Awards given by the academy

Wallace Stevens Award - a lifetime achievement award of $100,000 to recognize outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry

Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets - a $25,000 award given in memory of James Ingram Merrill, for distinguished poetic achievement at mid-career

Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize - $25,000 for the best book of poetry published in the previous year

James Laughlin Award - $5,000 to recognize and support a poet's second book

Walt Whitman Award - first-book publication, $5,000, and a one-month artist's residency

Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards - $5,000 book prize and $20,000 fellowship (in alternating years) to recognize outstanding translations into English of modern Italian poetry

Harold Morton Landon Translation Award - $1,000 for a published translation of poetry from any language into English

College & University Prizes - $100 individual prizes at more than 200 colleges and universities nationwide

Chicano poetry

Chicano poetry is a branch of American literature written by and primarily about Mexican-Americans and the Mexican-American experience. The term «Chicano» is a politico-cultural term of identity specifically identifying people of Mexican descent who were born in the United States. In the same way that American poetry is comprised of the writing of the offspring of English and other European colonists to North America, so is Chicano poetry and literature comprised of the writing of the off-spring of Latinos who either emigrated to the US or were involuntarily included in the United States due to the Mexican-American War of 1848.

Pioneers and forerunners

Well known Chicano poets who were instrumental in creating a niche both in American and Latin American literature and developed an impetus were early writers such as Abelardo «Lalo» Delgado, Trinidad «Trino» Sanchez, Rodolfo «Corky» Gonzales. Delgado wrote «Stupid America», Sanchez wrote «Why Am I So Brown?» and Gonzales authored the epic «Yo Soy Joaquin.» Another early pioneer writer is the Poet/Painter and gypsy vagabond of the national community, Nephtalí De León, author of «Hey, Mr. President, Man!», «Coca Cola Dream,» and «Chicano Popcorn.»

Unifying concepts

1.3 Theater with literature in the United States

Theater of the United States is based in the Western tradition, mostly borrowed from the performance styles prevalent in Europe. Today, it is heavily interlaced with American literature, film, television, and music, and it is not uncommon for a single story to appear in all forms. Regions with significant music scenes often have strong theater and comedy traditions as well. Musical theater may be the most popular form: it is certainly the most colorful, and choreographed motions pioneered on stage have found their way onto movie and television screens. Broadway in New York City is generally considered the pinnacle of commercial U.S. theater, though this art form appears all across the country. Another city of particular note is Chicago, which boasts the most diverse and dynamic theater scene in the country. Regional or resident theatres in the United States are professional theatre companies outside of New York City that produce their own seasons. There is also community theatre and showcase theatre. Even tiny rural communities sometimes awe audiences with extravagant productions.

History

Throughout the 18th century there was widespread opposition to theatrical performances. In the puritanical climate of the time, especially in the North, the theater was considered a «highway to hell». Laws forbidding the performance of plays were passed in Massachusetts in 1750, in Pennsylvania in 1759, and in Rhode Island in 1761, and it was banned in most states during the American Revolutionary War at the urging of the Continental Congress. In 1794 President Timothy Dwight IV of Yale College in his «Essay on the Stage» declared that «to indulge a taste for playgoing means nothing more or less than the loss of that most valuable treasure: the immortal soul.». However it is likely that these ordinances were not strictly enforced, for we have records of performances in many cities during this time.

The 19th century

2. The role of literature in American life

2.1 The literary role in the national identity

Literature can play an important role in the formation of various forms of social identity, including national, ethnic, and religious identities. This often happens through a fixation, formal or informal, of literary tradition - in other words the establishment of a rule of literary works. In an attempt to illuminate this aspect of identity formation from an interdisciplinary perspective, we viewed above the story of working on literatures of different periods and geographical areas. In this part our aim is to bring influence work from diverse subjects together in order to throw new light not only on the materials studied, but also on the types of questions asked and the perspectives applied.

