Regionalism ppt

1. Master program: Moroccan American studies Regionalism in American Literature Supervised by: Prof. Mohammed Kandoussi Fatimazahraa Belkehal 04/13/2022

2. Outline • The Emergence of Regionalism: A historical overview. • Defining Regionalism: as a type of literature and as a literary movement. • Regionalism and Realism: The relationship of regionalism to realism. • Regionalism and Local color: a focus on what makes a difference. • Key Regionalist Authors: W. Cather, M.W. Freeman, K. Chopin, M. Twain, B. Harte. • Women’s Regionalism: Regionalist Women’s writing.

3. The Emergence of Regionalism After America's independence, American books were severely criticized in England, and Americans were painfully aware of their over-reliance on English literary models, which led to a national obsession with seeking a native literature. Thus, national literature was born. At that time, literature was strongly nationalistic and regional differences were not yet sharply defined.

4. “America must be as independent in literature as she is in politics” —Noah Webster

5. The Emergence of Regionalism In the second half of the nineteenth century, the aftermath of the Civil War paved the way for the growth of regionalism, as the mobilization of men broadened their knowledge of the inhabitants of different regions and allowed non-travelers to better understand the geography of the nation by reading newspapers to search whether their relatives were still alive and whereabouts.

6. The Emergence of Regionalism The distinctions between the regions became much clearer and sharper, and the literature of the regions was equally distinct from each other. During this time, the Midwest was exploited and the Far West was opened to the world, and Midwestern writers who represented the entire nation were no longer the only ones. All these factors rendered the emergence of regionalism inevitable.

7. What is Regionalism? In American literary studies, regionalism is recognized as a type of literature as well as a literary movement. As a type of literature: • A type of writing that manifests itself and is rooted in a specific geographic area in a way that characterizes and constitutes it. • Its texts focus heavily on the specific and unique characteristics of a certain region, including dialect, customs, tradition, topography, history and characters. • It centers on the formal and informal, analyzing the attitudes of the characters toward each other and their community as a whole.

8. What is Regionalism? Regionalism as a literary movement (1865-1914): • It is generally considered part of a much larger philosophical and literary movement known as realism, which developed in the aftermath of the Civil War (1861-1865). • It dominated the literary scene for much of the twentieth century (although regionalism as a historical movement is generally considered to have ended with the century). • It appeared and flourished most vigorously In the South.

9. Regionalism & Realism Because regionalism and realism were concurrent and share many characteristics, regionalism is considered an extension of realism as it tends to lead literature in the same broad trend initiated by realism, but it is known as a genre that predated realism, as earlier regional works were primarily a variety of folk literature that survived through oral tradition before becoming written. "Rip Vankle Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" are clear examples.

10. The main distinction between realism and regionalism lies in the connection of the literary elements of the work with the significance of the setting's elements (place, time and local characteristics). • Madame Delphine by George Washington Cable, for instance, is meaningless outside of its Creole setting, as the plot is essentially mundane and its interest lies in the exploration of the Creole mentality. Likewise, Mary Wilkins Freeman's Pembroke and Jerome: both novels tell virtually the same story, but the interest of the stories lies in the characterization of the rural and unyielding New Englanders caught in the last throes of Puritanism.

11. The notable realist feature of regionalism is its use of dialect in both dialogue and narrative voice; one of the factors that has helped fuel the popularity of these works with the general public is the sense of simplicity of speech created by the use of localized language patterns.

12. Regionalism & Local Color • It is quite common for writers to refer to regionalism as local color and to use the terms interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same thing. • Local color shares all the same characteristics of regionalism, but the distinction lies in the degree and intent. While the intent of regionalism is fidelity to the particularities of a specific region, local color writing consciously exploits the speech, dress, manners, habits of thought, and topography of the region it depicts. • Regionalism draws attention to the setting and gives it an importance in the story unlike non-regionalist works. • One way to test the degree of regionalism in a work is to determine whether the action and characters could be moved to another location without significant loss or distortion.

