Contemporary American Literature

2013 Contemporary American Literature

Jessilyn Ring Rocky Hill School 6/3/2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Preface..................................................................................................................................2  Rising Classics or Colloquial Messes? : The Contemporary Period...................................3  Escaping Societal Confines: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay....................5  Eighteen Years Lost: A Review of August Wilson’s Fences..............................................  Message of Modern Hope: Elizabeth Alexander’s Praise Song for the Day......................  SHORT STORY..................................................................................................................  Appendix A: Bibliography ..................................................................................................  Appendix B: Images............................................................................................................

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PREFACE

Classic authors like Mark Twain and Eugene O’Neill were once regarded as the J.K. Rowling and Andrew Lloyd Webber of their era, their books and scripts sweeping the world’s shelves and stages with vigor. Still, one would not usually compare Harry Potter to Huckleberry Finn, nor Phantom of the Opera to Beyond the Horizon. However, it might be more prudent to praise the great literary minds of today in the same way that we praise the authors of the classics.

People such as Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) and Jonathan Larson (RENT) are on their way to becoming the next great minds of the current literary period: Contemporary American literature. The Contemporary period stretches from about the 1970s to the present day, consisting of many subgenres such as ethnic literature and the Counterculture period. Some Contemporary American authors have already begun being recognized as the next literary genius, such as Arthur Miller (The Crucible, Death of a Salesman). These authors and playwrights have taken the initiative to create works in colloquial language relating to the popular issues and current events of our time and in history. The Contemporary period is sometimes scorned for these very principles, although it is prominent that one day, a new generation will hold these authors in their hearts the way the current one does Hemingway and Twain.

I chose to study the Contemporary American period of literature because of its rich diversity and unseen artistry. I believe that years from now, children in school will read the books that I read for pleasure today. Authors such as Stephen King deserve a place on the classics shelf, right next to Mark Twain. The Contemporary period holds so much potential that I can recognize when I read its works. It is already shown with the earlier authors of the Contemporary period and I believe that the books I read in my childhood will become some of the greatest works of American literature. Just as our great grandparents saw the novels of Charles Dickens be released in serial format, it is inevitable that the works of J.K. Rowling will be on the school booklist when the people of the current generation are grandparents themselves.

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Rising Classics or Colloquial Messes?: The Contemporary Period

American contemporary literature is sometimes not considered to be as good quality work as the classics, like Romeo and Juliet and David Copperfield, are. Still, generations from now, these books that we scorn for colloquial use of language may be the new classics to our children and grandchildren. James Patterson could be listed as an author in a curriculum about the mystery genre and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter could be the series on the summer reading list. It is funny to think that these writers reside in the same literary period as Arthur Miller and his renowned classic, Death of a Salesman, and the poems of Maya Angelou. The period of contemporary literature is a wide umbrella, encompassing many sub-periods and genres, beginning in 1939 where World War II played a factor in the works of many authors, to the current day where issue like terrorism and equality are influences. The sub-periods include the Beat period, with main writers like Allen Ginsberg, and the Counterculture, when Hair was a popular and controversial play. Many different genres encompass the Contemporary Period, where some books are favored and well-known and others are just starting to spread through our culture.

Throughout 1939 to the present day, America has undergone extreme changes; its literature has changed with it. The focus of contemporary literature swerves around the track normally taken by a good novel, sometimes jumping off of it completely as authors take directions no one has thought to take before. This trait also appears in contemporary poets. The traditional ideas of rhyme scheme and metrical reign are sometimes tossed away by poets who are concerned with expressing themselves, free of constraint. Free-verse, which originated in American Romantic literature, has popularly spread to the contemporary period, allowing authors to write without adhering to technical limits. Poets have pushed poetry nearly into the category of song writing, which is also something in the modern day that is taken less seriously.

