American literary nationalism

Black ink on yellowed white paper depicting the magazine's title, volume number, and publication information above and below a Greek temple-style building flanked by trees with a sun shining behind it and a grassy lawn in front of it
The Portico magazine, an early tool of literary nationalist critics

American literary nationalism was a literary movement in the United States in the early-to mid 19th century, which consisted of American authors working towards the development of a distinct American literature. Literary figures such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant and William Ellery Channing advocated the creation of a definitively American form of literature with emphasis "on spiritual values and social usefulness." Longfellow wrote that "when we say that the literature of a country is national, we mean that it bears upon it the stamp of national character." Many authors of the time also advocated tying the literature to religion.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] These demands were also couched in a perceived contrast between the English author as a "well-off amateur writer ... who writes in his spare time for personal amusement" and the American as a "professional author, writing out of economic necessity".[10]

  1. ^ Frederick, John T. (1959). "American Literary Nationalism: The Process of Definition, 1825-1850". The Review of Politics. 21 (1): 224–238. doi:10.1017/S0034670500022038. ISSN 0034-6705. JSTOR 1405346. S2CID 144408994.
  2. ^ Clark, Harry Hayden (1933). "Nationalism in American Literature". University of Toronto Quarterly. 2 (4): 492–519. doi:10.3138/utq.2.4.492. ISSN 1712-5278. S2CID 161208635.
  3. ^ Reynes-Delobel, Anne (2018-06-21). "J. Gerald Kennedy, Strange Nation: Literary Nationalism and Cultural Conflict in the Age of Poe. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016, 472 pages". IdeAs. Idées d'Amériques (11). doi:10.4000/ideas.2935. ISSN 1950-5701.
  4. ^ Free, William J. (1968). The Columbian Magazine and American Literary Nationalism. Mouton. ISBN 978-3-11-101365-7.
  5. ^ Martin, Dennis Michael (1973). Modern American Literary Nationalism.
  6. ^ "American literature: a vanishing subject?". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. May 2006. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  7. ^ Campbell, Charles Alexander (1951). "The Great American Novel": A Study in Literary Nationalism, 1870-1900. University of Minnesota.
  8. ^ McGill, Meredith L. (2007-04-30). American Literature and the Culture of Reprinting, 1834-1853. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1995-1.
  9. ^ The United States Magazine and Democratic Review. Langtree and O'Sullivan. 1838. p. 14.
  10. ^ Merlob, Maya (2012). "Chapter 5: Celebrated Rubbish: John Neal and the Commercialization of Early American Romanticism". In Watts, Edward; Carlson, David J. (eds.). John Neal and Nineteenth Century American Literature and Culture. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. p. 114. ISBN 9781611484205.