Literary History of the United StatesWord下载.docx

Literary History of the United StatesWord下载.docx

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RICHARDM.LUDWIG

THIRDEDITION:

REVISED

THEMACMILLANCOMPANYNEWYORK

COLLIER-MACMILLANLIMITEDLONDON

Copyright1946,1947,1948,1953,1963byTheMacmillanCompany

ThirdEdition,Revised1963

ThirdPrinting,1965

TheMacmillanCompany,NewYork

Collier-MacmillanCanadaLtd.,Toronto,Ontario

PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica

LibraryofCongresscatalogcardnumber:

63-17511

PREFACE

EACHgenerationshouldproduceatleastoneliteraryhistoryoftheUnitedStates,foreachgenerationmustdefinethepastinitsownterms.AredefinitionofourliterarypastwasneededatthetimeoftheFirstWorldWar,whentheCambridgeHistoryofAmericanLiteraturewasproducedbyagroupofscholars.Itisnowneededagain;

anditwillbeneededstillagain.

Atmid-point,thetwentiethcenturymayproperlyestablishitsowncriteriaofliteraryjudgment;

indeed,thevaluesaswellasthefactsofmoderncivilizationmustbeexaminedifmanistoescapeself-destruction.Wemustknowandunderstandbettertherecordersofourexperience.Scholarscannolongerbecontenttowriteforscholars;

theymustmaketheirknowledgemeaningfulandapplicabletohumanity.Asourpartofthattask,theeditors,associates,andcontributorshaveundertakenandcompletedthiswork.

Suchahistorycouldbetheworkofoneorafewhands,oritcouldbeacollaborationofmany.ButtheUnitedStates,initslifeoflessthantwocenturies,hasproducedtoomuchliteratureforanyonemantoreadanddigest.Itsliteraryhistorycanthereforebebestwrittenbyagroupofcollaborators,whatevertheriskofdifferencesofperspectiveoropinion.

Thosewhohavejoinedinthisundertakingarehistoriansandcriticsratherthanspecialistsinanarrowsense.Theircontributionsarerelatedtooneanotherwithinaframeratherthanseparatelycomposedessays.Eachmemberofourcompanyhasaproportionalshareinthewholeenterpriseratherthananexclusiveinterestinhispartofit.

Thedrawingofthedesignandtheassignmentofchapterstookayearofconferencesinwhicheverypointwasdiscussedtoasatisfactoryconclusion.Sevenmentookpartinthisplanning:

thefoureditorsandthethreeassociates.Eachoftheadditionalforty-eightcontributorshadathandadetailedoutlineoftheentireworkandastatementofbasicprinciplesbeforeheagreedtowrite.Uponhisacceptance,hewasaskedtomeet,eitherindividuallyoringroupconferences,withtheeditorsandassociatesandwiththeauthorsofalliedchapters,anddiscusstheproblemspresentedbyhisassignment.Threeyearsweregiventothewriting;

twomore,totheeditingandpublishing.Duringthisperiodeachofthethreeeditorswhohadundertaken

VlllPREFACE

majortasksofdetailwasgrantedayearoffreedomfromprofessionaldutiesinordertogivefulltimetothework,andinsomeinstancescontributorsreceivedgrants-in-aid.Allthebibliographicalessayswerewrittenbyoneeditorinclosecollaborationwiththeauthorsofrelevantchapters.

Agenuinecollaborationrequiressomesacrificeoftheindividualintheinterestofthegroup.Theauthorshipofeachchapterisgivenonpp.1403-1406,butthechaptersareunsignedinthetext.Manyofthemhavebeensubstantiallyrevisedinordertofitthemintothelargerplan,andpartsofsomehavebeenliftedandincorporatedelsewhere.Theeditorshavethemselveswrittenmanychaptersandhavesuppliednecessarylinks;

butindividualopinionsandstyleshavenotbeenalteredinsubstance.Theresultis,theybelieve,acoherentnarrative,withvaluabledifferencesonindividualpoints.Principlesoforthographyinquotationshavebeenlefttothejudgmentoftherespectivecontributors.

ThealmostidealconditionswhichmadethisprocedurepossiblewerecreatedbyTheMacmillanCompanyandtheRockefellerFoundation,withsupplementaryaidfromtheAmericanCouncilofLearnedSocieties,theAmericanPhilosophicalSociety,andtheinstitutionswithwhichseveraloftheeditorswereconnectedSwarthmoreCollege,PrincetonUniversity,theUniversityofPennsylvania,andtheLawrencevilleSchool.Thedisruptionsofthewarandpostwareras,farfrompresentinghandicaps,havestimulatedinterestbyemphasizingtheneedforculturalredefinition.

