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Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses

November 12, 2023

"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" (originally titled "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences") is an essay by Mark Twain, written as a satire of literary criticism and as a critique of the writings of the novelist James Fenimore Cooper, that appeared in the July 1895 issue of North American Review.[1][2] It draws on examples from The Deerslayer and The Pathfinder from Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales.

Mark Twain about 1895

The essay is characteristic of Twain's biting, derisive, and highly satirical style of literary criticism, a form he also used to deride such authors as Oliver Goldsmith, George Eliot, Jane Austen, and Robert Louis Stevenson.[3]

Summary edit

Twain begins by quoting a few critics who praise the works of Cooper: Brander Matthews, Thomas Lounsbury, and Wilkie Collins. He then claims that they have never read the novels themselves, and that Cooper's work is seriously flawed:

In one place in "Deerslayer," and in the restricted space of two-thirds of a page, Cooper has scored 114 offenses against literary art out of a possible 115. It breaks the record.[4]

He goes on to list 18 separate literary rules he feels that Cooper does not follow, such as "The tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere. But the "Deerslayer" accomplishes nothing and arrives in the air" and "The author shall use the right word, not its second cousin." Twain continues on with few positive things to say about Cooper's writing, citing several examples from Cooper's writing to illustrate the unbelievable excess of the style and Cooper's careless approach to literary craft.[4]

Reception edit

 
James Fenimore Cooper in an 1822 portrait

Everett Emerson (in Mark Twain: A Literary Life) wrote that the essay is "possibly the author's funniest".[5] Joseph Andriano, in The Mark Twain Encyclopedia, argued that Twain "Imposed the standards of Realism on Romance" and that this incongruity is a major source of the humor in the essay.[6]

Perhaps inevitably, Twain's essay has been criticized by proponents of Cooper as unfair and distorted.[7] Cooper scholars Lance Schachterle and Kent Ljungquist write, "Twain's deliberate misreading of Cooper has been devastating....Twain valued economy of style (a possible but not necessary criterion), but such concision simply was not characteristic of many early nineteenth-century novelists' work."[8]

Similarly, John McWilliams comments:

Hilarious though Twain's essay is, it is valid only within its own narrow and sometimes misapplied criteria. Whether Twain is attacking Cooper's diction or Hawkeye's tracking feats, his strategy is to charge Cooper with one small inaccuracy, reconstruct the surrounding narrative or sentence around it, and then produce the whole as evidence that Cooper's kind of English would prevent anyone from seeing reality.[1]

Literary scholar Sydney J. Krause, while agreeing that the "sulfurous grumblings over Cooper [are] hardly the work of a judicious person," sees Twain's satire as an attack on Romanticism in general and a formal announcement that Romantic literature "was a literary dead letter in post-Civil War America."[1]

Continuation edit

A second essay, continuing and completing the original 1895 essay, was published after Twain's death under the title "Fenimore Cooper's Further Literary Offenses" in The New England Quarterly (vol XIX, pp. 291–30, September 1946) as edited by Bernard DeVoto.[6] It was reprinted under the title "Cooper's Prose Style" in the collection Letters from the Earth (on pp 139–150 of the 2004 Harper edition).[9] This essay includes the passage which explains the "114 out of a possible 115" mentioned in the original essay. It is discussed in the "Editor's Notes" in the Letters from the Earth collection.[10] Everett H. Emerson says that the sequel is "less funny but still amusing."[5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses (Introduction)". Twain's Indians. University of Virginia. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  2. ^ https://www.jstor.org/stable/25103547
  3. ^ Feinstein, George W (January 1948). "Twain as Forerunner of Tooth-and-Claw Criticism". Modern Language Notes. 63 (1): 49–50. doi:10.2307/2908644. JSTOR 2908644.
  4. ^ a b Twain, Mark. "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses". Twain's Indians. University of Virginia. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  5. ^ a b Emerson, Everett H. (1999). Mark Twain: A Literary Life. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 206. ISBN 0812235169.
  6. ^ a b Andriano, Joseph (1993). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Mark Twain. p. 287. ISBN 978-0824072124. Online excerpt.
  7. ^ Schachterle, Lance & Ljungquist, Kent (1988). Myerson, Joel (ed.). "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Defenses: Twain and the Text of The Deerslayer". Studies in the American Renaissance. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. pp. 401–417.
  8. ^ Schachterle & Ljungquist, p. 410
  9. ^ "Bibliographical Note" in Letters from the Earth(1962) p.319 of the 2004 Harper edition, ISBN 978-0-06-051865-3
  10. ^ On p. 301 of the 2004 Harper edition

External links edit

 
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences
  • Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses at Project Gutenberg
  • Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses at the University of Virginia
  •   Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses public domain audiobook at LibriVox
  • at Llumina Press