The comparison lies especially in its potential for revealing how our objects of study are created and conditioned through our own analyses. Not only is there much to learn about the different ways in which literature is used for purposes of identity formation, but also about the concepts of `literature' and ideas of `identity' that we bring to historical materials and the ways in which we go about our analyses.

The contribution of Two Authors

Walt Whitman and Washington Irving contributed to the formation of American literature through the very use of language. This language, then, served as a positive influence in placing America on its own literary map. Irving, for example, was one of the most popular and leading names who believed that we should model a new American identity in fiction. Later, of course, others followed his notion, i.e., the form of satire. Whitman is commonly accepted to be the first indisputable American poet. His use of free verse, different from European traditions, was used to symbolize America in its expansion, in its freedom, and its refusal to be confined to rank, custom, power structures, etc.

Both Irving and Whitman, in their own rights, contributed towards the making of literature which was essentially part of a historical movement overall in America in regard to literature nationalism.

In literary circles, Irving will always be remembered for having created the character of Rip Van Winkle. His «Rip Van Winkle, A Posthumous Writing of Diedrich Knickerbocker» carved the path for the influence of the short story in becoming an American literary art form. It was the humor in the form of satire with which Irving reached his audience. As such, he became the first American writer to acquire international literary fame. «Rip Van Winkle» is set in New York and encompasses the Dutch colonizing New York. As the reader digests the language, attempts to visualize the milieu of the tale are combined with the effects of early society in New York.

Irving's writing form of satire may have offset other forms of writing during his time towards literary nationalism. «Rip Van Winkle» is also representative of the beginnings of folklore, which is something Irving is credited with in bringing to America. Allegedly, too, at that period of time, America was the leading participant with the short story form. Irving managed to take a simple story blending the nature of romance and fantasy and his writing technique only to arrive with such a well-written piece of literature. We say well-written denoting the popularity and praise of the story. The story is not, however, pronounced with the passion for this or that matter requiring the depth of analysis as can be with Whitman's works. Irving comes across as being very harmonious and somewhat balanced in his form of prose and Whitman is quite serious and emotional.

Forty-six yeares later after Irving's publication of «Rip Van Winkle,» Whitman delivers his «When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd.» This poem depicts a specific event as well as the aftermath of the Civil War. The speaker in this poem is very much agonizing over Lincoln's death as well as over the country's involvement with the Civil War. While Irving's piece is one of sweet humor and graceful style, Whitman's is of sorrow and concern. Irving is the lesser serious with his ability to create humorous visuals, whereas Whitman uses symbols-the star in «O powerful western fallen star!» representing Abraham Lincoln and «the lilac-bush tall-growing with the heart-shaped leaves of rich green» representing the token for the deceased.

We would not say with certainty that «Rip Van Winkle» served the political needs of America, but culturally, it illuminated literary circles because of its uniqueness and use of imagination. It was through Irving's experiences, then, that he was enabled to improve his craft and entertain the public, both in America and abroad which gave him international recognition. His transfer of American literature to Europe announced to the reading public that America could make its own efforts towards establishing its own form of literary nationalism independent of European traditions. This has a ring of truth to it aside from the fact it also sounds contradictory in light of the fact that the source he used as a guideline was material from an old German folklore.

Diedrich Knickerbocker, a pen name of Irving's, was a humorous creation of his and his form of satire just explored more imaginative avenues of writing. He took bits and pieces of reality and made them funny. The very idea that Rip Van Winkle slept during the whole entire Revolutionary War is creative in itself. Prior to falling asleep, he was incessantly nagged by his wife and he didn't want to work (some things never change, even throughout history).

In observing the growth of America, Irving wanted to create a new form of literature with his use of satire taken from experiences as opposed to making use of those experiences by following current trends. This helped to establish a balance with the commonalities of literatre of his time, i.e., entertain the reader with history.

