William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
William Carlos Williams was a practicing pediatrician throughout his life; he delivered over 2,000 babies and wrote poems on his prescription pads. Williams was a classmate of poets Ezra Pound and Hilda Doolittle, and his early poetry reveals the influence of Imagism. He later went on to champion the use of colloquial speech; his ear for the natural rhythms of American English helped free American poetry from the iambic meter that had dominated English verse since the Renaissance. His sympathy for ordinary working people, children, and everyday events in modern urban settings make his poetry attractive and accessible. "The Red Wheelbarrow" (1923), like a Dutch still life, finds interest and beauty in everyday objects.
Williams cultivated a relaxed, natural poetry. In his hands, the poem was not to become a perfect object of art as in Stevens, or the carefully re-created Wordsworthian incident as in Frost. Instead, the poem was to capture an instant of time like an unposed snapshot - a concept he derived from photographers and artists he met at galleries like Stieglitz's in New York City. Like photographs, his poems often hint at hidden possibilities or attractions, as in "The Young Housewife" (1917).
He termed his work "objectivist" to suggest the importance of concrete, visual objects. His work often captured the spontaneous, emotive pattern of experience, and influenced the "Beat" writing of the early 1950s.
Like Eliot and Pound, Williams tried his hand at the epic form, but while their epics employ literary allusions directed to a small number of highly educated readers, Williams instead writes for a more general audience. Though he studied abroad, he elected to live in the United States. His epic, Paterson , celebrates his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, as seen by an autobiographical "Dr. Paterson." In it, Williams juxtaposed lyric passages, prose, letters, autobiography, newspaper accounts, and historical facts. The layout's ample white space suggests the open road theme of American literature and gives a sense of new vistas even open to the poor people who picnic in the public park on Sundays. Like Whitman's persona in Leaves of Grass, Dr. Paterson moves freely among the working people.
William Carlos Williams aimed at reproducing immediate experience. He professed a doctrine of "No ideas but in things". Williams wanted to break away from poetic convention and to repudiate what he considered to be the learned rhetoric of such literary patricians as T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens. William's revolutionary ideas led him to write poetry that was simple, direct, and apparently formless. He was a prime literary innovator, just as he was the poet of the twentieth century most sensitive to the sumptuous squalor of modern America.
Postwar regionalism. Several authors drew on their regional backgrounds in writing fiction. Wright Morris used his memories of Nebraska in such novels as «Field of Vision» (1956) and «Ceremony in Lone Tree» (I960). John Cheever located most of his novels and stories in his native New England, notably the novels «The Wapshot Chronicle» (1957) and «The Wapshot Scandal» (1964). John Updike recalled his Pennsylvania background in three related novels, «Rabbit, Run» (1960), «Rabbit Redux»
(1971). and «RabbitIs Rich» (1981).
J. D. Salinger used New York City as the background for his writings. He wrote perhaps the most popular novel of the 1950's, «The Catcher in the Rye» (1951). In this book, Salinger dealt sensitively with the problems of a teen-ager growing up in New York City. Southern writers. Much American fiction of the period after World War 11 dealt with outcasts in poverty-stricken areas. Many authors wrote with sympathy about odd characters. These elements appeared especially in the works of Southern writers who followed the tradition established by William Faulkner. For example, Carson McCulIers wrote sad, haunting tales of grotesque characters in such works as «Reflections in a Golden Eye» (1941), «The Ballad of the Sad Cafe* (1951), and «Clock Without Hands* (1961).
Eudora Welty explored small-town Southern life in several novels, including «Delta Wedding» (1946), and «The Optimist's Daughter” (1972). Truman Capote began his career with a distinctive novel in a Southern setting, «Other Voices, Other Rooms» (1948). Flannery O'Connor described the religious feelings of Southern rural people in «Wise Blood» (1952), and «The Violent Bear It Away» (1960). Harper Lee wrote «To Kill a Mockingbird» (1960), a vivid novel of racism in a small Alabama town.
