Colonial Literature.

Literature in Early New England

Revision/expansion of the American literary canon. Changes over the past thirty to forty years
that have moved back the starting date.
Background to Puritanism
.The great migration: The Mayflower 100 separatists who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in
1620 and the 1,000 non-separating who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.
.Many negative stereotypes about the Puritans. Francis Bremer: Puritanism is one of the least
understood parts of Americasand Britainsheritage
.The degrading term puritan applied by traditional Anglicans to those who wanted to
purify the Church of England. Protestant reformers forced to become religious exiles. The
separating Puritans (separatists), and non-separating Puritans.
Puritan Religious Beliefs:
Calvinists who believed in:
.The Original Sin and its terrible consequences; Mans essential unworthiness and fallibility.
.Unconditional, irresistible grace: no role of man in Gods decision. Doctrine of predestination.
. Perseverance of the saints.
Puritan literature
.Bookishness of the Puritans; yet rather hostile toward arts and literature. Most works of a
religious nature, utilitarian.
.Main kinds: sermons, devotional poetry and history.
.Common themes, Providence, the infinite and mysterious power and the glory of God, the
meekness of Man, the wish to sin, redemption.
.Plain style
.The use of typology
.The rhetoric of vision and the signs of justification. Symbolic interpretation of natural
facts and human actions.
The Puritan legacy: Puritanism and the development of the American identity
.A tendency to think in term of either/or options and to seek the bottom line are we
dammed or saved? (Elliot)
.Concern with success in life, prosperity, self-reliance and hard work (the Protestant work ethic
and the rise of capitalism).
The decline of Puritanism: The Salem Witchcraft trials in 1692 and the influence of the
Enlightenment views.
Bibliography
Bremer, Francis J. Puritanism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009
Elliot, Emory, The Emergence of the Literatures of the United States, in Paul Lauter ed. A
Companion to American Literature and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell, 2010.
Gray, Richard. A History of American Literature. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004
Meyers, Karen. Colonialism and the Revolutionary Road. New York: Facts on File, 2006