American Traditions and our Histories of Literature Author(s): Thomas M. Pearce Source: American Literature, Vol. 14, No.

3 (Nov., 1942), pp. 277-284 Published by: Duke University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2920976 . Accessed: 19/09/2011 09:07
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Duke University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Literature.

http://www.jstor.org

AMERICAN TRADITIONS AND OUR HISTORIES OF LITERATURE

THOMAS M. PEARCE

The University New Mexico of

firstpermanentsettlement Jamestown, at Virginia,in I607 to the calling of the Stamp Act Congressin I765," wroteL. W. Literatuire This (i919).' of Payne, in his History American Jr., and variously is as analyzed, repeated a variously phrased beginning, standard opening in literary historiesof the United States of that America. Close on its heels is the next statement, in i6o8 a memberof the Jamestown colony,Captain JohnSmith,sentback and is usuallyregarded a pamphlet Englandwhichwas published to of literature." The antecedents this as "the first book in American so were English,of course, thatit is conventional colonialventure to read: "The literature Americawas an offshootfromthatof of it mustbe given, may England. If an exactdate forthedivergence be set at I607, the year of the foundingof the first permanent AmericanwriterBritish colonyin the new world . . . the first .-2 Captain JohnSmith(I568?-I63I) colonyin I607, Cappoints-the Jamestown The threespotting tain JohnSmith'sA True Relation[etc.] in i6o8, Americanliteraturestems Englandand is stillstemming fromseventeenth-century firmly critical a basisforviewingthebeginnings -have established of Americanliterature in fromtheirEnglishbackgrounds Europe. This basishas beenexpandedbythediscovery new colonialdocuof aboutCaptainSmithand his collaterals, ments, new bibliography by and by new perspectives about England and Americaat thattime, buttheEnglishtradition, it is carried by theEnglishlanguage, as on to elements theliterary in history of has made fewconcessions other thiscountry. were among the first suggest that to Oddly enough,the British of NorthAmerican literature some of the roots mightnot be Brit'History of American Literature (Chicago, I9I9), p. I. 2 William B. Cairns, A History of American Literature (rev. ed., New York,
pp. 1-2.
1930),

THE

the extends from COLONIAL periodof our literature

278

Literature merican

sketchby JohnNichol, Professor English of ish. In an historical of Literature the University Glasgow, one meets a termthat in of sounds strangein a history theseUnited States: "As Virginia life,so it was the parentof was the parentof Anglo-American Americanaccounthas been recogthatCaptain JohnSmith'sfirst but book in Americanliterature, in I882 it is nized as the earliest speak of Virginiaas the of singularto have a professor literature mother of Anglo-Americanletters. The compound "AngloAmerican" distinguishes the traditionof English lettersfrom litand German-American, othernon-English Spanish-American, has eratures America. What distinction been made towardsuch in of literatures withinthe borders the UnitedStates? A pioneerstatement an Americancriticthatliterary expresby came from George stemfrom other thanEnglishsources sionmight Literature ColumbiaUniProfessor Comparative in of Woodberry, in who in I903 pointedout,first Harper'sand thenin his versity, of forthat book Americain Literature, vastaccretions peoplefrom or failedto shareeitherthe earlyPuritanism eign lands probably thelaterTranscendentalism New England and thatthestandard of from of traditions thisnationwas as divorced view of the literary itself.4 as the lifetraditions was a good deal of theliterature lands, of a of the vast accretions our populationfromforeign of different and languagefromthe race which foundedthe ancestry to whichmay depend"even in the secondgeneration somedegree, upon theirown nativebooks,on Goethe and Schiller,and their from for and manyminorcompatriots, thesentiment ideasthatflow whichthe SpanishexploraHe literature." refers thefascination to but the tionsand conquestheld forPrescott, he does not mention withinthe territory the and literature culture of Spanish-American accretion foreign of United States. This may have been further of to culture him,butfromtheviewpoint thenativein thatculture thanhe. Spanish-American in the is life Woodberry moreforeign United Statesis older than Anglo-American.At what point the
8AmericanLiterature: HistoricalSketch,1620-1880 (Edinburgh,1882), p. An 'America Literature in (London New York, and 1903), pp. 215-235.
31.

