Realism, Romanticism, and Transcendentalism in American literature

Realism, Romanticism, & Transcendentalism

The development of American Literature has been a combination of a variety of genres coming together to form a specific overall category. This influence from one sector to another has made American Literature the unique classification that it is. Three main literary periods have influenced the development of American Literature: Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and Realism. With these three literary periods as an object of analysis, American Literature's elaboration will be examined.

Romanticism was the beginning of a literary era right after the Revolutionary War. It was the beginning of America as its own independent nation. It was no surprise that this era contributed immensely to the development of American literature. American poets and writers contributed their best work, as they were in an exultant and fresh minded state after being granted freedom from a nation that they saw as oppressive and demanding. This literary period is associated with purity, morals, and of course, the love of freedom. Poets like William Cullen Bryant expressed his view in the early stages of the Romanticism period, divulging his love for his nation, and overall, his love for God. In the lines, "There is a Power whose care, Teaches thy way along that pathless coast, The desert and illimitable air, Lone wandering, but not lost" (p 785) of his poem To a Waterfowl, Bryant refers to his belief in a higher power that will never abandon them. This can be related to the period of this time in American history where America was still a relatively new nation, with ideals and goals, but still a bit lost. Just as a baby needs guidance to grow, so did America at the time. With great leaders such as George Washington guiding the nation and its people, America was getting the strength to survive on its own and found its path, just as the literary era of Romanticism found its way in American history and the development of American Literature.

From the need to find something meaningful with life, emerged the literary era of Transcendentalism in the 1830s. Wanting to bring relief to life and believing in oneself as the catalyst in one's own life came this era of motivation, inspiration, and most of all spirituality. Ralph Emerson was the father of this literary movement, as it was him who started this branch of literature as an attempt to define who it was that Americans truly were. "Self-Reliance" was one of Emerson's writings that truly captured what this literary era consisted of. In the lines, "To believe your own thought to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be universal sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost" (p 1334), the belief and practice of freedom of speech was supported and encouraged. This gave everyone motivation to let themselves be heard and say whatever it was that was on their mind. This was what American life at the time was all about, and it was through American Literature that they were able to do so. Transcendentalism brought upon a literary era that encouraged the succeeding eras of literature to define American Literature.

Realism was a literary period in American history that came after the Civil War era. With individuals trying to recover from a very dark period where the reconstruction of lives, families, and states were underway, writers, educators, and poets contributed to this period by providing realistic representations of what was occurring around them. From 1865-1900, Realism was a popular genre in America, as it was trying to recover from internal damage, from which came individuals who were willing to share their stories. Although it might be thought as boring and uninteresting for an individual to share the story of their lives, it was this same sharing experience that made this period unique, and a great contribution to the development of American Literature. Writings, like "On Being Brought from Africa to America," were an example of a representation of the time. A former slave, Phillis Wheatley depicts her time of slavery as something that saved her since it brought her into Christianity. She states, "Remember, Christains, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refin'd and join th' angelic train" (p 403). It was statements such as these that made this literary period one that contributed vastly to American Literature, because as unfortunate and unfair as some periods in American history were, this period of realism documented all that occurred in a way that will be saved for generations to come. The hope of a new era was expressed in Wheatley's words, and this was exactly what time literary era became. It was the start of a new America.