American literature

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions
The 17th century
The 18th century
- The new nation
- Notable works of the period
  - Poets and poetry
  - Drama and the novel
The 19th century
- Early 19th-century literature
- American Renaissance
  - New England Brahmins
  - The Transcendentalists
  - New England reformers and historians
  - Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman
- From the Civil War to 1914
  - Literary comedians
  - Fiction and local colorists
  - The naturalists
  - Henry James
  - Critics of the gilded age
  - Henry Adams
  - Poets of the era
The 20th century
- Writing from 1914 to 1945
  - Experiments in drama
  - The new poetry
  - Fiction
    - Critics of society
    - Hemingway, Faulkner, and Steinbeck
    - Lyric fictionists
  - Literary criticism
    - Socio-literary critics
    - Moral-aesthetic critics
- After World War II
  - The novel and short story
    - Realism and “metafiction”
    - Southern fiction
    - African American literature
    - New fictional modes
    - The influence of Raymond Carver
    - Multicultural writing
  - Poetry
    - Formal poets
    - Experimentation and Beat poetry
    - “Deep image” poets
    - New directions
    - Autobiographical approaches
  - Drama
    - Miller, Williams, and Albee
    - The Off-Broadway ascendancy
  - Literary and social criticism
    - Literary biography and the “new journalism”
    - Theory

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

John Smith: Map of Virginia

American poetry portal

The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America

Movements in American poetry

Poor Richard's almanac

How did Phillis Wheatley become a poet?

Washington Irving, 19th-century print

Discover science fiction writer Ray Bradbury's views on Edgar Allan Poe's “The Fall of the House of Usher”

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Read Next

Chapter 4 pg 42 - Chapter header of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Published in 1884 by The American Publishing Company

Periods of American Literature

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12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

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9 American Countercultural Books

poem. A poet in a Heian period kimono writes Japanese poetry during the Kamo Kyokusui No En Ancient Festival at Jonan-gu shrine on April 29, 2013 in Kyoto, Japan. Festival of Kyokusui-no Utage orignated in 1,182, party Heian era (794-1192).

World Poetry Day

Discover

Human Cannibalism; Johannes Lerii's account of the description of the method the Indians use for "barbecuing" human flesh. Nude Indians barbecuing and eating parts of human bodies; Theodor de Bry.

Cannibalism: Cultures, Cures, Cuisine, and Calories

Close up of praying mantis walking on stone ground against a blurred background in Japan

6 Animals That Eat Their Mates

Ethel Rosenberg arrested in August 1950. Photograph dated Aug. 8, 1950. American civilians executed for espionage. Spies, communists, Julius Rosenberg

Spies Like Us: 10 Famous Names in the Espionage Game

American bison (Bison bison) also known as buffalo or plains buffalo on the prairie, western U.S.

What’s the Difference Between Bison and Buffalo?

Small, white rat (genus Rattus) on a glass table. (rodent, laboratory, experiment)

Cruel and Unusual Punishments: 15 Types of Torture

Berries and leaves of the bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) plant. Poisonous plant

7 of the World’s Deadliest Plants

German machine gunners occupy a trench during World War I.

Weapons of World War I

American literature: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

'Hamilton' author Ron Chernow's new book takes on an icon of American letters, Mark Twain • May 9, 2025, 11:17 AM ET (AP)

Photos and Videos

John Smith: Map of Virginia

The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America

Poor Richard's almanac

Washington Irving, 19th-century print

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Henry David Thoreau: Walden Pond cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe, c. 1880

Walt Whitman, c. 1870

American humorists, 1868

How did Phillis Wheatley become a poet?

Discover science fiction writer Ray Bradbury's views on Edgar Allan Poe's “The Fall of the House of Usher”

The video thumbnail image shows a black and white image of Robert Frost against a sepia-toned background.

An image of Joy Harjo, a Native American woman, imposed on a background of a notebook. A blue arrow points to Harjo with the label "poet laureate."

See All Videos, Images and Interactives →

Topics

lyric fiction deep image poet African American literature 13 Great Indigenous Writers to Read and Celebrate poet laureate muckraker National Book Awards Frost Medal Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize Pulitzer Prize English literature French literature African literature Arabic literature Italian literature German literature Spanish literature Japanese literature Latin American literature Chinese literature

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Quiz

4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul

Famous Poets and Poetic Form

Emily Dickinson, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:

Poetry: First Lines

List

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Chapter 4 pg 42 - Chapter header of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Published in 1884 by The American Publishing Company

Periods of American Literature

Girl Reading On Turquoise Couch

9 American Countercultural Books