NationStates Jolt Archive

Is there internationally recognized American literature?

I'm thinking of Hemingway and Steinbeck.

Is there internationally recognized American literature?

I'm thinking of Hemingway and Steinbeck.
You already named two.

Or are you asking non-Americans if they recognize American literature?

Toni Morrison (Nobel Price for Literature winner), John Irving, Mark Twain, Truman Capote, William Faulkner, Paul Auster...

There's plenty more, these are only a few that immediately sprang to mind.

Toni Morrison (Nobel Price for Literature winner), John Irving, Mark Twain, Truman Capote, William Faulkner, Paul Auster...

There's plenty more, these are only a few that immediately sprang to mind.
I dig that guy.

You already named two.
The two I know.

Or are you asking non-Americans if they recognize American literature?
That would certainly be a bonus for an American writer if he was recognized by non-Americans, too.

Harper Lee. One hit wonder, but still widely known.

Quite a number of authors actually. Mark Twain is usually seen as the first author who created a body of American lit that was seperate from it's British cousin.

Harper Lee. One hit wonder, but still widely known.

Was the the author of "How to kill a mocking bird"?
He is known to people who're specifically interested in American literature, but otherwise more or less completely unknow. To give an example : My English teacher had never heard of that name or that book....

There are others that are better known, though.

J.D Salinger, of Catcher in the Rye fame.

Had a couple of others as well.

Poe comes to mind.

Has anyone mention Twain?

F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I don't really know who gets play outside the borders, there are only a few that care about the Beats here, so I don't know how recognized William S. Burroughs or Jack Kerouac is.

Was the the author of "How to kill a mocking bird"?
He is known to people who're specifically interested in American literature, but otherwise more or less completely unknow. To give an example : My English teacher had never heard of that name or that book....

There are others that are better known, though.

She was indeed. Specifically interested? I dunno - we just studied it for GCSE English, and a lot of people I know have heard of the book at least, and of course, I expect the film gave it a lot more publicity.

How about Eugene O'neill, the playwright?

Was the the author of "How to kill a mocking bird"?
He is known to people who're specifically interested in American literature, but otherwise more or less completely unknow. To give an example : My English teacher had never heard of that name or that book....

There are others that are better known, though.
He's a she.

How about Eugene O'neill, the playwright?For American playwright's they're probably more likely to have heard of Tennessee Williams.

He's a she.

Just goes to show my point. I read the book but still didn't know that :D

I'm originally from Germany, the influence of American literature there might be different than it would be on Britain and Ireland, though.

William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Charles Bukowski.

Henry James was well known in his day. (late 1800s/early 1900s)
As was Jack London.
Certainly Longfellow.

Of course Poe, Twain and Hemmingway. Philip Roth. Sylvia Plath. Isaac Asimov.

I think Mario Puzo, Tom Clancy & Michael Crichton are well known, if only for their movie adaptations.

I reckonise about half the names here, but I did a google search on the authors names and I reckonise most of the books that they wrote. Such as 'To a Kill a Mockingbird'. I'm actually quite shocked that the English teacher hadn't heard of that one. I've never read the book myself, but I know of it and have listened to a substantial chunk of it on the radio. Was it about a black man who was framed for murdering a drunk's daughter?

Is there internationally recognized American literature?


Sure: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Margaret Atwood, Jorge Luis Borges, to name but three.

Sure: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Margaret Atwood, Jorge Luis Borges, to name but three.

Leonard Cohen?

Leonard Cohen?

True dat, but his novels are hardly his best work.

Is there internationally recognized American literature?
:eek: The mind boggles. What do you guys read in Finland? Only Finnish and Scandinavian authors?
I'd venture a guess that in the average German bookstore most of the books are by American (=US) authors. Of course, that includes Stephen King and John Grisham, so maybe that's not what you would consider "literature", though it certainly is "internationally recognized".

Here are some that come to mind (and those are only the "classics" or really famous ones, so there are really a lot more):

William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Philip Roth, Paul Auster, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Toni Morrisson, Michael Ondaatje (Canadian), Henry James, Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville, Harper Lee, Saul Bellow, Raymond Carver, Dom DeLillo, John Dos Passos, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Norman Mailer, Henry Miller, J. D. Salinger, John Updike, Thomas Wolfe, Tennessee Williams, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Joseph Heller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimoore Cooper, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, Graham Greene, Thomas Pynchon, Dashiell Hammett, T. C. Boyle, and all those I forgot...

F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I don't really know who gets play outside the borders, there are only a few that care about the Beats here, so I don't know how recognized William S. Burroughs or Jack Kerouac is.

Very. If I hear one more of my favorite authors quote Kerouac as their inspiration and guiding light or whatever, I am definitely going to scream.

Sure: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Margaret Atwood, Jorge Luis Borges, to name but three.

Jorge Luis Borges is Argentinian. Good try, though.

I reckonise about half the names here, but I did a google search on the authors names and I reckonise most of the books that they wrote. Such as 'To a Kill a Mockingbird'. I'm actually quite shocked that the English teacher hadn't heard of that one. I've never read the book myself, but I know of it and have listened to a substantial chunk of it on the radio. Was it about a black man who was framed for murdering a drunk's daughter?

It's about the nuances of racism, really. They say a plotline is never really what a book is about.

Jorge Luis Borges is Argentinian. Good try, though.

And Argentina is in Africa, yes?

