Has literature ever had the power to change historical trends and the state of society? Someone who is in love with literature will say - oh yes, sure, writers and their works have great power. However, sober thinking would change this assessment of the enthusiastic reader. Because if literature had ever fundamentally influenced history and social movements, both history and reality would have been different. But, on the other hand, the influence of literature should not be underestimated. It is a fact that some literary works influenced the change of laws and social rules, as well as the general perception of the public on certain important issues. Therefore, if literature could not fundamentally change history and direct its course, it certainly had a huge emancipatory role in various periods of the development of society and culture. In this presentation, only some important writers and works, mainly novels and plays, are listed in this sense. A real investigation would require a much more extensive study. The presentation used paintings by great American painter Edward Hopper. His painting "American Locomotive" is on the first page of the presentation.

2. ARTISTIC CRITERIA
• The assertion that literature could decisively impact history and social movements
would be somewhat pretentious.
• Primarily because crafting good literary works isn’t akin to writing manifestos or
calls to social action, regardless of their engagement.
• Good literature should primarily meet artistic criteria.
• Another reason lies in the fact that literature isn’t as mass-oriented as, for instance,
film, which undoubtedly has an advantage in influencing historical circumstances,
although not to be exaggerated.

4. A CERTAIN INDIRECT INFLUENCE
• Literature has certainly had a certain indirect influence on social movements,
sometimes prompting political establishments, intellectual elites, or parts of certain
classes to ponder.
• Still, it cannot be claimed that this influence was decisive.
• A completely different question is the personal engagement of a writer in shaping
history.

5. “UNCLE TOM’S CABIN”
• Concerning American literature, it is known that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s work,
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, had certain influences on the leading politicians of that time.
• This novel undoubtedly drew the attention of the public and the establishment to
the issues of slavery and painful racial questions, sparking a public debate that
resulted in the adoption of some anti-slavery measures.

7. “THE SCARLET LETTER”
• “The Scarlet Letter” is a novel by American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne from 1850.
• It is considered his best achievement.
• The novel, set in the Puritan colony of Massachusetts in the period from 1642 do
1649, follows the life of the main character Hester Prynne, a widow who gave birth
to a child in an adulterous affair, for which she is punished by having to wear a dress
with the scarlet letter “A” (“adulteress); despite everything, she refuses to reveal the
name of the man with whom she sinned.
•

9. FIRST BESTSELLER
• “The Scarlet Letter”, despite protests from certain religious circles, experienced great
success and became one of the first bestsellers in the history of American literature.
• Given its popularity, as well as the influence it had on future American writers, it is
often called the first great American novel.

11. “MAGGIE: A GIRL OF THE STREETS”
• “Maggie: A Girl of the Streets” is an 1893 novella by American author Stephen Crane
(1871 – 1900).
• The story centers on Maggie, a young girl from the Bowery who is driven to
unfortunate circumstances by poverty and solitude.
• The work was considered risqué by publishers because of its literary realism and
strong themes.

13. AN INTELLIGENT OBSERVER OF
SOCIAL REALITY
• Mark Twain’s remarkable Huckleberry Finn novel also raises some important social
issues as well as racial ones.
• In addition, the involvement of this giant of American literature as a satirist and an
intelligent observer of social reality is impressive.

15. UPTON SINCLAIR AND EDITH
WHARTON
• Exploring Upton Sinclair’s impact could involve delving into his masterpiece, “The
Jungle”, which spurred significant changes in food and labor regulations,
showcasing his role in the social justice movement.
• Edith Wharton, on the other hand, could be highlighted for her work “The Age of
Innocence”, analyzing societal norms and constraints during the Gilded Age.
• Emphasizing her critique of high society and achievements in women’s writing
would enrich the discussion.

17. “AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY”
• Theodore Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy” has a pronounced social note (it tells
about the tragic journey of a young man who wants to reach the American dream at
all costs, and ends up in prison for the crime he committed), but it is challenging to
say whether the novel or the film based on it, titled “A Place in the Sun”, had a
greater impact.
• It featured Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor.

19. SINCLAIR LEWIS, HEMINGWAY,
FAULKNER
• The first American Nobel laureate, Sinclair Lewis, impressively talks about the
apparently only American, but in fact universal, topic of discrimination and the
power of prejudice in his dark satirical novel “Kingsblood Royal”.
• Another great American Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway sends strong anti-war
messages with his novels, but he does not forget the problem of social injustice.
• William Faulkner, another American Nobel laureate, in his own, artistic way, observes
and analyzes the problems of the American South.

