An Outline of American Literature [antikvár]

Chapter OneColonial BeginningsThe story of American literature begins in the early 16oos, long before there were any "Americans". The earliest writers were Englishmen describing the English exploration and colonization of the New World (America), thomas hariot's Briefe and True Report of the Mew-Found Land of Virginia (1588) was only the first of many such works. Back in England, people planning to move to Virginia or New England would read the books as travel guides. But this was dangerous because such books often mixed facts with fantasy'. For example, one writer (william wood) claimed that he had seen lions in Massachusetts. It is probable that these "true reports" had a second kind of reader. People could certainly read them as tales of adventure and excitement. Like modern readers of science fiction^, they could enjoy imaginary voyages to places they could never visit in reality.The writings of captain john smith (1580-1631) probably satisfied readers of both kinds. A real adventurer, he had fought the Turks in Hungary, where he was wounded and taken prisoner. He was sold as a slave and escaped by killing his master. In 1607, he helped found^ Jamestown, the first English colony in America. Although the details are not always correct, his True Relation of Virginia (1608) and Description of New England (1616) are fascinating "advertisements" which try to persuade the reader to settle in the New World. The Puritans'^, for instance, studied his Description of Mew England ca.Yeiu\\y and then decided to settle there in 1620. Smith was often boastful