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Periodicals/Journalism 19th Century and the American Short Story
1. Contextualization: At the beginning of the 19th century the literacy rates in of the newly independent United States
were dramatically increasing. By the year 1800 literacy was close to 75%. As the 19th century progressed, so did the improvements
of printing press technology. Technological advancements included mechanical printing presses (both rotary and cylinder),
lithography and colored prints. The increase of the population in America throughout the 19th century, as well as the rise
of industrialization, also increased the amount of spend able money. This allowed for magazines and newspapers to establish
themselves as legitimate and specialized businesses. Therefore, periodicals were now became easier to produce, affordable
for the public and were being published on a regular basis. By the end of the century, circulation of one magazine alone could
exceed one hundred thousand, which is close to the entire population of Pittsburgh in 1850.
Between 1800 and 1850 over five thousand new magazines and newspapers were founded in America. Periodicals that addressed
woman's issues were very popular, such as Godey's Lady Book, Ladies' Home Journal, McCall's, and Woman's Home Companion. There
were other periodicals dedicated to specific industries, such as American Banker. Some of the most popular periodicals that
appealed to the widest audiences were those that contained broader content ranging from politics, education, enlightenment,
science, and, literature. These included: American Review, Saturday Evening Post, Graham's and Knickerbocker and popular newspapers
"New York World" and "New York Morning Journal". However, American short fiction was soon to become a
dominant and highly sought after component of periodicals as the 19th century progressed.
2.
Salient Points: The United States Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, including the amendment allowing complete freedom of
press. This allowed writers in America drastically more flexibility than there had been under English rule, therefore ushering
a windfall of new writing and experimentation. The content of periodicals greatly expanded as more and more were introduced.
1803- The Literary Magazine and American Register begins publication with the intent of maintaining a record of American
Literature.
1821- The Saturday Evening Post is introduced and includes a banner/motto reading "A family newspaper devoted to
Literature, Morality, Science, News, Agriculture and Amusement." Edgar Allan Poe&'s short story "The Black
Cat" was published in the Saturday Evening Post in August 1843.
1837- Ralph Waldo Emerson claimed the North American Review (a prominent literary showcase) to be America's "Intellectual
Declaration of Independence."
Also throughout the 19th century, periodicals and newspapers were used as the primary source for education. Since public
libraries were not built in the United States until the late 1830's, periodicals, because they a highly transient and affordable,
fit the need. Newspapers were typically only local in circulation and therefore magazines provided everything else: news,
politics, agriculture, commerce and not to mention, entertainment. Edgar Allan Poe is attributed with coining the term "magazinist";
to describe the circle of authors (himself included) whom were "facile and deft, and who possessed a light touch and
sense of the dramatic and the timely that fitted the particular needs of periodical publication."
3. Influence on the Short Story: At the turn of the 19th century fiction was the decided preference for leisure reading.
Short stories were greatly sought after by American audiences. Periodicals offered many writers an attractive vehicle for
their work, an easy way for them to gain notoriety and reputation as well as, financial benefits. Many of the authors now
considered classic American Literature contributed greatly to magazines and periodicals. Some of the Authors are Nathanial
Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, Walt Whitman and Mark Twain.
It was through periodicals that American literature was able to formulate and grow. The United States was still a newly
independent country and much of the writing done in the 19th century and found in the periodicals contributed to creating
what is the American character and American values and traditions. The American short story developed right along with American
values as this country faced the practical implications and problems of building a country.
At the beginning of the 19th century, there developed the impressionistic short story. This type of fiction relied heavily
on the psychological sate and consciousness of the narrator. These stories concentrated less on realistic circumstances but
rather saw what the narrator perceived as real. Edgar Allan Poe' stories The Tell-Tale Heart and M.S. Found in a Bottle followed
this method.
The Civil War (1861-1865) greatly influenced American writers and led many to philosophize about the control of mankind
over his destiny. This philosophy led to the development of what is now known as American Realism. American realism placed
the characters in what could be seen as real places dealing with real situations. Due to the Civil War, rising industrialization
and urbanism, and an expanding population, the American public looked towards the realist stories in order to help them
deal with all the societal change. Periodicals were publishing stories from authors such as Ambrose Bierce and William Dean
Howells. Bierce's work held a predominate theme of the physical and mental pain that comes with war experience and the disillusionment
associated with it. Howells was publishing a wide variety of work, dealing with a variety of social commentary, including
labor issues, capitalism, slavery, and crime.
4. Connections to our Class: Many of the authors that we will be reading in this will have close connections to the periodicals
of the 19th century and the development of the short story. Every 19th century author we will be reading published a large
amount of their work directly into periodicals. The Murders in the Rue Morgue, by Edgar Allan Poe was first published in
Graham's in April, 1841. Ethan Brand by Nathanial Hawthorne, was first published in Boston weekly Museum in January, 1850.
Young Goodman Brown, also by Hawthorne, was published in April, 1835 in New England Magazine. Washington Irving's Rip Van
Winkle was first seen in the seven part serial The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1819. In July 1890, The San Francisco
Examiner publishd Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, by
Mark Twain, first appeared in the New York Saturday Press in November of 1865.
Authors, such as Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, William Dean Howells and Nathanial Hawthorne were maintaining a
living for both writing for and editing various periodicals. Poe was paid $4 a page by Graham's for his stories and was
later making $800 a year as its editor. In 1836 Hawthorne served as editor for the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining
Knowledge. Providing editing and commentary for various periodicals is the way in which these authors kept a close connection
to literary community and continued writing themselves.
It is Edgar Allan Poe that is credited with the honor of defining the guidelines for a true short story. In 1846,
Poe published an essay entitled Philosophy of Composition where he praised the art of concise and effective writing that
can be ingested in a single sitting. Poe writes, "If any literary work is too long to be read at one sitting, we must
be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression- fro, if two sittings is to
be required, the affairs of the world I interfere and everything like totality is at once destroyed." Through this
essay, Poe reduces the act of writing and producing literature (both short stories and poetry) down to a specific scientific
formula. It is this method that is still loosely followed today.
Material was collected from these books and websites:
The Magazine: From Cover to Cover. Sammye Johnson & Patricia Prijatel. 1998.
Magazines in the United States. 2nd Edition. James Platsted Wood. 1956.
http:/www.westminsterjournalism.co.uk/print06/literary%20Tradition/19thfront.html
http:/www.eapoe.org
http:/www.pambytes.com/poe/poe.html
http:/www.Georgetown.edu/guides/19thcentury/19thindex.htm
http:/www.uncp.edu/hom/canada/work/allam/18661913/lit/bierce.htm
http:/www.bartleby.com/109/11.htm
http:/www.britannica.com/ebc/article-51051
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