21. HENRY MILLER
• Henry Miller, primarily due to the prolonged ban of his “Tropic of Cancer”, first
stepped onto the international and then onto the American scene.
• Still, that didn’t prevent him from becoming an inspiration to many, not just writers,
even decades later, including in the way of life found in his works.

23. AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHTS
• American playwrights, Eugene O’Neill, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, shaped
the theatrical scene, influencing societal awareness.
• We would highlight Arthur Miller, especially concerning influences and reflections of
social reality, particularly evident in the plays “The Crucible” and “Death of a
Salesman”.
• “The Crucible” is a drama set in a historical context, it tells about the Salem witch
trial in the 17th century, but its messages are universal and timeless, although those
messages certainly touch on the current polical situation in the USA in the 1950s
and the McCarthy “witch hunt”.

25. “THE GRAPES OF WRATH”
• Nobel laureate John Steinbeck faced criticism for his socially engaged novel “The
Grapes of Wrath”.
• Eleanor Roosevelt, the First lady of America, defended it, admiring the literary skill
of the great American writer.
• This, on her part, was a commendable move because the criticism went to the
extent that Steinbeck’s novel was “banished” and undesirable in some parts of
America.
• Therefore, this could also be called the influence of literature on the establishment
and the change that the same establishment undergoes under the influence of
literature.

27. “INVISIBLE MAN”
• In the mid 20th century, with a unique voice on racial, social issues, and injustices
stemming from political manipulation, extraordinarily talented African American
writer Ralph Ellison spoke in his novel “Invisible Man”.
• It’s not a political novel but a lucid vivisection of a society where some human
beings are “invisible”.
• Questions of identity, racial division, and the tragic consequences arising from it will
be addressed by Alex Haley in his novel “Roots”, which will be the basis for a world-
famous series.
• Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s work “Beloved” also seeks answers to the same and
many other questions.

29. “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD”
• When it comes to the famous novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, it must
be acknowledged that its influence and popularity were significantly contributed to
by an excellent film based on this novel, in which Gregory Peck played the role of
Atticus Finch masterfully.
• The novel which talks about the power of prejudice, racial and social injustice and
discrimination, the bias of the public and judicial authorities, but also courage,
morality, dignity, incorruptibility, justice, humanity and family love and loyalty,
quickly became a favorite literary work of millions of Americans and an integral part
school readings not only in America.

32. THE BEAT GENERATION AND HIPPIE
MOVEMENT
• Jack Kerouac had a significant influence on the Beat Generation with his novel “On
the Road”.
• Alongside him, the poet Ginsberg played a role. Later, Bob Dylan would come…
• The hippie movement follows. Jim Morrison and the phenomenon of The Doors…

34. JOHN UPDIKE AND PHILIP ROTH
• John Updike addresses the middle class and the upheavals within it in the ‘60 and
‘70.
• His works undoubtedly have a certain influence on those who read them, and their
number was not small.
• The novel “Couples” is associated with the sexual revolution, but it is much more as
it speaks to the crisis of family values, so it could be classified as moralistic novels.
• Little by little, we will come to Philip Roth and “American Pastoral”…

36. BACK TO FITZGERALD AND
CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS
• Several movie adaptations of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” will contribute
to the reactivation of the question of the “American Dream”.
• Contemporary author Jonathan Franzen speaks about the crisis of the family and
other painful and less painful issues.
• One of the contemporary serious candidates for the Nobel Prize, Paul Auster, in the
part of his novel “4,3,2,1” talks about the student’s riots at Columbia University in
the late 1960s in an almost documentary and very precise manner.
• Those were really interesting and turbulent times…

39. A HUGE EMANCIPATORY ROLE
• And so, there are many more examples. Starting with Edgar Allan Poe and Herman
Melville, Gertrude Stein, John Dos Passos, Elie Wiesel, Saul Bellow, and many others,
up to contemporary writers as Brett Easton Ellis, for example. American literature is
very rich.
• However, like any other literature, it does not have the power or the goal to
decisively shape history.
• But what must be said is that American literature has always had, and still has, a
huge emancipatory role.
• And not only in America, but all over the world.