Final Essay_Literature I.docx

The influence of history and society imaginaries in literature.

Professor: Jhon Jairo Tafur Rincn

Students:Diana Carolina Torres vilaReyvan Steve Reyes BeltrnJeison Medina HigueraJohan Andrs Salazar Chacn

Universidad Nacional de ColombiaHuman Sciences SchoolPhilology and Languages EnglishEnglish Literature IJune 26th, 2014

Social Imaginaries shift along the transition of history and the labour of the author is to depict that reality in what they write. Defining imaginary as: the thinking shared within a society by ordinary people, the common understanding that makes common practices possible and legitimizes them. (Taylor, 2002) Thinking that includes: the set of values, institutions, laws, and symbols. We aim to address this reality from two perspectives the historical and the social, but keeping in mind that this realities are inseparable. The process of writing is in itself history; it forms part of it as any other action could, and in most of the cases is the representation of the ideas of a society or at least a part of it the individual (the writer) who cannot avoid leaving behind even the smallest fragment of their personality or beliefs system. That is why throughout this essay, literature will be analyzed as a recording of history, as a legacy for humanity and how the social imaginaries are exposed through literature.

Depiction of times in a society: the recording of history. One task of the authors is to contextualise to the public, the reality of that time in order to show that their respective periods are only a part of a chain of events. it is an attitude found from the native American myths in which through oral tradition they expressed their perspective about the creation and the roles in their communities which were appropriate for them, for that time in history and that are no longer preserved in our beliefs; it owed to the transition of time that changed our ideas (imaginary) about the universe and its creation .

Further on time the set of values, experiences, beliefs, social representations and imaginaries have been represented by some other authors: some of them more explicitly than others (as we have experienced in class), but each one leaving a part of this in their pieces. As in the case of Franklins Poor Richard's Almanac in which social roles, social functions and the appropriate manner to behave were painted through the words of the author according to the time and geography of the author: the Revolutionary period, and in the case of Irvings Rip Van Winkle, which reflects two different periods of American history and two different ideals: on one hand, we have the British yoke in the colonial times and on the other hand, the sense of revolution and freedom as an independent republic. In addition, the more time passes, the more changes occur in history, every racial and social group wants to show their perspectives through literature. An example of this continuous change is the Harlem renaissance, where the black community begins to express another side of the American history, which is the suffering of that community and their recognition of the existence of the black community in literature.

Historical legacy through literature Literature is a tool for recording different events through time. In the case of American literature, a set of events and at the same time perspectives can be found on many of the texts read in class. In chronological order, we can begin with the Native American literature, which despite not having an explicit context in terms of a precise historical period, it shows how their myths have been orally transmitted for centuries from generation to generation; that is why it can be included in history.

Taking into account as Franklins Poor Richards Almanack and Irvings Rip Van Winkle, Franklin tried to promote independence through access of those sayings to all the public during a period where colonist felt oppressed by the crown with taxes especially, and wars with other European countries such as France and Spain because of protecting territories and invading others, finding those excessive taxes senseless. In the case of Rip van Winkle, it is not a tool for promoting independence but showing how the United States were before and after the revolution, explaining the stage of a period of people subordinated to the British crown to a different period, where the concepts of republic, president, and United States of America were present whereas the concepts of colony, crown, and being part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain were now obsolete.

Another important characteristic of the American literature was the rediscovery of their identity and it also makes a contrast between the rural South and the industrial North. However, the readings An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambroise Bierce, and The Celebrated Jumping Frog of The Calaveras County by Mark Twain were more focused on the South taking into account the locals expressions and the mentality of the Confederated during the Civil War, a failed war and the end of slavery.

The Harlem renaissance is another period which has the same purpose, to generate a transformation amongst society but this time, was within American society that is, the black freedom and equality against the white oppression unlike in Franklins text which was against the British empire. The texts such as The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes; Hard Time Blues by William Cuney and November Cotton Flower by Jean Toomer; show the long and hard process of achieving equality and at the same time, those writers through their readings express that the time oppression against the blacks still continues and the achievement of equality with whites is also far away despite having finished slavery after the Civil War.

Social imaginaries through literature Literature not only reflects on the current society of each author, it also confirms and strengthens cultural norms, acceptable behavior and beliefs as a tool that ties a society together. Bronislaw Malinowsk (in Albrecht, 1954) says that myths of origin are not "explanations" but ways of instruction and justification of the social system. Such myths like the ones of Native American cultures convey, expresses, and strengthen the fundamental fact of the local unity of the group of people descendent from a common ancestress. It thus contributes to social solidarity and supports the existing social order. That feature also appears in religious literature. Despite most creation myths around the world have common features like the flooding as part of Earths creation, each culture is completely different from the others because every story also includes laws that apply for each society. To light 7 candles for Hanuka in Jewish community; To rest the seventh day for the Genesis in Judeo-Christian religion or to praise nature in Native American tribes. At the end, the imaginary of each culture will be reflected in a piece of literature to create unity in a society (Holy Bible for Christians, Bhagavad-git for Hinduism or the Koran for Muslims)

In the case of Benjamin Franklins Poor Richards Almanak, it portrays the unified society of the 13 colonies in North America different from the culture of England. This book functions as a handbook of behavior for the colonists and only for them. With this book, all the immigrants, colonists and indians, are tied together in one imaginary, therefore one culture. At this time, the 13 colonies were not formally a nation apart from the English regime and Franklins book worked as a guide to established social patterns that made the difference between the British and American cultures. In that fashion, literature is a record of the society throughout history and it follows the changes in the imaginaries of all the cultures in the world.