Jewish writers. Several Jewish writers of the postwar period dealt with Jewish life in the United States. Some of them told about the conflict between traditional Jewish life and modem, non-Jewish, American society. Saul Bellow, perhaps the most important postwar Jewish author, wrote such philosophical novels as «Herzog» (1964), «Mr. Sammler's Planet» (1970), «Humboldt's Gift» (1975), and «The Dean's December» (1982).
Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote novels and stories describing the difficulties of European-born Jews trying to adjust to American life. His works include the novel «Enemies: A Love Story» (1972), and «А Crown of Feathers» (1973), a collection of stories. Bernard Malamud described the hard life of poor New York City Jews in «The Assistant» (1957), a novel, and «The Magic Barrel» (1958), a collection of stories. Philip Roth caught the flavor of modem Jewish life in his novelette «Goodbye, Columbus» (1959), and his novel «Portnoy's Complaint» (1969).
The black experience. During the early 1950's, black novelists, playwrights, and poets became a vigorous element in American literature. Like the postwar Jewish authors, black writers explored theirunique American experience. Many critics choose «Invisible Man*(1952) by Ralph Ellison as the greatest postwar novel about black life in the United States. James Baldwin, another leading black writer, began his career with «Go Tell It on the Mountain* (1953). He used Harlem in the 1930’s as the setting of this autobiographical novel.
Ishmael Reed combined fantasy and reality to explore black American experience in such novels as «Mumbo Jumbo» (1972), and «Flight to Canada» (1975). Toni Morrison provided a woman's perspective on the black experience in novels that blend realism with black folklore. Her major novels include «Song of Solomon» (1977), «Tar Baby» (1981), and «Beloved» (1987).
Several black writers produced widely praised non-fictional accounts of black life in America. The black leader Malcolm presented a realistic story of his early life in «The Autobiography of Malcolm X» (1965). Eldridge Cleaver told of his life in prison in a group of essays called «Soul on Ice» (1968). In «Manchild in the Promised Land» (1965), Claude Brown described the difficulties of growing up in Harlem during the 1940's and 1950's. James Baldwin wrote about relations between blacks and whites in «The Fire Next Time» (1963). In «Roots» (1976). Alex Haley traced 200 years of his family history from Africa to the United States.
Black playwrights gained their first widespread acceptance during the postwar period. Lorraine Hansberry wrote a Broadway hit called «А Raisin in the Sun» (1959), a realistic drama about a black family in the Chicago ghetto. Ed Bullins became one of the most active forces in black drama as a writer, editor, and theater administrator. He won praise for such plays as «In the Wine Time» (1968). and «The Taking of Miss Janie» (1975). Lonne Elder 111 wrote a popular tragicomedy about a Harlem family, «Ceremonies in Dark Old Men» (1969). LeRoi Jones, who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka, wrote several bitter and symbolic plays, including «Dutchman» (1964), and «Slave Ship» (1969).
Most black poets dealt with a wider range of subjects than did black prose writers and dramatists. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about human — not necessarily black — emotions. However, she set her best- known poems, including «А Street in Bronzeville» (1945). in the Chicago ghetto. Amiri Baraka wrote puzzling — and sometimes intensely bitter — poems in «Preface to a Twenty-Volume Suicide Note» (1961). Nikki Giovanni became a leading poet in the 1970's with many works that describe her feelings about being a black American. Her major collections include «My House» (1972), and «Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day» (1978).
The beat movement was the name given a group of writers of the 1950's. Most of these writers lived in New York City and San Francisco. The beats or beatniks, as they were called, condemned middleclass American life as morally bankrupt. They praised individualism as the highest human goal. The beat movement produced a few important works of fiction, especially «On the Road» (1957), an autobiographical novel by Jack Kerouac. But most of the leading beat writers were poets. Allen Ginsberg, who was the most important of these poets, wrote the first beat work that attracted national attention. This book, «Howl, and Other Poems» (1956), is a violent but skillfully written protest against social injustice. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, another beat poet, wrote «А Coney Island of the Mind» (1958), a satiric criticism of Amercan culture. During the 1960's, the beats became known as hippies or yippies. But the movement continued to rebel against cultural and social values in the United States.
