The influence of history and society imaginaries in

literature.

Professor: Jhon Jairo Tafur Rincn

Students:
Diana Carolina Torres vila
Reyvan Steve Reyes Beltrn
Jeison Medina Higuera
Johan Andrs Salazar Chacn

Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Human Sciences School
Philology and Languages English
English Literature I
June 26th, 2014

Social Imaginaries shift along the transition of history and the labour of
the author is to depict that reality in what they write. Defining imaginary as:
the thinking shared within a society by ordinary people, the common
understanding that makes common practices possible and legitimizes them.
(Taylor, 2002) Thinking that includes: the set of values, institutions, laws, and
symbols. We aim to address this reality from two perspectives the historical
and the social, but keeping in mind that this realities are inseparable. The
process of writing is in itself history; it forms part of it as any other action
could, and in most of the cases is the

representation of the ideas of a

society or at least a part of it the individual (the writer) who cannot avoid
leaving behind even the smallest fragment of their personality or beliefs
system. That is why throughout this essay, literature will be analyzed as a
recording of history, as a legacy for humanity and how the social imaginaries
are exposed through literature.

Depiction of times in a society: the recording of history.

One task of the authors is to contextualise to the public, the reality of that
time in order to show that their respective periods are only a part of a chain
of events. it is an attitude found from the native American myths in which
through oral tradition they expressed their perspective about the creation
and the roles in their communities which were appropriate for them, for that
time in history and that are no longer preserved in our beliefs; it owed to the
transition of time that changed our ideas (imaginary) about the universe and
its creation .
Further on time the set of values, experiences, beliefs, social
representations and imaginaries have been represented by some other
authors: some of them more explicitly than others (as we have experienced
in class), but each one leaving a part of this in their pieces. As in the case of
Franklins Poor Richard's Almanac in which social roles, social functions and

the appropriate manner to behave were painted through the words of the
author according to the time and geography of the author: the Revolutionary
period, and in the case of Irvings Rip Van Winkle, which reflects two different
periods of American history and two different ideals: on one hand, we have
the British yoke in the colonial times and on the other hand, the sense of
revolution and freedom as an independent republic.
In addition, the more time passes, the more changes occur in history,
every racial and social group wants to show their perspectives through
literature. An example of this continuous change is the Harlem renaissance,
where the black community begins to express another side of the American
history, which is the suffering of that community and their recognition of the
existence of the black community in literature.

Historical legacy through literature

Literature is a tool for recording different events through time. In the case
of American literature, a set of events and at the same time perspectives can
be found on many of the texts read in class. In chronological order, we can
begin with the Native American literature, which despite not having an
explicit context in terms of a precise historical period, it shows how their
myths have been orally transmitted for centuries from generation to
generation; that is why it can be included in history.
Taking into account as Franklins Poor Richards Almanack and Irvings Rip
Van Winkle, Franklin tried to promote independence through access of those
sayings to all the public during a period where colonist felt oppressed by the
crown with taxes especially, and wars with other European countries such as
France and Spain because of protecting territories and invading others,
finding those excessive taxes senseless. In the case of Rip van Winkle, it is
not a tool for promoting independence but showing how the United States
were before and after the revolution, explaining the stage of a period of
people subordinated to the British crown to a different period, where the

concepts of republic, president, and United States of America were present

whereas the concepts of colony, crown, and being part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain were now obsolete.
Another important characteristic of the American literature was the
rediscovery of their identity and it also makes a contrast between the rural
South and the industrial North. However, the readings An Occurance at Owl
Creek Bridge by Ambroise Bierce, and The Celebrated Jumping Frog of The
Calaveras County by Mark Twain were more focused on the South taking into
account the locals expressions and the mentality of the Confederated during
the Civil War, a failed war and the end of slavery.
The Harlem renaissance is another period which has the same purpose, to
generate a transformation amongst society but this time, was within
American society that is, the black freedom and equality against the white
oppression unlike in Franklins text which was against the British empire. The
texts such as The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes; Hard Time Blues by
William Cuney and November Cotton Flower by Jean Toomer; show the long
and hard process of achieving equality and at the same time, those writers
through their readings express that the time oppression against the blacks
still continues and the achievement of equality with whites is also far away
despite having finished slavery after the Civil War.