Anglo-American literature..

. ."

ProfessorNichol goes on to say

ProfessorWoodberry writes,". . . it is necessaryto take account

nation.

. .

."

He mentions specifically the German population,

and Our Historiesof Literature AmericanTraditions

279

withAmericanEuropeanstockbecamestamped of traditions either line can claim to be an exclusive but ism is fundamental, neither dominant. Prothoughthe English is culturally in the country, by about Indianswritten the mentions literature Woodberry fessor but Cooper and otherAmericanwriters, he does not show awareof ness thatthe Indians may have any literature theirown worth substanthat theymightcontribute or considering the possibility the to tiallyto our artsand literature.It has been customary treat to something be of population," Indians,too,as "accretions foreign norm. adjustedto the "American" embracing thenis to be done about Americantraditions, What as theydo the Indian,Spanish,French,English,German,Yiddish, whichbeginwiththe histories, and our literary Negro,and others, English reportsabout the New World and then segregate first accretions? First,wheredoes fromthenon as foreign everything begin? history literary American tell let by history chronology, theliterature the If we mustwrite in of story the land. The Englishepic Beowulf foundno mention publisheda garbledsummary untilan antiquary Englishliterature was in I705; no Englishtranslation made until I837. Yet we do of as Beowulf into English histories literature the not introduce as centuries.It is discussed thebeginning, or eighteenth nineteenth folk lore, poetic liturgy the sourcematerials. Indian mythology, if and lyricin Americaare mentioned, at all, when the nineteenth becameawareof them. This is our earliest centuries and twentieth in the literature: greatpoetry the Navajo Night Chant,singingof with the ancient peace and beautyand earth,sky,sun, and stars, Mythof theZuni of and splendor thePsalms; or theCreation truth the of of Indians with its story the progress man through worlds and breathingand the mud to wings water-moss, of darkness, breath the lightof day. of veryold The Irish Folk Lore Commissionis busy recording Gaelic songs and stories. If a greatbody of this materialis rewill place it earlyin the Irishhistories fromoral tradition, covered form. British and literary themes dated by its primitive records, and his culturewere as hostileto the inroadsof the EngArthur as lish invaders the AmericanIndians and theirway of life were to European invadersa thousandyearslateron. About six hun-

280

AmericanLiterature

dred years elapsed beforeArthur,with splendid historicalanpagan foes in searchof a began to lead his erstwhile achronism, Christian grail. We have had fourhundredyearsto learn somewhichpreceded and thereare manyindicaus, thingof the culture that crafts, architecture the last design, painting, tionsin literature, folkmaterial to the represents kindof awakening early half-century England. whichoccurred twelfth-century in be writings viewed Second,how should the so-called"foreign" of and in our literary histories anthologies? Some indication a new came in 1921 when the pointof view towardAmericantraditions Historyof AmericanLiterature fourth volumeof The Cambri'dge called appeared. At the end of this volume were two chapters "Non-EnglishWritings." The firsttreatedof German,French, and Yiddish writings the United States. The second chapter, in by was prepared MaryAustin,and is a scholcalled "Aboriginal," Indian modes of weighty treatment representative arlyif somewhat to of expression with theirpossiblesignificance modernAmerican felt literature.I thinkMrs. Austinprobably at the timeshe wrote chapter thisexcellent chapter last thatit shouldhave been the first in thehistory, she probably too,thatshe was luckyto have but felt, French, as a chanceto writeit at all. Quite as significant German, or Yiddish literature the UnitedStatesis the Spanishliterature for editorsof throughfour centuries. The Easternand Midwestern The CambridgeHistory of American Literatureoverlookedit entirely. of Language does not seem a logical bar to recognition nonof English materialas literature the United States. In 1924-1925, in a distinguished novelaboutSouthDakota was published Norway. It was written a Norwegian-American, taughtat St. Olaf's who by Collegein Minnesota. Carl Van Doren has called R6lvaag'sGiants as in the Earth "as much a part of Americanliterature of Norof writings history Louisianacannotneglect wegian."5 The literary the Frenchby itsnatives;nor can New Mexiconeglect treasured in Spanishaccounts. Two important anthologies, publishedbetween1930 and 1940, to showeda disposition walk in new paths. The periodanthology, editedby Dr. Oscar Cargilland others, American varies Literature,6
Novel (rev. ed., New York, I940), p. "Carl Van Doren, The American A A (5 American Literature: PeriodAnthology vols.,New York, I933).
30I.