Whitman, too, was observing America as a growing nation. With his «When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd,» the reader might be quick to realize that it is a poem representative to a well-known event, and that the effects of the experience are put into the reader's mindset of emotions. Whitman is writing to the people, and for the people, of his own experience of emotion in such a way that they, too, will experience. Whitman doesn't deploy fantasy like Irving did and rather than entertain his reader, he pulls on the sympathetic nature of the reader. The fact that Whitman lived during the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination was such that he was enabled to represent his historical event in a form of literature. This should convince his readers that it is a piece that serves as a contribution towards nationalism in literature.

With the prose of Irving, humorous literature was introduced into a fictionalized account of a memorable character within the confines of a short story. Historical circumstances were linked into Irving's tale and Irving's style and form were linked into a piece of national identity in America.

With the poetry of Whitman, a new form of serious literature came alive with thought provoking language-genuine emotional language. If Whitman's poem was published shortly after Lincoln's assassination, surely he would have readers with comparable emotions who would greatly feel his pain. They would also see, too, that it was not all about the death of one individual, but too many. More than one major historical event was the basis for Whitman's language and they both work together to comprise American literature as well as uphold an American nation.

Irving gave America a lovable, yet fictional, hero of the community. Whitman reminds America about one hero who helped to shape it, and other heroes who helped to make it. One is born out of fantasy and imagination and one is born out of reality and emotion. Both contributed to the makings of literary nationalism in America and continue to be influential to the present day.

2.2 Racism reflections in literary works

American African writers about racism

I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, and grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

«Eat in the kitchen»,

Then.

Besides,

Thy'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed-

I, too, am America. (Hughes, 2028)

Words Like Freedom

There are words like Freedom

Sweet and wonderful to say.

On my heart-strings freedom sings

All day everyday.

There are words like Liberty

That almost make me cry,

If you had known what I know

You would know why. (Hughes, 2033)

Ralph Ellison (1914-1994) «If the Negro, or any other writer, is going to do what's expected of him, he's lost the battle before he takes the field». His importance to American letters is partly due to this independence. He also did the unexpected, however, in not following his fine first novel with the others that were predicted. «Invisible Man» published in 1945, and won the National Book Award. The novel outlived Ellison's expectations, but not without suffering attacks from critics. The most powerful of these, Irving Howe, took the authors to task for not following R. Wright's lead and devoting his fiction to the Negro cause. Howe believed that African Americans should write social protest novels about the tragedy of black ghetto life. Invisible Man had used its protagonist's «invisibility» to entertain a much broader range of possibilities; and though by no means socially irresponsible, the novel is dedicated to the richness of life and art that becomes possible when the imagination is liberated from close realism.

We have come to understand the genre of African American literature as encompassing any piece of literature that deals specifically with issues unique to African Americans as a culture.

In the last half of the 19^th century, African-American plays began to be written. Prior to this time, African-Americans did not participate nor did they have a voice in the American theater. Because white playwrights wrote and enacted African-Americans with blackface, the true essence of the African-American struggle was not viewed by the American audience. Though African-Americans found success in Europe, they wanted to have a voice in America that portrayed what they went through and appealed to them. Several playwrights started the movement in which African-Americans wrote and acted in plays about African-Americans and their struggles with racism in America.

There are quite a few notable African-American playwrights that have created plays reflecting the African American experience, including some whose plays have been performed on Broadway. Lorraine Hansberry, playwright and author, wrote A Raisin in the Sun, the first play written by an African-American woman to debut in Broadway theaters. She also was the first African-American woman to receive the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. Langston Hughes, a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, wrote a number of plays. Two of his plays, Mullato, a play about miscegenation, and Simply Heaven, were seen from Broadway stage. NtozakeShange, African-American playwright and poet, wrote For Coloured Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf, appeared on Broadway and won the OBIE award. The play is about the struggles of seven African-American women that not only have to deal with being an African-American but have to deal with life issues such as rape and abortion.

