2. James Fenimore Cooper
Sep.15,1789-Sep.14,1851.
18- 42- 51- 56-
0 1 13 31 34 37 62
22 44 52 59
3. . . . In the customary practice of the day he
was reading aloud to his wife one evening
from a current English novel, but found the
story dull. Throwing it aside, he declared,
"I could write a better book than that
myself." And Susan's challenge to make
good his boast resulted in his writing
Precaution (1820). . .
4. Six “first”
The first successful American historical romance in the
vein of Sir Walter Scott (The Spy, 1821)
The first sea novel (The Pilot, 1824).
The first attempt at a fully researched historical novel
(Lionel Lincoln, 1825).
The first full-scale History of the Navy of the United
States of America (1839).
The first American international novel of manners
(Homeward Bound and Home as Found, 1838).
The first trilogy in American fiction (Satanstoe,
1845; The Chainbearer, 1845; and The Redskins, 1846).
The first and only five-volume epic romance to carry its
mythic hero - Natty Bumppo - from youth to old age.
5. Leatherstocking Tales
The Pioneers (1823) —frontier novel
The Last of the Mohicans (1826)
The Prairie (1827)
The Pathfinder (1840)
The Deerslayer (1841)
6. The Leatherstocking Tales
A series of novels that each featuring the main hero
Natty Bumppo, known by European settlers as
"Leatherstocking," 'The Pathfinder", and "the trapper"
and by the Native Americans as "Deerslayer," "
Carabine" and "Hawkeye".
The five Cooper tales constitute a mythic reproduction
of the whole process: Bumppo once lived in forest as a
pathfinder and deerslayer servicing for Britain. After
war, he was not adapt to the peace life, so he continued
to the deep forest as a pioneer and dead in prairie.
It described Indians' early life and praised their bravery
spirits and justice.
It implied that the author detest North American
colonists and showed sympathy for Indians.
7. . Writing Styles
Plot construction: Cooper was good at inventing plots.
His plots are sometimes quite incredible.
Landscape description: His landscape descriptions are
majestic and suggestive of sir Walter Scott, the
legendary spirit of whose border tales might have been
a source of inspiration for him.
A rich imagination: He had never been to the frontier
and among the Indians and yet could write five huge
epic books about them with his rich imagination. Free
from injustice, he treated the American Indians as noble
savages.
8. Achievements
Cooper hit upon the native subject of frontier and
wilderness.
He contributed to American literature different
subgenres of novels: spy novel, sea novel, frontier
novel, and historical romance.
He created the first legendary frontier hero Natty
Bumppo as the typical Pioneering figure.
He introduced the West and the frontier as a usable past
into American literature, thus ushering in the Western
tradition into American world of letters.
9. Criticism
James Cooper has had many critics. One of the well-
known people who put Cooper's novels under great
scrutiny and attacked his works continuously has been
Mark Twain. Although scholars agree that some of
Cooper's novels have flaws, most concur that he is usually
underestimated. As Warren points out "without Cooper
America would be deprived of brilliant power of
observation."