The beat poets persuaded other poets to use extremely personal material as subject matter for poetry. The beats also influenced poetry by emphasizing ordinary conversational language, including profanity.
Nonfiction novel. The author of a nonfiction novel uses fictional techniques and a documentary style to tell about actual events and people. Truman Capote, the first to use the term, wrote perhaps the best- known example, «In Cold Blood» (1966). Capote based his book on the 1959 murder of a Kansas family. William Styron wrote «The Confessions of Nat Turner* (1967), a fictional description of a slave rebellion that took place in Virginia in 1831, John Hersey described the killing of several blacks during a 1967 riot in Detroit in «The Algiers Motel Incident» (1968). In «The Executioner's Song» (1979), Norman Mailer wrote a long, absorbing study of a criminal's life and execution for murder.
Women speak out. Beginning in the 1960's, a number of women's groups protested what they regarded as discrimination against women in the United States. Their activities became known as the Women's Liberation Movement. The movement inspired many books, both fiction and nonfiction, that deal with social and legal issues from a woman's point of view.
The most influential nonfiction books on women in modern life included «The Feminine Mystique» (1963), and«The Second Stage» (1981) by Betty Friedan and «Sexual Politics* (1970) by Kate Millett. Both writers attacked what they considered male exploitation of women. Several books expressed women's feelings about sex with a frankness rarely seen in previous fiction. Two of the best-known of these books are the novel «Fear of Flying» (1973) by Erica Jong and die collection of poems «Diving into the Wreck» (1973) by Adrienne Rich.
Several female authors gained acclaim, though their works were not directly connected with the Women's Liberation Movement. Mary McCarthy described the careers and personal lives of several young women in her novel «The Group» (1963). Susan Sontag ex amined modern life in both fiction and nonfiction. Her best-known writings include essays collected in «Against Interpretation* (1966). The most widely praised female writer who appeared in the 1960's is probably Joyce Carol Oates, who has produced many novels and short stories. In her novel «Them» (1969), she explored the violent lives of a woman and her son and daughter. Black humor, a new approach in American fiction, developed during the 1960's. It combined comedy with serious subject mat ter. Authors inserted moments of hilarity into novels and stories
that deal basically with depressing, painful, or violent subjects. Vladimir Nabokov helped shape the black humor style. In such novels as «Pale Fire» (1962), he created a mixture of comedy, fan tasy, and satire. Perhaps the most widely read example of black humor was «Catch-22» (1961) by Joseph Heller. This novel con cerns U.S. pilots during World War II. Heller used comedy to show the absurdities he saw in warfare and large military organizations.
The most popular writer of black humor has probably been Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. He portrayed what he saw as the madness in society through novels that are both funny and tragic. Vonnegut's most important works include «Cat's Cradle» (1963) and «Slaughter house-Five» (1969).
John Barth used comic symbolism to describe the horrors he saw in modern life in «Giles Goat-Boy» (1966). In «One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest» (1962) by Ken Kesey, a mental hospital serves as a symbol of the modern world. Donald Barthelme adopted a fairy-tale style in «Snow White» (1967) to describe what he con sidered the lunatic quality of modem society. Jerzy Kosinski also wrote a kind of fairy tale in «The Painted Bird» (1965). This novel describes the adventures of a boy caught up in the brutality and terror of World War II.
Experimental fiction. Beginning in the 2 960's, several writers experimented with new' writing techniques in their fiction. They produced often difficult, disconnected narratives that reflect the influence of motion pictures and of such European writers as Franz Kafka. They drew attention to the artificial and unreliable qualities of fiction. Thomas Pynchon's «V.» (1963) and «Gravity's Rainbow'» (1973) are perhaps the best examples of such fiction. Other experimental novels include Robert Coover's «The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J.Henry Waugh, Prop.» (1968) and «The Public Burning» (1977), and Joan Didion's «А Book of Common Prayer» (1977) and «Democracy» (1984). John Hawkes's «TheLimeTwig» (1961) and «The Passion Artist» (1979), and John Gardner's «The Sunlight Dialogues» (1972) and «October Light» (1976) are also experimental novels.