The art of poetry has evolved from standard stanzas and rhyming, used by William Shakespeare in his sonnets: “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? /Thou art more lovely and more temperate:/Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, /And summer's lease hath all too short a date:…” (Shakespeare, William, Sonnet 28, lines 1-4) to, in the contemporary period, 3|Page

poets like Maya Angelou, who easily voiced her thoughts in free-verse: “Curtains forcing their will/ against the wind,/ children sleep,/ exchanging dreams with / seraphim. The city/ drags itself awake on/ subway straps; and/ I, an alarm, awake as a/ rumor of war,/ lie stretching into dawn,/ unasked and unheeded.” (Angelou, Maya, Awaking in New York). Angelou’s work may be the most famous of the contemporary period, embodying the qualities of freedom and breaking constraints, and is considered a classic today. This shows us it is possible for less well-known poets, like Billy Collins (author of Introduction to Poetry) to become common names in the English classroom. The contrast between Shakespeare’s strict pentameter and rhyme scheme and Angelou’s simple stream of consciousness shows great change, between the periods, in the minds of people and how they felt about conforming to set guidelines.

Novels of the contemporary period stretch the boundaries of language and political correctness. Issues that are prevalent in society often become the object of a plotline in books, and authors enjoy including controversial opinions. Even though today’s writers are capable and eloquent, critics find it hard to forgive their colloquial use of language in their works. Still, this is to be debated. Works such as the Harry Potter series are in the most casual form possible, as they were intended for a juvenile audience. However, they include references to things that many children would not pick up on, such as the first name of Albus Dumbledore—meaning “white” in Latin—is in reference to his long, silver beard. The intricacy of the plot cannot be appreciated by young minds, but the more advanced and older reader can understand, showing that J.K. Rowling creatively intended for adults to become hooked while reading the magical series to their children. Still, Rowling is not the only example of a highly capable contemporary author.

Michael Chabon, the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is a different kind of contemporary writer. He does not use colloquial language, and instead his work is highly descriptive and dense, while the subject matter is appealing to the masses. Kavalier and Clay is a novel about two cousins who are in the business of comic book writing during World War II. Chabon uses the subject matter of the time period, though the novel itself was written in 2000, to catch the attention of readers, making them aware of past issues in a lighter way. Many would disregard this beautiful novel about the comic book business in New York City as a potential classic, just the way they would disregard the children’s series, Harry Potter. Rowling plays to the audience of the entire world, which is why it is such a popular series; whereas, novels by Charles Dickens are dense and difficult for the 4|Page

young audience to absorb. Contemporary culture has even simplified his works, by creating a musical version of Oliver Twist that all ages can enjoy.

Though colloquialism dominates the works of contemporary writers, there happens to be, in the earlier part of the period, writers that were taken seriously and have become classics today.

Most of these authors have been playwrights, like August Wilson and his famous Pittsburgh Cycle and Arthur Miller and his famous works, The Crucible and Death of a Salesman. The first Broadway revival of Wilson’s play, Fences, since 1987 opened in New York starring current stars Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. These plays are considered classics, even in comparison to Shakespeare’s Othello, but plays have evolved even more in the contemporary period. Famous musicals such as Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma, and Carousel have been replaced by rock-style musicals such as Next to Normal, Wicked, and Rent that stray from the solid scene work of classic plays, being told mostly in song and having montage-like qualities.

All in all, the contemporary period conquers controversial subjects through literature, portraying in an eloquent way a story told through more colloquial language, which has the possibility to appeal to any reader. A wide variety of audiences can read the works of these many famous authors, poets, and playwrights, without becoming intimidated by the language classic writers used and the references they do not understand. Critics scorn popular writers for these qualities that set them at the top of the New York Times Bestseller List, and yet this use of common language and willingness to face the current issues of the world set contemporary writers apart in a bold and nonconformist way.

Escaping Societal Confines

Comic books have been ever popular in American culture since the early 1900s, as heroes like Superman and Batman were created and revered by the public. Reading these comic books became an escape from the wars that were going on a few years after the turn of the century, by pitting everyone’s favorite superheroes against characters dressed in the German Nazi uniform.

Michael Chabon’s recent novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, explores the world of the comic book industry through the eyes of a pair of Jewish cousins living in New York City during World War II. Chabon eloquently addresses controversial issues, something 5|Page

popular amongst authors of the contemporary period. His rich words are somewhat of an anomaly, as contemporary authors strive to write colloquially instead of formally. Chabon incorporates the use of the vernacular with the use of stunningly formal word choice, along with an exploration of the theme of escapism and discussion of controversial topics to explore his bildungsroman of the comic creator cousins, Kavalier and Clay.