The African-American struggle is one that could only be told by African-Americans. Important figures created works that reflected issues that were prevalent within the race and created a place for more African-American playwrights to follow. African American writers in the early twentieth century were using Realism in their art to tell their story.

Black writers can write about anything, they are certainly not limited to issues of race or slavery. An author's skin color should not have anything to do with what label goes on that author's writing.

The novel «The Bluest Eye» by Toni Morrison, a book that deals with the issue of skin color as it correlates to beauty and equality. Throughout her career Morrison has been dedicated to constructing a practical cultural identity of a race and a gender whose self-images have been obscured or denied by dominating forces. This genre does not have to refer to pieces that deal only with slavery, inequality, or segregation. In «Bluest Eye» the girl's need to be loved generates the novel's action, action that involves displaced and alienated affections (and eventually incestuous rape); the family's inability to produce a style of existence in which love can be born and thrive leads to such a devastating fate for Morrison's protagonist.

Her short story «Recitatif» directly addresses the issues of individual and family, past and present, and race and its effacements that motivate the larger sense of her work. A «recitatif» is a vocal performance in which narrative is not stated but sung. In her works Morrison's voice sings proudly of a past that in the artistic nature of its reconstruction puts all Americans in touch with a more positively usable heritage.

Another remarkable «ever vocal woman» of African American literature Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995) wrote about activists in their societies, societies that in their flux demand creative readjustment at every stage. In «Tales and Stories of Black Folks» (1971) an anthology that provides ample evidence for how African Americans not only created folk legends but adapted European and African materials to their own uniquely American ends. In this writer's fiction readers can see the same process taking place, a joyful embrace of voice as the most personal statement possible in a world dependent on self-invention for survival.

Margaret Walker's Jubilee is a semi-fictional account of «Vyry Brown,» based on the life of author M. Walker's grandmother, Margaret Duggans Ware Brown.

Vyry Brown is a mixed-race slave-the unacknowledged daughter of her master-who is born onto the Dutton plantation in Georgia. The novel follows her experiences from early childhood to adult life. The story of Vyry's life in the novel spans three major periods of American history: Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Jubilee draws on both history and folk traditions. The final section of Jubilee thus shifts its focus to the education of blacks during and after Reconstruction.

The ending of Jubilee suggests a connection between the events the novel has described during Reconstruction and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The narrative ends on a train bound for Selma. As Jim and his father board the train, the conductor announces the segregated seating order-colored up front and whites in the rear.

The authors revealed the psychological and social impact of slavery, struggle of under-appreciated individuals to find their roots. The main characters face the life hardships, reaction to the unjust treatment by the white people and seeking for self-identity, the question for selfhood for them is a motivating factor.

Writers of African American literature do not have to be black. The material needs only to have connections to black culture or history. The profession of writing entails the ability to create from many different perspectives.

The book called «The Help» by Kathryn Stockett, a white author, writes from the perspectives of several different characters including two African American women working as maids in Mississippi during the 1960s. «The Help» is clearly a book that addresses issues of race and segregation.

Similarly, the classic work «Uncle Tom's Cabin» was written by another white woman, Harriet Beecher Stowe. This book would also qualify as African American literature because of its subject matter. Stowe wrote the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851-52) in reaction to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made it illegal to assist an escaped slave. The book was quickly translated into 37 languages and sold in five years over half a million copies in the United States. Uncle Tom's Cabin was also among the most popular plays of the 19th century.

The novel was so popular that it was made into a traveling melodrama and played to audiences throughout the North. Southern journals denounced the novel declaring that its portrayal of slavery was pure fabrication, an invention of the author's imagination.

Like most white writers of her day, H.B. Stowe could not escape the racism of the time. Because of this, her work has some serious flaws, which in turn have helped perpetuate damaging images of African Americans. However, the book, within its genre of romance, was enormously complex in character and in its plots. The book outraged the South, and in the long run, that is its significance.

