Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T13:58:52.247Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Problems and roles of the American artist as portrayed by the American novelist

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2011

Get access

Summary

It is truism that from the start the American writer has been on the defensive about his vocation. When Martin Chuzzlewit, on his arrival in America, tries to find out something about the state of American literature, he is sharply told: ‘We are a busy people, sir, … and have no time for reading mere notions. We don't mind 'em if they come to us in newspapers along with almighty strong stuff of another sort, but darn your books.’ Darn your books – very often that seems to be the public response that the American writer dreads in advance, and it seems to induce not only a vague sense of guilt about his calling, but on occasions more self-destructive feelings. Whether he sets about evoking a romance of the past, or attempts to address himself to contemporary realities, the American novelist usually betrays an apprehension that his role will somehow set him at odds with his society. This is, of course, no new position for the artist to find himself in. The difference seems to be the degree of anxiety and vulnerability experienced by the American artist: European artists may be equally alienated from their societies, but they seem able to draw confidence from the artistic traditions behind them. It is this sort of confidence which seems unavailable to many American writers.

Type
Chapter
Information
Scenes of Nature, Signs of Men
Essays on 19th and 20th Century American Literature
, pp. 46 - 63
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×