When Joe Kavalier arrives in New York, Sam Clay has been sleeping. Mercilessly awoken by his mother, Clay is introduced to his odd cousin from Prague in the dead of the night, as Josef Kavalier evades the Nazi agenda by travelling to America, as per usual during World War II. Kavalier is an escape artist, inspired by the magic of Harry Houdini

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Eighteen Years Lost: A Review of August Wilson’s Fences

Fifty-three year old Troy Maxson claims to have wrestled with Death, this being one of many wild stories he has to tell throughout August Wilson’s dramatic play, Fences, the sixth in his famous Pittsburgh Cycle—a cycle of ten plays set in each decade of the 1900s depicting the evolution of the role of black people in society. Set in the 1950s, Fences focuses on the themes of racial discrimination, father-son and husband-wife relationships, death and the devil, and coming-of-age as a black man. Through characters such as Rose Maxson, Troy’s wife, and Jim Bono, Troy’s best friend, we are able to see how his troubled past influences Troy’s anger, and how his actions drive a wedge between himself and his family.

The setting is a dingy backyard porch of a simple old house, with the pathetic materials for the construction of a fence piled to one side. From the one tree hangs an ancient ball of rags, with a baseball bat leaning against the trunk below it. Troy Maxson, a fifty-three year old former Negro Baseball League player, and his longtime best friend Jim Bono, dressed for their job as garbage men come to Troy’s home on a Friday night—payday—to socialize and drink. The house has been paid for through government money given to Troy’s brother, Gabriel, after his service in the war caused half of his head to be blown off and replaced by a metal plate. The money was passed onto Troy, as Gabe was rendered mentally incapable of handling the finances. Bono poses the subject of Troy’s possible loss of his job, due to the fact that he asked his boss, Mr. Rand, “‘Why? Why you got them white men driving and the colored lifting?’” (Troy, act 1 scene 1, p.2). They are joined by Rose, Troy’s wife of eighteen years, and later by Lyons, Troy’s son from a previous marriage who is a musician constantly asking his father for money. Troy then goes on to degrade his wife in a fashion, by calling her “woman” repeatedly and sexually harassing her in front of Bono. Rose puts up a valiant effort to persuade her husband from his slightly drunken remarks, but to no avail. In this first act, Wilson shows the audience Troy’s obsession with cheating death through his speech in Scene 1. “Death ain’t nothing to play with. And I know he’s gonna get me...But as long as I keep my strength and see him coming...as long as I keep my vigilance...he’s gonna have to fight to get me. I ain’t going 7|Page

easy.”(Troy, act 1 scene 1, p. 12). Rose accuses him of exaggerating, as he always seems to do with his stories, and is convinced he has no idea what he is saying. His son Lyons comes by asking for money which, after much argument, he is given by Rose. Cory, Troy and Rose’s son, is a disappointment to his father, trying to follow in his athletic footsteps by playing football.

Troy thinks that Cory is throwing his life away on the sport, and should instead be focusing on getting a steady job. Throughout the course of the play, it is discovered that Troy was in prison for an accidental murder he committed when he was living on the streets after being severely beaten by his father at the age of fourteen. Troy seems to have some issues from his past that get in the way of his relationship with his wife, even more when it is revealed that Troy has been having an affair with a woman named Alberta, whom he has gotten pregnant. Rose is hurt, saying “I gave eighteen years of my life to stand in the same spot with you.”(Rose, act 2 scene 1, p. 70). Alberta dies in childbirth, leaving Troy with Raynell, his illegitimate daughter, of whom Rose graciously agrees to take care.

Fences is a play that makes the reader or audience member think deeply about the meaning of a fence: to keep people out or to keep people in. The motif of a fence is used throughout the whole play, starting with Rose wanting Troy to build it for her, and ending with Troy finally finishing the project, though the reason for the latter being the opposite of the former. Bono mentions to Troy, “Some people build fences to keep people out...and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you.” (Bono, act 2 scene 1, p. 61). After Alberta dies, Troy finishes the fences, saying, “Alright...Mr. Death. See now...I’m gonna tell you what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna take and build me a fence around this yard. See? I’m gonna build me a fence around what belongs to me. And then I want you to stay on the other side.” (Troy, act 2 scene 2, p. 77). Fences is a classic, with the ability to relate to the contemporary audience, as shown by the recent revival of the play on Broadway, featuring Denzel Washington as Troy and Viola Davis as Rose. The issue of racism is always a controversial topic, and people of different skin tone and/ or heritage experience it every day.