Itwouldbeimpossibletomakespecificacknowledgmentofindebtednesstothescholarswhoindirectlycontributedtothiswork.Insomeinstances,thedebtwasimmediateandpersonal,butmoreoftenittooktheformofdependenceuponthegreatbodyofcritical,historical,andanalyticalstudiesthatthepastquarterofacenturyhasproduced.Themerelistingofnamesandbookshereorinfootnoteswouldbemeaningless.Thebibliographicalessays,whichattempttobecriticalbothintheirselectionandintheirarrangementofentries,mustserveasconfessionofobligationonalmosteverypoint.TherewouldbelittlereasonforattemptingagainthetaskwhichtheCambridgeHistoryundertookforitsgenerationwereitnotforthepioneeringworkofsuchhistoriansasF.L.Pattee,A.H.Quinn,W.B.Cairns,P.H.Boynton,andV.L.Parrington;

thestimulationofscholarshipbytheseandothersuchteachersasNormanFoerster,J.B.Hubbell,R.L.Rusk,andH.H.Clark;

thebibliographicalworkofE.E.Leisy,GregoryPaine,andtheirassociates;

theinvigoratingperceptionsofsuchcriticsasW.C.Brownell,JohnMacy,StuartP.Sherman,VanWyckBrooks,andEdmundWilson;

andthespecificinvestigationsofahostofcarefulscholars.

Theentiretextofthisbookwaspreparedspecificallyforitunderindividualcontractswithcontributorsfortheirrespectivepartsofasingleover-allplan.

December,1947

THESECONDEDITION

ANEWeditionofLiteraryHistoryoftheUnitedStatesafterfiveyearsandtenthousandcopiessuggestsafewcommentsandreflections.Asthepossibilityofreducingthetextfromtwovolumestoonewasanticipatedwhentheworkwasfirstplanned,theformandpaginationofthefirsteditionhavenotbeenalteredexceptinthecorrectionoferrorsoffactordetailwheretheyhavebeendetected.Formostsuchalterations,theeditorsaregratefullyindebtedtotheirreaders.

Theoriginalplanofthebook,includingomissionsforwhichtheeditorshavebeenadmonishedandcriticalopinionsforwhichtheyhavebeenchallenged,hasthereforebeenkeptintact.LHUSisthecreativeworkofagroupofscholarswhowillneverbeassembledagain.Anyextensiverevisionwouldhavetobetotal,andthetimehasnotyetcomeforthat.Mostofthecriticswhoreaditconsecutivelyhavefoundthat,whateverotherfaultsitmayhave,itisasolidwhole.Morethanperhapsinanysimilarundertaking,thecollaboratorsinLHUSreallycollaborated.Thebooktheyhavewrittentellsasingleandunifiedstory.

Afewchangeshavebeenmadeinformatandsomenewmaterialhasbeenadded.Inthelistingofchapters,thetitlesofthosewhichweredesignedtosupplyinformationaboutthehistoryofthoughtandoftheinstrumentsofculturehavenowbeendistinguishedfromthosewhichdealmoredirectlywithliteraturebybeingsetinitalics.Themasterplanoftheworkmaythusbeseenmoreclearly,itishoped,asaliteraryhistoryoftheUnitedStatesratherthanasahistoryofAmericanliterature.Theviewofliteratureastheaestheticexpressionofthegeneralcultureofapeopleinagiventimeandplacewas,fromthestart,anaxiominthethinkingoftheeditorsandtheirassociates.Rejectingthetheorythathistoryofanykindismerelyachronologicalrecordofobjectivefacts,theyadoptedanorganicviewofliteratureastherecordofhumanexperienceandofitshistoryastheportraitofapeople,designedfromthecurvesofitsculturalcyclesandthecolorsofitsrichanduniquelife.LHUSisonekindofhistoryoftheUnitedStates.

Thebrief"

Postscript"

chapterhasbeenadded,nottoprovideafullliteraryhistoryoftheperiod1945-1953asathingapart,buttocarrysomeofthethemes

XTHESECONDEDITION

andmotivesofthelargerstory,alreadydevelopedintheearlierchapters,forwardpastthecentury'

smid-pointandinthiswaytoroundouttheaccountofthesecondliterary"

renaissance."

Thenewbibliographicalessayhasbeendesignedforthegeneralreaderratherthanforthescholar.Itdoesnotattempt,eveninpart,whattheseparatebibliographicalvolumedoesthoroughly.Sometimeinthefuturethatvolumetoomaybecarriedforwardintimebytheuseofsupplementaryessays,butitalsoistoomuchofasingleworktolenditselfreadilytopartialrevision.ThetwopartsofLHUS,textandbibliography,stillbelongtogether.

May,1953

THETHIRDEDITION

AGAINanotherdecadecallsforanothereditionofLiteraryHistoryoftheUnitedStates,andagainthetemptationtoalterthemaintexthasbeenresisted.

The"

chapteroftheSecondEditionhas,however,beencompletelyrevisedandbrokenintotwo.Thefirstofthese,byWillardThorpandRobertE.Spiller,dealswiththoseauthorswhosecareersweremainlyintheperiodbetweenthetwoworldwarsandwhocanthereforenowbediscussedwithsomehistoricalperspective.Thesecond,byIhabHassan,attemptsapreliminaryhistoricalestimateofthoseauthorswhosecareersbeganafter1945.

Thebibliographyforthegeneralreaderattheendofthisvolume,compiledin1953byThomasH.Johnson,hasbeencompletelyrevisedandbroughtuptodatebyRichardM.Ludwig.ThemorenearlydefinitivebibliographywhichwasthethirdvolumeofthefirsteditionofLiteraryHistory（1948）andthesupplement,editedbyRichardM.Ludwigin1