The Literature of the United States of America

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Terms of a Tradition

   • Marshall Walker

   Pages 1-14

3. The colonies

   • Marshall Walker

   Pages 15-31

4. The revolution

   • Marshall Walker

   Pages 32-42

5. The waiting poem

   • Marshall Walker

   Pages 43-54

6. Renaissance

   • Marshall Walker

   Pages 55-79

7. Realisms

   • Marshall Walker

   Pages 80-115

8. Modernisms

   • Marshall Walker

   Pages 116-167

9. War and post-war

   • Marshall Walker

   Pages 168-221

10. Diversity

    • Marshall Walker

    Pages 222-279

11. Back Matter

    Pages 281-314

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American literature over the last four hundred years has developed distinctive qualities and traditions, partly engendered by the land itself. The rich variety of literature flourished as the land was colonised and cultivated. In this new edition Marshall Walker has updated his wide-ranging study of American literature by giving greater attention to poets from Hart Crane and e.e.Cummings to John Ashbery and A.R.Ammons and to novelists from William Burroughs and Kurt Vonnegut to John Irving. More space is given to drama, from the later works of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller to the plays of Sam Shepard and David Mamet. The special concerns of Black, Jewish and Women writers are explored as this book demonstrates that American literary history can no longer be considered largely in terms of regional dominances.

• America
• Amerikanische Literatur
• Renaissance
• USA

MARSHALL WALKER has taught American literature for many years, formerly at Glasgow University and now at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, where he is Professor of English. His published works include Robert Penn Warren: A Vision Earned (1979).

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