and of Traditions Our Histories Literature American

28I

formulae. For Volume I, The Rootsof National Culthe familiar arranges of RobertE. Spiller, Swarthmore, ture: to I830, Professor fromthe recordsof a "Prologue" in which he places selections Columbus,Thomas Hakluyt,and Samuel de ChamChristopher of we plain. Then under "The Settlement" meet later writings Captain Smith,The True Travels [etc.] (I630) and The General would be Equally significant Historieof Virginia[etc.] (I624).

Narrativeof the Expeditionof Coronado,I540-I54I.8 Castanfeda's would do well to consider anthologists Under "The Settlement" the New Mexico,which describes Gaspar de Villagra'sHistoryof of settlement villagesin the Rio Grande Valley in I598 and I599. in The book was published Spanishat Alcala (i6io) and has been by well translated GilbertoEspinosa.9 It is a long epic poem, is and certainly the first company, of by written a member On-ate's aboutany partof the UnitedStatesby someonewho poem written had beenthere.'0 in Professor Spillerhas also includedIndian material Volume I "Folk Literaof representative America. Under of thiscollection ture" and at the end of the volume are eightpages of material, History a representing selectionfromHenry Rowe Schoolcraft's two prose storiesand six shortsongs fromNatalie (I85I-I857), lead pennedby An important Curtis'sThe Indian Book (I907). of Dr. Spiller in the notes reads: "The Department the Interior a of publishes bibliography Indian Legends,as well as manyother on bulletins variousaspectsof Indian life." BetweenThe Camin bridgeHistoryof AmericanLiterature 192I and the Macmillan in AmericanLiterature, 1933, Indian folkmateperiodanthology, rial movedfromVolume IV to Volume I, thoughstillat the back as now, is thatIndian material, it of each volume. My proposal,
in 'Spanish Explorers the SouthernUnitedStates,1528-I543, in "OriginalNarratives Series" (New York, 1907), III, 12-126. History of Early American 8Ibid., III, 28I-387. by of New Mexico (Alcala, i6io), translated Gil9 Gaspar Perez de Villagra,History bertoEspinosa (Los Angeles:The QuiviraSociety, 1933). 10 In thisrespect, take issue with the following by statement GrantC. Knight:"VirI poet in Americanliterature. This was George Sandys,whose ginia can claim the first made was the earliestgenuine contribution of (I626) translation Ovid's Metamorphoses New York, and Culture, to belles lettres by an adoptedAmerican"(AmericanLiterature Cf. also J. W. Hebbel and Hoyt H. Hudson, Poetryof the EnglishRenaissance 1932). (New York, 1929), p. 1019.

from Cabezade Vaca'sNarrative., excerpts

I528-I5367

or from

282

AmericanLiterature

has been recoveredby WashingtonMatthews,C. F. Lummis, Natalie Curtis,Frank Cushing, Mary Matilda Coxe Stevenson, under some such appear in Volume I, front, Austin,and others, Myths prologueor not,as AmericanBeginnings, heading,whether of Poetic Backgrounds and Legends of the AmericanContinent, of history theUnited to America. Such an introduction theliterary and Statesof Americawould be more significant more beautiful from which we select those firstdetails of than the chronicles and settlement. conquest, exploration, Mind, edited of The secondanthology note was The American HarryR. Warfel,Ralph H. Gabriel,and StanleyT. by Professors of and last were professors Williams; and here,thoughthe first of English,the secondwas a professor history. His weightseems the for to have been important, in manyuniversities volumeis rerather thantheEnglish. In any case, seminar served thehistory in pointof view. They introduce the editorsannouncea distinctive not material representing only New England Puritansand Transbut also "Quakers, Deists, Unitarians,Methodists, cendentalists have Roman Catholics,Baptists,Humanists." The anthologists a deserving label suchas "The Anglobook from triedto keep their to Saxon Mind." I counta totalof 245 contributors the book,of 222 which I was able to classify as Englishand 23 as non-English. The Scotchand Irishwere listedas English. This means about9 the including "Aboriginal." per centcould be called "Non-English" and two Indians appear. So has fromtwo Negroes Contributions and widenedthe beadrollof Americanwriters, the list can widen represented still. Neitherthe Indian nor the Negro is adequately in culture, spite of new emphasisupon here. Spanish-American to its importance us, is ignoredwhereit is closestto us: rightin of our own country. Challengingis the editorialdescription the were drawn: ". . . the writings of area fromwhich the selections and illustrating American Americans the purposeof defining for . progress . . in literary progress relationto Americanintellectual as materials will clarify changingAmericanconceptsof religion, humanitarian striveconomics, democracy, politicalindependence, . fromso-called suband literary theory .. selections ing,education and newspapers."'"' books,magazines, literary
" The American p. Mind (New York, I937), Preface, iii.