In some texts, the authors also depict the change in societys imaginary. That is the case of Irving Washington where he shows the change of the mentality in the American people. In Rip Van Winkle, Washington creates a line that divides the American people before the American Independence from the one formally separated from the British Empire with a different set of cultural norms. So that, it is the same society that influences literature and the authors portray that culture on their books as a register to the reader of further generations. In that fashion, society is represented through literature and literature works as a register of human history.

Moreover, that social imaginary is also implicit in literature in an objective or subjective writing style. First, in the subjective way the authors feelings interfere in their way to depict that imaginary. That is the case of Edgar Allan Poe with The Fall of The House of Usher in which the social imaginary was transformed by this author according to how he interprets the reality that the society was living at that time. He wanted to create his own imaginary through his works by making a contrast of the Enlightenment society and its conception of light as a remarkable part of the writings. In this case, the imaginaries of the society have a huge impact in the writing style of Poe, who wanted to express their feelings about a reality he was living by showing their more insight feelings. So that, this subjective way to depict the social imaginary in the Dark Romanticism reflects the necessity of the author of sharing his own set of believes more than depicting a collective one. For instance, in his last words Lord help my poor soul, (shortlist, 2014) Poe depicts the clear influence of society in his literary work, that could summarize the Dark Romantic imaginaries about how the person was perceived, because these words reflect the necessity a superior being that dignifies the social environment that the common people had to face in that period of time.

Another subjective way to interpret those imaginaries through literature are found in the Transcendentalism period in which the writers wanted to respond to the necessities that the society was living at that time. Beyond the establishment of a literary movement they wanted to create a conscious about the social reality that they were facing and how with another way of thinking, things would be better and could be equality of gender, women rights and the abolition of slavery as for Transcendentalists the whole world belongs to the same unity. So that, writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson or Henry David Thoreau who more than to react against the reality by depicting the social imaginaries, wanted to create one imaginary that appeared because of another social imaginary. Now, regarding the objective way in which authors adopted to depict the imaginaries according to the society, the feelings ceased to be an important aspect in their literature because they wanted to be like reporters of the reality, that is why the realistic literature reflects a huge influence of the society at that time and the reality that people was living at. This literary period became like a picture of reality mainly of the Civil War, with a detailed description of it. This is the case of two writers from this period: Ambrose Bierce and Mark Twain. On one hand, in An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, the social imaginaries had huge influence in literature to Bierce because the independence needs of Fahrquhar, the main character of this story, are not only his desires but are the desires of all people that belonged to the Confederated States. Becoming this story in a way to point out the real problems that the American society was facing at that time, the wishes of Fahrquhar -symbolizing the Confederates- do not remain in a fantasy world but become something that inspires material acts reflected in the real world. On the other hand, Mark Twain with The Celebrated Jumping Frog of the Calaveras County exposes the imaginaries of the society just like he were reporting the daily life of common people, trying to portray in his writings how the society was perceived at that time. This could be illustrated if the reader analyze in depth the characters as the first aspect that makes this story a reliable report of quotidianity because Mark Twain wrote as if he had recorded their voices. It is masterful how the accents, of both educated and uneducated people were reproduced as if they were listened to in real life. This short story was significant in American writing because it was one of the first pieces of literature written in dialect. (Introduction to Journalism, 2008) This indeed, is a depiction of the social imaginaries that had a huge influence in this literary movement. Furthermore, a combination of this two perspectives -the objective and subjective way of depicting the social imaginaries- is the Harlem Renaissance period, in which the objectiveness of reflecting a reality that blacks were living is combined with the subjective way of including the feelings of the author about a situation that had to change. In this period of time, literature was strongly influenced by the social imaginaries, because behind a huge content of symbolism is reflected a time in which blacks had to face a situation of segregation but also a time that became the opportunity to drop out the chains and start being proud of being black. According to Alain Locke the new negro appears and wanted to arise in the society with their identity. (Yale, 2014) So, the racial awareness and the identity of the traditions of black communities were facts that influenced writings as The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes; Hard-time Blues by William Waring Cuney and November Cotton Flower by Jean Toomer, this last poem appeared to express the feelings of this oppressed but strong black race, and the circumstances they had to face at that time. Hence, even if the writers wanted to depict the imaginary of the society where they live, they always wanted to be part of that imaginary. So that, it is possible to describe literature as something that develops into the society and through the history of the people resulting a mixture of imaginaries in a society that the author belongs to, that society is always going to be represented through literature and literature works as a register of human history. But even literature has been influenced by society and history or those factors might change because of literature itself, the most important factor that ties literature with history and society is the reader as long as they can identify themselves with the text and all the imaginaries that lie behind them. That is why the readers perspective is the most important element that influences history and society in literature: it creates the possibility to interpret, analyze and to establish the connection between words in a paper and the words of a society and its imaginaries through the history.

References - Albrecht, M. (1954) The Relationship of Literature and Society. Published by the University of Chicago Press. - Bierce, A. (2012). An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1st ed.). [S.I.]: Duke Classics. - eNotes, (2014). The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Summary - eNotes.com.Retrieved 25 May 2014, from http://www.enotes.com/celebrated-jumping-text - Poetryfoundation.org,. (2014). Jean Toomer : The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 22 June 2014, from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/jean-toomer - ShortList, (2014). Edgar Allan Poe. Retrieved 18th April 2014, from http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/the-life-and-very-mysterious-death-of-edgar-allan-poe - Taylor, Charles. 2002. Modern Social Imaginaries. Public Culture. - Toomer, J. (1923). November Cotton Flower (1st ed.). - Yale.edu, (2014). Alain Locke, Forward to The New Negro, An Interpretation. Retrieved 25 June 2014, from http://www.yale.edu/glc/archive/1113.htm