August Wilson paints a vivid portrait of a man’s struggle to keep his family housed and fed, and also to stay in line with the law, and what happens when he strays at last. Fences is a widely renowned play, becoming famous on Broadway twice. From the earlier part of the contemporary period, this play exemplifies the way writers were beginning to push the boundaries of literature by writing about topics that were popular and/or controversial in current events. August Wilson 8|Page

brings the reader on a journey through one simple set and a small cast of characters, a journey that is comedic, dramatic and bittersweet, and all at once relatable for the audience.

Message of Modern Hope: An Inaugural Poem

Elizabeth Alexander was born in Harlem, New York in 1962, the daughter of a former United States Secretary of the Army and a professor of African-American women's history at George Washington University. Soon after she was born, her family moved to Washington D.C., the heart of the politics of America. According to Alexander, “politics was in the drinking water at [her] house.”. In 1984, she graduated from Yale University, going on to gain her Master’s degree in 1987 at Boston University, where she studied poetry under Derek Walcott, the winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. She also received a PhD in English from the University of Pennsylvania. Alexander began teaching in 1991 at the University of Chicago, where she met the future president, Barack Obama who was a lecturer at the school. Later in 2009, Alexander would write a poem for the Obama’s inauguration ceremony, entitled Praise Song for the Day. There have been only four other poets that have recited works at presidential inaugurations, namely another famous contemporary poet, Maya Angelou, and Robert Frost.

In addition to being a poet, Alexander is an essayist and a playwright. Originally, Alexander was set to study fiction writing, and if it had not been for Derek Walcott’s push towards the art of poetry, she may never have seen her potential. Alexander published her first work, The Venus Hottentot, when she was studying for her PhD. Her first volume of poetry, Body of Life, was published in 1996, along with her play, Diva Studies, which was performed by the Yale School of Drama. She also published Antebellum Dream Book in 2005, her second anthology. Currently, she is a professor at Yale University and chairman for their African American studies department.

Praise Song for the Day by Elizabeth Alexander Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each other’s eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.

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All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues.

Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere, with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum, with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky.

A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed, words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others, who said I need to see what’s on the other side.

I know there’s something better down the road.

We need to find a place where we are safe.

We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain: that many have died for this day.

Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.

Praise song for every hand-lettered sign, the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself, others by first do no harm or take no more than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national, 10 | P a g e

love that casts a widening pool of light, love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp, praise song for walking forward in that light In Alexander’s poem, Praise Song for the Day, the title tells the reader what type of poetry it is. A praise song is a type of African poetry, a form that uses laudatory epithets. This suggests a connection to the roots of Alexander’s ancestry and is prevalent in some of her other works. The poem overall is fourteen un-rhyming tercets— three-line stanzas—and a one-line coda at the very end. The general theme of the poem depicts the average life of the American citizen, which was apropos for the occasion of President Obama’s inauguration. The first stanzas start by saying that each American goes about their life, mingling with others and deciding whether to interact with the other.

“All about us is noise.” in the world as we go about our lives, representing our past. Alexander calls attention in this first part of the poem to the busy setting of America, with reference to the social actions of the citizens. The third stanza, “repairing things in need of repair” could refer to the fact that, due to the context and setting of when and what for the poem was composed, the new president would mend the things in American that were ripped by the previous president. The fourth stanza can similarly relate. “Someone is trying to make music somewhere” refers to the American people, using anything they can, due to social class and restrictions, to make the music necessary to create enjoyment. Some people have cellos while others only have an oil drum. The next two stanzas are still portraits of American life, depicting a family getting ready to go to school, a farmer in his field, and a teacher beginning a test. “We encounter each other in words, words/spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,/words to consider, reconsider.” This stanza calls to attention the interaction of the citizens through words, like in the beginning, and the different choices people make in using them. The next two 11 | P a g e

stanzas, seven and eight, are referring to the immigrants of America, those who “need to see what’s on the other side.” Alexander is painting the portrait of America in this praise song and is referring to the roots of our society: we are the mixing pot. “I know there’s something better down the road. /We need to find a place where we are safe. /We walk into that which we cannot yet see.” Here, the poet talks about the people who have immigrated for centuries to a better life in America, perhaps referring to her own family, as her grandfather came to America from Kingston, Jamaica.

