What literature do you consider to be part of the United States' current literary canon,
and why? How do those selections reflect the cultural tradition of the United States?
2007-09-12 08:36:27 · 6 answers · asked by Kelly H 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
When you say "current" do you mean authors who are still living, or do you mean from the founding of the United States until now?
You can, of course, get a multitude of lists on this one. But here are authors I feel should be included. This is by no means a complete list! (and as I read back through what I've written, I see it's short on poetry, includes no playwrights who didn't also write novels, etc. Well, it may get you started.....)
Nathanial Hawthorne
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Louisa May Alcott
Walt Whitman
Henry David Thoreau
Mark Twain
John Steinbeck
William Faulkner
Ernest Hemingway
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Emily Dickenson
Joyce Carol Oates
Toni Morrison
Sherwood Anderson
James Baldwin
Margaret Atwood
Saul Bellow
Ray Bradbury
Pearl S. Buck
Truman Capote
Stephen Crane
Charles Frazier
Alex Haley
Dashiell Hammett
Jane Hamilton
Zora Neale Hurston
John Irving
Henry James
Barbara Kingsolver
Harper Lee
Madeleine L'Engle
Sinclair Lewis
Jack London
Norman Mailer
Herman Melville
Margaret Mitchell (ok, so this is a little pulpy, but how can we leave out "Gone with the Wind?")
Flannery O'Connor
Robert Persig
Edgar Allen Poe
Chaim Potok
Thomas Pynchon
Ayn Rand
J.D. Salinger
Betty Smith
Wallace Stegner
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Amy Tan
Anne Tyler
John Updike
Kurt Vonnegut
Alice Walker
Edith Wharton
Thornton Wilder
Thomas Wolfe
Richard Wright
2007-09-12 09:13:01 · answer #1 · answered by Yogini108 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are several trends. One is the pre-teen girl book with the bratty characters. I hate to refer to it as literature, because it isn't. It reflects very badly on our current cultural tradition I believe. Most parents do not have a clue what is inside the books, they are just happy the children are reading. They will tell that to you with great pride. However what they do not understand is that the content of these books is presenting a very distorted view of adolescent girls. The result is very low self image in a lot of readers of this genre of fiction - and the resulting depression, anorexia, bulemia, etc. I am an outstanding advocate against this type of book for exactly those reasons and I wish more parents would be more interested in the content of what their kids are reading instead of just being happy that they are reading. Irresponsible literature can be a dangerous thing in adolescent hands. Pax - C
2007-09-12 08:57:55 · answer #2 · answered by Persiphone_Hellecat 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Norseheathen gave you a very good answer. I think you ought to add the following to make it slightly longer. Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, Gertrude Stein, Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and David Mamet. Thanks. Wow! How could I leave out Mark Twain? Sorry about that.
2016-04-04 17:25:02 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'll nominate:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Color Purple
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Why? How do they reflect cultural traditions? Look them up and see.
2007-09-12 08:59:46 · answer #4 · answered by autimom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Funny, I was wondering the same thing myself
2016-08-24 15:40:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Finally, that's what I was exploring for! Thanks to author of this question.
2016-09-19 04:34:10 · answer #6 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