13. Regionalism & Local Color • Local color goes beyond geographic representation by making the setting and characters (as personifications of the region) the focus of the work. That is, local color works generally miss the critical seriousness of realism to the extent that they simply entertain and inform about the surface particularities of their region. They focus on the verisimilitude of detail at the expense of sufficient concern for the truth of larger aspects of human life or nature. • When novels appear descriptive passages which do not advance the narrative or illuminate the characters. That is local color. Regionalism Is profoundly concerned with both the past and the present. This concern Is notably more realistic and rational, less emotional and romantic than was local color.

14. Regionalist Writers

15. Willa Cather (1873–1947) One of the best Regionalist writer. Her most famous novels—O Pioneers!(1913),The Song of the Lark(1915), and My Ántonia(1918)— As a writer of numerous short stories and a dozen novels, Cather lived until the mid-twentieth century, when she herself was an ICON of the past that she increasingly appreciated.

16. Mary Wilkins Freeman (1852–1930) An American short story writer. one of her famous regional short stories: A New England Nun (1891). She produced charming children’s stories such as The Christmas Masquerade , Playful Poems in Once Upon a Time and other children’s songs, ghost stories including the hunting Luella Muller.

17. Kate Chopin (1851–1904) One of the first feminist authors in the twentieth century. She is best known for her novel The Awakening (1899). one of the most widely read and recognized writers of Louisiana Creole heritage.

18. Mark Twain (1851–1904) A talented writer, speaker, journalist and humorist. Twain is widely considered one of the greatest American writers of all time. William Faulkner called him “the father of American literature”. He is best remembered as the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885).

19. Bret Harte (1836–1902) American author and poet, teacher, journalist. He popularized the western character and best remembered for short fiction miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. His Gold Rush tales are the most frequently reprinted, adapted and admired.

20. Bret Harte M. W.Freeman Mark Twain Willa Cather Kate Chopin Bret Harte

21. Women’s Regionalism The latter part of the nineteenth century has been typically associated with literary realism and referred to specifically as a male-centered period. However, many women writers participated in the tradition of literary realism and its offshoots, regionalism and local color fiction. For these writers, the focus on aspects of everyday life offered abundant and familiar material. Reacting against earlier domestic fictions that ended in marriage, early twentieth-century women writers explored the conflicts inherent in married life and, in the process, profoundly shaped a distinct literary form about particular regions. For many regionalist women writers, marriage was not the only outcome sought by female characters. Rather, it was a writing that more accurately portrayed the thoughts and actions of and between women. For example, Louisa Ellis, in Mary Wilkins Freeman's "A New England Nun" (1891), realizes that marriage is not the most important event in her life, and she chooses to remain single. Miss Beulah's Bonnet" (1880) by Rose Terry Cooke focuses on the world of girls and women.

22. Resources • Bloomquist, K. M. (2012). American Women Writers, Visual Vocabularies, and the Lives of Literary Regionalism. Washington University in St. Louis. • Gross, R. A., & Cohen, M. (2019). Building a National Literature: The United States 1800–1890. A Companion to the History of the Book, 499-514. • Lambert, C. (1989). American Regionalism and He Problem of Minor Literature: A Study of Three Post-Civil War Novels. • Lathbury, R., Phillips, J., Anesko, M., & Meyers, K. (2010). Realism and Regionalism (1860-1910). Infobase Publishing.

23. Resources • McDowell, T. (1939). Regionalism in American Literature. Minnesota History, 20(2), 105-118. • Scharnhorst, G., & Quirk, T. (2010). Research Guide to American Literature: realism and regionalism, 1865-1914. Facts On File. • Skredsvig, K. M. (2002). " Places of the Heart": female regionalist writers in nineteenth-century US literature. Revista de filología y lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 81-91. • VanSpanckeren, K., & Clack, G. (2015). Outline of American literature.

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