The poem has gone through eight stanzas with a voice that depicts America in its daily life, the citizens that make it unique, and how they interact and came to live there. In the ninth stanza, the poem seems to split from a painting of our country to singing the praises of the people who built America. “Sing the names of the dead who brought us here” refers to our ancestors whose labor allowed us to progress in life, who “laid the train tracks” and “picked the cotton”.

Alexander implies that the people who are the creators of our civilization are also those who clean it, are slaves to it. The tenth stanza states that the poem is a praise song for “the struggle” and “the day”, referring to the inauguration that is occurring. In the second half of this new part to the poem, Alexander shifts her focus from the American life and its origins to how people live, by “love thy neighbor as thyself/others by do no harm or take no more/than you need.”. The poem looks to the broad spectrum, questioning whether the idea of people living by mottos and rules is better than simply living by love. “Love beyond marital, filial, national,/love that casts a widening pool of light,/love with no need to pre-empt grievance” is how Alexander suggests we live our lives, and she suggests that the beginning can be today, the inauguration of the new president, Barack Obama. The last stanza and the ending coda relate to new beginnings, stating that anything can happen when one has the opportunity, “On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp.”.

On that day, a fresh start was good for the American people, and Alexander’s Praise Song for the Day is a message of hope that embodied the spirit of swearing in a new president.

She incorporates the elements of the contemporary period of literature through her free-verse writing and relation to current events in her work. Though the poem was met with scornful reviews, calling her work “too much like prose” and her reading of the poem to be stilted and uncomfortable, its message of hope for an important turning point in history can speak to any reader, and is in line with the spirit of contemporary literature. Like the poets who read at 12 | P a g e

presidential inaugurations before her, Maya Angelou and Robert Frost, Elizabeth Alexander will, and may have already, become an American classic.

“All That You Love Will Be Carried Away”—Stephen King It is a Friday night, the perfect night to be with your friends and relax from the stress of the week. Together, you all compile a list of activities that would be enjoyable with a group; one of those things is watching a horror movie. Movies in general are a natural American pastime, and the horror genre has always been a late-night favorite. There is something thrilling about the suspense, grotesque feeling of a scary story. Contemporary author Stephen King is the prime example of the horror genre in modern American literature. King is practically a household name, with most of his famous novels being adapted for the screen. His short story, “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away” is not necessarily classified as a King’s normal narrative of blood and gore. Though King is the “king” of the horror genre, in this story he plays with suspense and mystery, gently luring the reader along through the stream of consciousness of a suicidal salesman. This particular short story embodies contemporary American literature with the use of colloquial language in tandem with stream of consciousness writing, casual mentions of darker themes such as death and inevitability, and the ever popular cliffhanger.

Outside of a Motel-6 in Lincoln, Nebraska, travelling frozen food salesman Alfred “Alfie” Zimmer sits in his Chevrolet, looking at the lights of a distant farmhouse. King’s motif of the farmhouse and its “spark lights”(2) returns several times throughout the story, foreshadowing the themes of inevitability, unreachable goals, and—predominately—death. Alfie is a forty-four year old man, stubborn and set in his ways, with a sour outlook on life. Still, for the beginning of the story, there is very little to suggest that he is suicidal. The rhetorical device of foreshadowing is extremely prominent in this story as well as the rest of King’s works, as it is a marked characteristic of the horror genre. The language King uses in this story is conventional and easy for the public to understand, which exemplifies a defining characteristic of contemporary literature. Alfie is an accessible character to the people of modern-day society because of his mundane lifestyle and simplistic nature, with a less prominent underlying sense of self-hatred.

Throughout the story, we discover that Alfie, while on trips for his job as a travelling salesman, collects bits of graffiti that he happens upon whilst using a restroom or just on a bridge of the freeway. He writes these phrases of vandalism in a notebook that is always on his person. Most 13 | P a g e

of the phrases are simply vulgar sentences written in bathroom stalls, but Alfie seems to take his collections seriously. Throughout the story, which is written in colloquial language in itself, the vulgar simplicity of the graffiti adds to the levels and dark humor that King uses to capture his audiences.

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