If you are easily shocked or offended, don't read any of these "modern classic" American authors.

taught in schools:
- Kurt Vonnegut

not taught in schools (yet):
- Jonathan Ames
- David Sedaris

And Argentina is in Africa, yes?

Argentina is in South America, not a part of the United States.

Argentina is in South America, not a part of the United States.

And the relevancy of this is what, exactly?

And Argentina is in Africa, yes?


It was made extremely obvious by the examples given in the first post that "American" meant what it usually does in English - "from the United States."

If the original poster had made special mention of a south american or canadian author, it would have made sense for you to think the more rare, "from the american continents" sense was intended.

And the relevancy of this is what, exactly?

What? You quoted Jorge Luis Borges as an American author, which he would not be recognized as. Not to say that he isn't most excellent.

And the relevancy of this is what, exactly?
Get off your "American doesn't mean the US" high horse", please. The original poster meant US literature and you know it.

I just listed my favorites, and now I will list a bunch of others. They are all very famous and taught in public schools. Enjoy.

Louisa May Alcott
Anne Bradstreet
James Fenimore Cooper
Emily Dickinson
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Jack London
Herman Melville
Arthur Miller
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Edith Wharton
Walt Whitman

Get off your "American doesn't mean the US" high horse", please. The original poster meant US literature and you know it.

Hey, go leap on Whereyouthinkyougoing for mentioning a Canadian.

Get off your "American doesn't mean the US" high horse", please. The original poster meant US literature and you know it.

Thank you. I thought I was going crazy!

Hey, go leap on Whereyouthinkyougoing for mentioning a Canadian.

Who is Canadian?

Who is Canadian?

In this thread: Atwood, Cohen and Ondaatje.

In this thread: Atwood, Cohen and Ondaatje.

I see. Well, I didn't name those guys, but I didn't call them out either.

*50 lashes for me*

I see. Well, I didn't name those guys, but I didn't call them out either.

*50 lashes for me*

Nor did you call out Garcia Marquez. Tut. Tut.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. -- Slaughter-House Five, Cat's Cradle
Robert Heinlein -- Stranger in a Strange Land, Glory Road
Isaac Asimov (Born in Russia, but immigrated to Brooklyn at age 3 and never learned to even speak Russian) -- Foundation series, I, Robot
Tom Robbins -- Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Still Life With Woodpecker
William Goldman -- The Princess Bride, Marathon Man and Academy Award-winning screenplays for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men as well as internationally known films like A Bridge Too Far and Chaplin

That's all I have in my head right now.

Nor did you call out Garcia Marquez. Tut. Tut.

Probably because I don't know who that is. Oh look, another South American. How about that.

Hey, go leap on Whereyouthinkyougoing for mentioning a Canadian.
Hey, hey, no leaping on me, please. Also, I didn't exactly sneak him in now, didn't I? :p

Probably because I don't know who that is.

Hie thee to a library and get yourself a copy of A Hundred Years Of Solitude.

And the relevancy of this is what, exactly?

Well he did as for an American author so which state was he born in?

Hie thee to a library and get yourself a copy of A Hundred Years Of Solitude.
Just finished that book today. Damn good read.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Faulkner yet.

What do people in non-english speaking countries read anyways? The only languages I know of that have loads of famous world-recognised authors are English and Russian.

Is there internationally recognized American literature?

Yes, printed and back-lit behind every McDonald's counter on the planet.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Faulkner yet.

What do people in non-english speaking countries read anyways? The only languages I know of that have loads of famous world-recognised authors are English and Russian.

Every nation has at least some literary community/canon:

The Italians have Dante, Umberto Eco, and Carlo Emilio Gadda.
The French have Voltaire, Verne, Balzac, Dumas and Diderot.
The Czechs have Kafka, Hasek, Kundera and Capek.
The Germans have Gunter Grass, Frisch, Goethe and Mann.

...etc. And of course this is by no means complete; just some of the names I can think of... :)

Hie thee to a library and get yourself a copy of A Hundred Years Of Solitude.

Damn you!

You would make me have to get something from the Oprah Book club!

Ahh well I will have to look for one without her name all over the cover!

Every nation has at least some literary community/canon:

The Italians have Dante, Umberto Eco, and Carlo Emilio Gadda.
The French have Voltaire, Verne, Balzac, Dumas and Diderot.
The Czechs have Kafka, Hasek, Kundera and Capek.
The Germans have Gunter Grass, Frisch, Goethe and Mann.

...etc. And of course this is by no means complete; just some of the names I can think of... :)

Well quite.

In relation to American literature, the only authors I have found to be worthy of analysis are Fitzgerald and Miller, due to the mnner in which they write.

Well quite.

In relation to American literature, the only authors I have found to be worthy of analysis are Fitzgerald and Miller, due to the mnner in which they write.

Thanks.

Ah, but there is so much more good stuff! Have you read/considered:

Hemmingway - The Sun Also Rises
Poe - The Raven
Twain - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Bierce - The Devil's Dictionary
Elison - Invisible Man
Hawthorne - The Scartlet Letter

Thanks.

Ah, but there is so much more good stuff! Have you read/considered:

Hemmingway - The Sun Also Rises
Poe - The Raven
Twain - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Bierce - The Devil's Dictionary
Elison - Invisible Man
Hawthorne - The Scartlet Letter

I have little chance to read American literature presently, due to my acadmic constraints with sixth form, however I will make an effort to broaden my euro-centric horizons;)