November 12, 2023
fenimore, cooper, literary, offenses, originally, titled, fenimore, cooper, literary, offences, essay, mark, twain, written, satire, literary, criticism, critique, writings, novelist, james, fenimore, cooper, that, appeared, july, 1895, issue, north, american,. Fenimore Cooper s Literary Offenses originally titled Fenimore Cooper s Literary Offences is an essay by Mark Twain written as a satire of literary criticism and as a critique of the writings of the novelist James Fenimore Cooper that appeared in the July 1895 issue of North American Review 1 2 It draws on examples from The Deerslayer and The Pathfinder from Cooper s Leatherstocking Tales Mark Twain about 1895The essay is characteristic of Twain s biting derisive and highly satirical style of literary criticism a form he also used to deride such authors as Oliver Goldsmith George Eliot Jane Austen and Robert Louis Stevenson 3 Contents 1 Summary 2 Reception 3 Continuation 4 References 5 External linksSummary editTwain begins by quoting a few critics who praise the works of Cooper Brander Matthews Thomas Lounsbury and Wilkie Collins He then claims that they have never read the novels themselves and that Cooper s work is seriously flawed In one place in Deerslayer and in the restricted space of two thirds of a page Cooper has scored 114 offenses against literary art out of a possible 115 It breaks the record 4 He goes on to list 18 separate literary rules he feels that Cooper does not follow such as The tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere But the Deerslayer accomplishes nothing and arrives in the air and The author shall use the right word not its second cousin Twain continues on with few positive things to say about Cooper s writing citing several examples from Cooper s writing to illustrate the unbelievable excess of the style and Cooper s careless approach to literary craft 4 Reception edit nbsp James Fenimore Cooper in an 1822 portraitEverett Emerson in Mark Twain A Literary Life wrote that the essay is possibly the author s funniest 5 Joseph Andriano in The Mark Twain Encyclopedia argued that Twain Imposed the standards of Realism on Romance and that this incongruity is a major source of the humor in the essay 6 Perhaps inevitably Twain s essay has been criticized by proponents of Cooper as unfair and distorted 7 Cooper scholars Lance Schachterle and Kent Ljungquist write Twain s deliberate misreading of Cooper has been devastating Twain valued economy of style a possible but not necessary criterion but such concision simply was not characteristic of many early nineteenth century novelists work 8 Similarly John McWilliams comments Hilarious though Twain s essay is it is valid only within its own narrow and sometimes misapplied criteria Whether Twain is attacking Cooper s diction or Hawkeye s tracking feats his strategy is to charge Cooper with one small inaccuracy reconstruct the surrounding narrative or sentence around it and then produce the whole as evidence that Cooper s kind of English would prevent anyone from seeing reality 1 Literary scholar Sydney J Krause while agreeing that the sulfurous grumblings over Cooper are hardly the work of a judicious person sees Twain s satire as an attack on Romanticism in general and a formal announcement that Romantic literature was a literary dead letter in post Civil War America 1 Continuation editA second essay continuing and completing the original 1895 essay was published after Twain s death under the title Fenimore Cooper s Further Literary Offenses in The New England Quarterly vol XIX pp 291 30 September 1946 as edited by Bernard DeVoto 6 It was reprinted under the title Cooper s Prose Style in the collection Letters from the Earth on pp 139 150 of the 2004 Harper edition 9 This essay includes the passage which explains the 114 out of a possible 115 mentioned in the original essay It is discussed in the Editor s Notes in the Letters from the Earth collection 10 Everett H Emerson says that the sequel is less funny but still amusing 5 References edit a b c Fenimore Cooper s Literary Offenses Introduction Twain s Indians University of Virginia Retrieved 31 December 2012 https www jstor org stable 25103547 Feinstein George W January 1948 Twain as Forerunner of Tooth and Claw Criticism Modern Language Notes 63 1 49 50 doi 10 2307 2908644 JSTOR 2908644 a b Twain Mark Fenimore Cooper s Literary Offenses Twain s Indians University of Virginia Retrieved 31 December 2012 a b Emerson Everett H 1999 Mark Twain A Literary Life University of Pennsylvania Press p 206 ISBN 0812235169 a b Andriano Joseph 1993 The Routledge Encyclopedia of Mark Twain p 287 ISBN 978 0824072124 Online excerpt Schachterle Lance amp Ljungquist Kent 1988 Myerson Joel ed Fenimore Cooper s Literary Defenses Twain and the Text of The Deerslayer Studies in the American Renaissance Columbia SC University of South Carolina Press pp 401 417 Schachterle amp Ljungquist p 410 Bibliographical Note in Letters from the Earth 1962 p 319 of the 2004 Harper edition ISBN 978 0 06 051865 3 On p 301 of the 2004 Harper editionExternal links edit nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article Fenimore Cooper s Literary Offences Fenimore Cooper s Literary Offenses at Project Gutenberg Fenimore Cooper s Literary Offenses at the University of Virginia nbsp Fenimore Cooper s Literary Offenses public domain audiobook at LibriVox Cooper s Prose Style at Llumina Press Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fenimore Cooper 27s Literary Offenses amp oldid 1179100788, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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