Social imaginaries through literature

Literature not only reflects on the current society of each author, it also
confirms and strengthens cultural norms, acceptable behavior and beliefs as
a tool that ties a society together. Bronislaw Malinowsk (in Albrecht, 1954)
says that myths of origin are not "explanations" but ways of instruction and
justification of the social system. Such myths like the ones of Native
American cultures convey, expresses, and strengthen the fundamental fact
of the local unity of the group of people descendent from a common

ancestress. It thus contributes to social solidarity and supports the existing

social order. That feature also appears in religious literature. Despite most
creation myths around the world have common features like the flooding as
part of Earths creation, each culture is completely different from the others
because every story also includes laws that apply for each society. To light 7
candles for Hanuka in Jewish community; To rest the seventh day for the
Genesis in Judeo-Christian religion or to praise nature in Native American
tribes. At the end, the imaginary of each culture will be reflected in a piece of
literature to create unity in a society (Holy Bible for Christians, Bhagavad-git
for Hinduism or the Koran for Muslims)
In the case of Benjamin Franklins Poor Richards Almanak, it portrays the
unified society of the 13 colonies in North America different from the culture
of England. This book functions as a handbook of behavior for the colonists
and only for them. With this book, all the immigrants, colonists and indians,
are tied together in one imaginary, therefore one culture. At this time, the 13
colonies were not formally a nation apart from the English regime and
Franklins book worked as a guide to established social patterns that made
the difference between the British and American cultures. In that fashion,
literature is a record of the society throughout history and it follows the
changes in the imaginaries of all the cultures in the world.
In some texts, the authors also depict the change in societys imaginary.
That is the case of Irving Washington where he shows the change of the
mentality in the American people. In Rip Van Winkle, Washington creates a
line that divides the American people before the American Independence
from the one formally separated from the British Empire with a different set
of cultural norms. So that, it is the same society that influences literature and
the authors portray that culture on their books as a register to the reader of
further generations. In that fashion, society is represented through literature
and literature works as a register of human history.

Moreover, that social imaginary is also implicit in literature in an objective

or subjective writing style. First, in the subjective way the authors feelings
interfere in their way to depict that imaginary. That is the case of Edgar Allan
Poe with The Fall of The House of Usher in which the social imaginary was
transformed by this author according to how he interprets the reality that the
society was living at that time. He wanted to create his own imaginary
through his works by making a contrast of the Enlightenment society and its
conception of light as a remarkable part of the writings. In this case, the
imaginaries of the society have a huge impact in the writing style of Poe,
who wanted to express their feelings about a reality he was living by showing
their more insight feelings. So that, this subjective way to depict the social
imaginary in the Dark Romanticism reflects the necessity of the author of
sharing his own set of believes more than depicting a collective one. For
instance, in his last words Lord help my poor soul, (shortlist, 2014) Poe
depicts the clear influence of society in his literary work, that could
summarize the Dark Romantic imaginaries about how the person was
perceived, because these words reflect the necessity a superior being that
dignifies the social environment that the common people had to face in that
period of time.

Another subjective way to interpret those imaginaries through literature

are found in the Transcendentalism period in which the writers wanted to
respond to the necessities that the society was living at that time. Beyond
the establishment of a literary movement they wanted to create a conscious
about the social reality that they were facing and how with another way of
thinking, things would be better and could be equality of gender, women
rights and the abolition of slavery as for Transcendentalists the whole world
belongs to the same unity. So that, writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson or Henry
David Thoreau who more than to react against the reality by depicting the

