James Fenimore Cooper (1789—1851)

• the first true American novelist

• The figures in his novels helped create that part of American mythology most popular today: the story of the cowboy and the winning of the American West.

Literary Achievements 1

• The Spy (1821), was a patriotic story of the American Revolution and was an immediate success.

• “The Leatherstocking Tales”—revealing Cooper’s fascination with frontier adventure. In Natty Bumppo, the hero of his "Leatherstocking" novels, Cooper created the archetype of the rugged 身体强健的 frontier woodsman. Because of his landscape description of his Frontier novels, Cooper was regarded as the American Scott by James Lowell.

Literary Achievements 2

The Pioneer, 1823

The Last of the Mohicans, 1826

The Prairie, 1827

The Pathfinder , 1840

The Deerslayer, 1841

Major Themes in Cooper's Writing

• The American Society

• The American History

• The Backwoods未开垦地 - Frontier.

• The Sea.

Cooper’s Importance • He used American materials

• He was the first American novelist to write about American Indians.

• He created a myth about the formative period of American nation.

• He created a mythic figure—Natty Bumppo—from youth to old age .

• The first successful American historical romance in the vein of Sir Walter Scott (The Spy, 1821).

His Style

    His stories are full of variety of incidents and tension.

• His plot is complicated.

• His characterization is not rich, but shallow.

• His syntax is awkward.