AmericanTraditions and Our Historiesof Literature

283

with dictionary If one comparesthis statement definitions of literature manyyears not ago,he will see how fartheinterpretation efforts movedfrom has of literary "sphere highart"and thoughts of and elevatingratherthan merelyknowledge that are "inspiring giving." Here lies the cruxof the whole matter. If writing, one is of theartsclosest theaspirations humanity, valuedprimarily of to in forits successin showingfullythe folk traditions a country of theirhighestformas theymake for betterhuman relationships, of thenthe social tradition outweighs artistic the continuity letters and even considerations language.12 Anything of worthyin the oral and written recordof the peopleswho have lived wherethis of nation has been formedbecomespart of the history national disletters. I do not believesuch a view will weaken the esthetic tinction our letters will strengthen of but it. The discerning critical studies such men as V. L. Parrington, of V. F. Calverton, GranvilleHicks, Van Wyck Brooksdefendcontemporary Americancriticism from preoccupation with esthetics and ivory-towerism. complaint thatcritics My is have not brought the same breadthof view to surveying rootsof our literature the thattheyhave brought surveying contemporary to the scene. When the educatedIndian looks in our literary histories his for long,long American poeticpast,he maybe amusedto findit under "Non-EnglishWritings," Volume IV, or "Folk Literature" after "The Progressof Romanticism," Volume I. When the young Spanish-American storyteller (and he is with us now) looks for the history his tradition Americanliterature, may finda of in he blank unlesshe searches regionalcollections in wherehis contributionis known. Our viewpoint has begun to mend. When new histories are written and new literary collections compiled, are theycould well
12See contra, JohnMacy, The Spiritof AmericanLiterature (New York, 1913), pp. 3-5: "Literature a succession books frombooks. Artistic is of expression springs fromlife ultimately not immediately. . . Everybook has its literary but . parentage. . . Every . novel was suckledat the breastsof older novels,and great mothers oftenprolific are of anaemic offspring. . . Americanliterature English literature . is made in this country. Its nineteenth-century characteristics evidentand can be analyzed and discussedwith are criticthat I know has ever some degree of certainty.Its 'American'characteristics-no of given a good accountof them. You can definecertainpeculiarities American politics, Americanpublic schools, even Americanreligion. But what is Americanagriculture, is . uniquelyAmericanin Americanliterature? . . The Americanspiritin literature a like the valour of Italians and myth,like Americanvalour in war, which is precisely Japanese."

284

AmericanLiterature

with which the Italian humanist of borrowsomething the fervor in Mirandolaregardedthe treasures the ancientpast of his native for "Americanism" "humanism"in Walter land. If we substitute the faith, wordscan serveas of Pater'sfinedescription Mirandola's of today:"For the essence Amerischolar a creedfortheAmerican canism is that belief. . . that nothingwhich has ever interested livingmen and women can whollylose its vitality-nolanguage nor oraclebesidewhich theyhave hushedtheir theyhave spoken, by no voices, dreamwhichhas once been entertained actualhuman or minds,nothingabout which theyhave ever been passionate, expendedtimeand zeal."13
"

(London, I890), The Renaissance

p. 51.