social imaginaries, wanted to create one imaginary that appeared because of

another social imaginary.
Now, regarding the objective way in which authors adopted to depict the
imaginaries according to the society, the feelings ceased to be an important
aspect in their literature because they wanted to be like reporters of the
reality, that is why the realistic literature reflects a huge influence of the
society at that time and the reality that people was living at. This literary
period became like a picture of reality mainly of the Civil War, with a detailed
description of it. This is the case of two writers from this period: Ambrose
Bierce and Mark Twain.
On one hand, in An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, the social
imaginaries had huge influence in literature to Bierce because the
independence needs of Fahrquhar, the main character of this story, are not
only his desires but are the desires of all people that belonged to the
Confederated States. Becoming this story in a way to point out the real
problems that the American society was facing at that time, the wishes of
Fahrquhar -symbolizing the Confederates- do not remain in a fantasy world
but become something that inspires material acts reflected in the real world.
On the other hand, Mark Twain with The Celebrated Jumping Frog of the
Calaveras County exposes the imaginaries of the society just like he were
reporting the daily life of common people, trying to portray in his writings
how the society was perceived at that time. This could be illustrated if the
reader analyze in depth the characters as the first aspect that makes this
story a reliable report of quotidianity because Mark Twain wrote as if he had
recorded their voices. It is masterful how the accents, of both educated and
uneducated people were reproduced as if they were listened to in real life.
This short story was significant in American writing because it was one of
the first pieces of literature written in dialect. (Introduction to Journalism,
2008) This indeed, is a depiction of the social imaginaries that had a huge
influence in this literary movement.

Furthermore, a combination of this two perspectives -the objective and

subjective way of depicting the social imaginaries- is the Harlem Renaissance
period, in which the objectiveness of reflecting a reality that blacks were
living is combined with the subjective way of including the feelings of the
author about a situation that had to change. In this period of time, literature
was strongly influenced by the social imaginaries, because behind a huge
content of symbolism is reflected a time in which blacks had to face a
situation of segregation but also a time that became the opportunity to drop
out the chains and start being proud of being black. According to Alain Locke
the new negro appears and wanted to arise in the society with their
identity. (Yale, 2014) So, the racial awareness and the identity of the
traditions of black communities were facts that influenced writings as The
Weary Blues by Langston Hughes; Hard-time Blues by William Waring Cuney
and November Cotton Flower by Jean Toomer, this last poem appeared to
express the feelings of this oppressed but strong black race, and the
circumstances they had to face at that time.
Hence, even if the writers wanted to depict the imaginary of the society
where they live, they always wanted to be part of that imaginary. So that, it
is possible to describe literature as something that develops into the society
and through the history of the people resulting a mixture of imaginaries in a
society that the author belongs to, that society is always going to be
represented through literature and literature works as a register of human
history. But even literature has been influenced by society and history or
those factors might change because of literature itself, the most important
factor that ties literature with history and society is the reader as long as
they can identify themselves with the text and all the imaginaries that lie
behind them. That is why the readers perspective is the most important
element that influences history and society in literature: it creates the
possibility to interpret, analyze and to establish the connection between

words in a paper and the words of a society and its imaginaries through the
history.

References
- Albrecht, M. (1954) The Relationship of Literature and Society. Published
by the University of Chicago Press.
- Bierce, A. (2012). An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1st ed.). [S.I.]: Duke
Classics.
- eNotes, (2014). The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Summary - eNotes.com.
Retrieved 25 May 2014, from http://www.enotes.com/celebrated-jumping-text
- Poetryfoundation.org,. (2014). Jean Toomer : The Poetry Foundation.
Retrieved 22 June 2014, from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/jeantoomer
- ShortList, (2014). Edgar Allan Poe. Retrieved 18th April 2014, from
http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/the-life-and-very-mysterious-deathof-edgar-allan-poe
- Taylor, Charles. 2002. Modern Social Imaginaries. Public Culture.
- Toomer, J. (1923). November Cotton Flower (1st ed.).
- Yale.edu, (2014). Alain Locke, Forward to The New Negro, An Interpretation.
Retrieved 25 June 2014, from http://www.yale.edu/glc/archive/1113.htm