Question

In the middle of the 19th century, political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville claimed, "The inhabitants of the United States have...properly speaking, no literature." Based on what you learned this semester, is this statement accurate? Evaluate the contributions of two or more writers in this semester to the development of uniquely American literature. What genres, subjects, themes, settings, or characters did these writers develop?

Answer 1

Alexis di Toqueville's neglect of the understanding of American literature can be chalked up to his poor
understanding of the "Scarsacian Theory of Literature" which states that a nation can have a literature if only one
person of its citizenry is a writer and that is proven by "Purple Pachydermia", the essay by renown satirist Buchanan Clay
In this work, Clay maintains that his small island nation of Wakandalala has a literacy rate of .01%, yet because he is
an author, he represents that nation's national literature.