New playwrights. Several important playwrights emerged in the postwar period. Tennessee Williams explored the human mind in his bold psychological dramas most frequently performed works are two classics of the modem theater, «The Glass Menagerie* (1945) and «А Streetcar Named Desire» (1947). William Inge wrote realistic, sympathetic dramas of middle-class life in the Midwest, as in «The Dark at the l op of the Stairs» (1957). Arthur Miller blended symbolism with realism in many powerful plays of social protest. His best-known drama is «Death of a Salesman» (1949).
The most vigorous movement in modem drama in both Europe and the United States has been called the theater of the absurd. Like writers of black humor, absurdist playwrights create basically nonrealistic works that stress the absurdity and lack of meaning that they see in modern life. Edward Albee began his career as an absurdist playwright with two one-act plays, «The Sandbox» (19 60) and «The American Dream» (1961). But Albee gained his greatest acclaim for «Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?» (1962), a savagely realistic study of marriage.
Many American playwrights, though they were not necessarily absurdist writers, used nonrealistic theatrical techniques. These playwrights included Arthur Kopit, Jean-Claude van Itallie, and David Rabe. Several of Rabe's plays, such as «Sticks and Bones» (1971) and «The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel» (1971). deal with the effects of the Vietnam War on American lives. Sam Shepard mixed realistic and fantastic elements in his satirical attacks on American society in such works as «The Curse of the Starving Class» (1976) and «Buried Child» (1978).
David Mamet began to attract attention in the 1970's with plays such as «American Buffalo» (1975), which attacks American business. This play focuses on three men who are planning a robbery.
Many critics praised Mamet's ability to torn ordinary, even crude, conversation into a kind of poetry. A number of women playwrights dealt with the special problems of women in modern American society . Important women dramatists of the late 1970's and the 1980's include Beth Henley and Marsha Norman.
Neil Simon became the most commercially successful playwright in the history of American drama. He wrote a series of hit comedies, including several about the struggle of people to survive the hectic, impersonal pace of modern life. Simon's top comedies include «The Odd Couple» (1965) and «Brighton Beach Memoirs» (1983).
Personal and confessional poetry. The poetry renaissance of the early 1900's had ended by the time World War II began. After the war, a new rebellion developed against poems that seemed to lack personal and emotional qualities. A number of new poets adopted an extremely personal style.
Two leading postwar poets related their wartime experiences. Randall Jarrell wrote bitter poems about the war in «Little Friend, Little Friend» (1945). A collection by Karl Shapiro called «V-Let- ter and Other Poems» (1944) includes a soldier's love poems to his girl in the United States.
Theodore Roethke used memories of his family greenhouses and flower shops in «The Waking» (1953). Richard Wilbur drew his material for «Things of This World» (1956) from nature and suburban life.
The early works of Robert Lowell, probably the leading Ameri can postwar poet, reflect his New England background They were written in the traditional, somewhat severe style established by T. S. Eliot. Lowell said later that he had become dissatisfied with his early poetry and changed to a more personal style. His first verse in this new style was «Life Studies» (1959), a highly autobiographi cal collection of poems. Several other American poets of the late 1950's and early 1960's also searched for a more individual style. This new style, which was influenced by the beat poets, became known as confessional poetry. Sylvia Plath ranks as the best-known confessional poet.
Her fame, which came largely after her suicide in 1963, resulted from the intense, powerful poems in «Ariel» (1965) and several other collections. Anne Sexton, another confessional poet who committed suicide, seemed obsessed with death in many of her poems, such as the collection «The Death Notebooks» (1974). A number of confessional poets wrote long, extremely personal works. The best known of these poems include «77 Dream Songs» (1964) and «His Toy, His Dream, His Rest» (1968), written by John Berryman, and «Litany» (1979), written by John Ashbery. James Merrill composed an epic trilogy in which his personal life serves as a frame. The trilogy consists of «The Book of Ephraim» (1976), «Mirabell Books ofNumber* (1978), and «Scripts for the Pageant» (1980). Merrill's three works were published together as «The Changing Lights at Sandover» (1982).
4.American Poetry Since 1945: The Anti-Tradition