An unprecedented compendium of milestones in the history of American literature, this anthology presents all of the ‘first’ literary works that broke barriers, inaugurated new traditions, and prove that the imagination of diverse authors was one of the most powerful forces in shaping our nation. Fictions of America brings together the first published work by literary pioneers who, through bold self-expression, helped create what we call America today. Surprising, thrilling, and charged with the energy of originality and innovation, this eminently teachable collection serves as a foundation and an inspiration for imagining our shared future. Draws on the most up-to-date scholarship for concise introductions to each work and author, key suggestions for further readings, and reliable source information.
Table of Content
Contents
Introduction by Ulrich Baer and Smaran Dayal
Iroquois Creation Myth
The ‘Earth-Diver’ Story
Anne Bradstreet
From The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America [1650]
Robert Hunter
From Androboros, A Biographical Farce in Three Acts, viz. The Senate, The Consistory, and The Apotheosis [1714]
Lucy Terry Prince
‘Bars Fight’ [c. 1746]
Jupiter Hammon
‘An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, with Penetential Cries’ [1760]
‘An Essay on Slavery, with submission to Divine providence, knowing that God Rules over all things’ [1786]
Mercy Otis Warren
From The Adulateur, A Tragedy, Acted in Upper Servia [1772]
Phillis Wheatley
From Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral [1773]
Samson Occom
From A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs; Intended for the Edification of Sincere Christians, of All Denomiations [1774]
William Hill Brown
From The Power of Sympathy; or, The Triumph of Nature [1789]
Susanna Rowson
From Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth [1794]
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft / Bamewawagezhikaquay
[Language Divine, 1816]
From The Literary Voyager, or Muzzeniegun [1826]
‘S’
‘Theresa: A Haytien Tale’ [1828]
George Moses Horton
From The Hope of Liberty [1829] and Poetical Works [1845]
William Wells Brown
From Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter [1853]
Frederick Douglass
From The Heroic Slave [1853]
John Rollin Ridge / Cheesquatalawny / Yellow Bird
From The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta The Celebrated California Bandit [1854]
‘An Indian’s Grave’ [1847]
‘Reflections Irregular’ [1848]
From Poems [1868]
William Wells Brown
From The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom [1858]
Rose Terry Cooke
‘My Visitation’ [1858]
Harriet E. Wilson
From Our Nig; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, In A Two-Story White House, North [1859]
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
‘The Two Offers’ [1859]
‘Learning to Read’ [1859]
Martin Delany
From Blake; or, The Huts of America: A Tale of the Mississippi Valley, The Southern United States, and Cuba [1859]
Walt Whitman
From Leaves of Grass, ‘Calamus’ [1860]
Theodore Winthrop
From Cecil Dreeme [1861]
María Amparo Ruiz de Burton
From Who Would Have Thought It? [1872]
From The Squatter and the Don A Novel Descriptive of Contemporary Occurrences in California [1885]
Susette La Flesche / Inshata Theumba
‘Nedawi (An Indian Story from Real Life)’ [1881]
Sophia Alice Callahan
From Wynema: A Child of the Forest [1891]
Carl Sadakichi Hartmann
From Christ, a dramatic poem in three acts [1893]
Sui Sin Far / Edith Maude Eaton
‘The Gamblers’ [1896]
‘In the Land of the Free’ [1909]
‘Mrs. Spring Fragrance’ [1910]
Yone Noguchi
From Seen and Unseen [1897]
From Japanese Hokkus [1920]
Winnifred Eaton / Onoto Watanna
From Miss Numè of Japan: A Japanese-American Romance [1899]
Yone Noguchi
From The American Diary of a Japanese Girl [1902]
Ameen Rihani
From The Book of Khalid [1911]
Selected Additional Readings
Bibliography of First Publications
About the Editors
About the author
Smaran Dayal is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature at New York University, currently completing a dissertation on Afrofuturist fiction. He holds a B.A. in English and American Studies from the University of Freiburg and an M.A. in American Studies from the Humboldt University, Berlin. He is the co-translator of The Queer Intersectional in Contemporary Germany.
More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
67,437 Ebooks in this category