Another issue on the subject is that the whites were most successful in spreading their racism among their own offspring. «The whites practiced widespread sexual trafficking in African slaves which produced Mulatto babies who, due to the resentment instilled by their fathers, grew up to resent the race of their mothers» [Williams 50]. This quote is significant because it reveals one of the main methods through which whites were able to spread their prejudice among people who shared an African lineage and once more showing the purity of the white race. (Williams, Chancellor. The Destruction of Black Civilization. Chicago: Third World Press, 1987)

Kate Chopin (1851-1904) emerged as one of the greatest as well as most admired American short story writers, novelists, poets, and essayists. In many of Chopin's stories she has transcended simple regionalism and portrayed women who seek spiritual and sexual freedom amidst the restrictive mores of nineteenth-century Southern society. She brought attention to the racial issues that existed during the times of slavery through her short story «Désirée's Baby» which introduces the two main characters in the story, Désirée and Armand, and creates many symbolisms, ironies, and themes seen throughout the story.

It is a tragic tale of race and gender in antebellum Louisiana. Desiree is deeply in love with her husband Armand, and he is a loving husband and proud father until he notices their infant's dark skin. Because Desiree was abandoned as a child, her ancestry is unknown. Armand concludes that she is not white and tells her to leave. His rejection drives Desiree to take her own life and that of the baby. A few weeks later, Armand discovers that he is of mixed ancestry.

The following extracts will clearly describe the content of the story concerning the race problems of that time.

1. «Oh, Armand is the proudest father in the parish, I believe, chiefly because it is a boy, to bear his name… he hasn't punished one of them - not one of them - since baby is born… Oh, mamma, I'm so happy; it frightens me.»

2. «When the baby was about three months old … a strange, an awful change in her husband's manner, which she dared not ask him to explain…. The old love-light seemed to have gone out…. Spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slaves.»

3. Desiree's eyes had been fixed absently and sadly upon the baby… Ah! It was a cry that she couldn't help… The blood turned like ice in her veins…»

«Tell me what it means!»

«It means,» he answered lightly, «that the child is not white, it means that you are not white.»

4. My mother, they tell me I'm not white. Armand has told me I am not white. For God's sake tell them it is not true… I shall die. I must die…»

The answer that came was brief: «My own Desiree: Come home to Valmonde: back to your mother who loves you.come with your child.»

5. Desiree has to bear the heaviest burden, being driven away from love and safety, left bereft. She has nothing but despair, and so drowns herself and her baby in the bayou.

Once Desiree and baby died, Armand found a letter of his mother written to his father. In the last words of the story, the tragic irony of it all occurs:

«…night and day, I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.»

The story doesn't only confront the racial issues that took place during the time of slavery but also draws upon the reader's emotions to experience how people thought during that time period.

The word «stereotype» comes with negative connotations because it is generally used to describe an off-putting generalization. It becomes necessary though when talking about facets of something like a certain group of people or culture. The other problem with stereotypes is the way they vary from person to person. One person might assume one thing about a certain group of people while another might assume the opposite, making universal stereotyping difficult. It is up to both the author and the reader to determine whether or not a work falls under the category of African American literature.

In recent decades, scholars and readers have criticized the book «Uncle Tom's Cabin» for what are seen as condescending racist descriptions of the book's black characters, especially with regard to the characters' appearances, speech, and behavior, as well as the passive nature of Uncle Tom in accepting his fate. The novel's creation and use of common stereotypes about African Americans is important because Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel in the world during the 19th century. As a result, the book (along with images illustrating the book and associated stage productions) had a major role in permanently ingraining these stereotypes into the American psyche.

Among the stereotypes of blacks in Uncle Tom's Cabin are: The «happy darky» (in the lazy, carefree character of Sam);

The light-skinned tragic mulatto as a sex object (in the characters of Eliza, Cassy, and Emmeline);

The affectionate, dark-skinned female mammy (through several characters, including Mammy, a cook at the St. Clare plantation).