writing (and

situation of the period, for our purpose, the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

oral) tasks which adult citizens in general may wish, or be called upon, to carry out in their private capacity or as members of the general public’ when dealing with their future regarding

Hence it makes sense to examine relevant figures such as of Mark Twain and Henry James,

personal and professional life.

among others because of their relevant contributions not only to American literature, but also to European literature as well. Who has not read or seen Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom

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Moreover, nowadays new technologies may provide a new direction to language teaching as

stereotypes on the American rivers such as the use of steaming ships in the Mississippi, among

they set more appropriate context for students to experience the target culture. Present-day

others.

approaches deal with a communicative competence model in which first, there is an emphasis on significance over form, and secondly, motivation and involvement are enhanced by means of

But why these two writers and not other contemporary American authors such as the humorist

new technologies. Hence literary productions may be approched in terms of films and drama

Francis Bret Harte or the cosmopolitan James Russell Lowell, H.W. Lonfellow or William Dean

representations in class, among others, and in this case, by means of books: novels, short story,

Howells? Twain and James share common features such as living in the same period and using

or poetry, among others.

the American novel as a literary means to transmit their vision of reality. Yet, they differ in two main points, first, their childhood and youth background (Twain in his West world and

The success partly lies in the way the language becomes real to the users, feeling themselves

Mississippi river, and James in an educational background around America and Europe, which

really in the language. Some of this motivational force is brought about by intervening in

let him get a cosmopolitan vision of the world and the contrast between America and Europe

authentic communicative events. Otherwise, we have to recreate as much as possible the whole

culture); and secodn, their vision of the world, by means of which James is fascinated by the

cultural environment in the classroom. This is to be achieved within the framework of the

contrast between the American civilization and the magnificence of the older European world

European Council (1998) and, in particular, the Spanish Educational System which establishes a

whereas Twain breaks with this influence and founds a distinctively American tradition.

common reference framework for the teaching of foreign languages where students are intended to carry out several communication tasks with specific communicative goals, for instance, how

So, on examining all this information we have addressed a historical background of the United

to produce a literary text (oral or written): writing a chapter of a novel, a terror story, a poem,

States in the nineteenth and early twentieth century regarding social, economic and political

acting out in a theatre play, representing a film scene orally , and so on.

changes, where we have approached the main events occurred before and during the nineteenth century (the War of Independence, its aftermath, the period of the Civil War itself up to the First

The knowledge about American culture (history and literature) should become part of every

World War (1914-1918). In Chapter 3, we have provided a literary background so as to frame

literary student’s basic competence (B.O.E., 2004). There are hidden influences at work beneath

the literary features of our authors and their style within the late nineteenth and early twentieth -

the textual surface: these may be sociocultural, inter and intratextual. The literary student has to

century literature, and particularly, the American novel within American fiction.

discover these, and wherever necessary apply them in further examination. The main aims that

Finally, in Chapter 4 we have provided a personal and professional account of Mark Twain and

our currently educational system focuses on are mostly sociocultural, to facilitate the study of

Henry James within the literary the streams of humorism and cosmopolitanism in the United

cultural themes, as our students must be aware of their current social reality within the European

States; and in Chapter 5 we have accounted for the main educational implications in language

framework.

teaching regarding this issue. Finally, we shall present in Chapter 7 all the bibliographical references used to develop this account of the United States History and Literature in the nineteenth and early twentieth century for further reference. So far, we have attempted to provide the reader in this presentation with a linguistic, historical

6. CONCLUSION.

and cultural background on the vast amount of literature productions in the nineteenth and early On reviewing the literary figures of Mark Twain and Henry James within the literary streams of

twentieth century literature in the United States. This information is relevant for language

humorism and cosmopolitanism, respectively, in the mid-late nineteenth and early twentieth

learners, even ESO and Bachillerato students, who do not automatically establish similiarities

American literature, we have reviewed the prevailing ideologies of the day, such as the

between Brit ish and Spanish literary works. So, learners need to have these associations brought

questions of slavery, the North East industrial revolution, the War with Great Britain, the

to their attention in cross-curricular settings. As we have seen, understanding how literature

aftermath of the Civil War, the Gold Rush period, the opportunities to travel around Europe and

reflects the main historical events of a country is important to students, who are expected to be

contrast experiences between the American and European culture, and even technological

aware of the richness of English literature, both in the United States and on the European continent.

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7. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Albert, E. 1990. A History of English Literature. Walton-on-Thames. Nelson. 5th edition (Revised by J.A. Stone). Allan Neilson, W. et al. 2001. Lectures on the Harvard Classics, edited byVol. XLI. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. Alexander, M. 2000. A History of English Literature. Macmillan Press. London. B.O.E. 2004. Consejería de Educación y Cultura. Decreto N.º 116/2004, de 23 de enero. Currículo de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia. B.O.E. 2004. Consejería de Educación y Cultura. Decreto N.º 117/2004, de 23 de enero. Currículo de Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia. Council of Europe (1998) Modern Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. A Common European Framework of reference. Cunliffe, M. 1993. American Literature to 1900. The Penguin History of Literature, Volume 8. Penguin Books. Foggel, Daniel M. 1993. A Companion to Henry James Studies. Macmillan Press. London. Ford, B. (ed.). 1988. The New Pelican Guide to English Literature, vol. 9º American Literature. Gale, Robert L. 1982. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 11: American Humorists, 1800-1950 , Volume 12: American Realists and Naturalists. Gale, Robert L. 1973. Plots and Characters in the Works of Mark Twain. Shoe String Press. Gordon, L. 1999. A Private Life of Henry James. London & New York: Longman. Rogers, P. 1987. The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature. Oxford University Press. Speck, W.A. 1998. Literature and Society in Eighteenth-Century England: Ideology Politics and Culture 1680-1820. Book Reviews. Springer, H. (ed.). 1995. America and the Sea: A Literary History. Athens: U of Georgia P. Thoorens, L. 1969. Panorama de las literaturas Daimon: Inglaterra y América del Norte. Gran Bretaña y Estados Unidos de América. Ediciones Daimon. Ward & Trent, et al. 2000. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com. White, R.J. 1971. The Horizon Concise History of England. American Heritage Publishing Co, Inc.: New York, New York.

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