ABSTRACT
Arttransmittingthesimplestfeelingsofcommonlife,butsuchalwaysas areaccessibletoallmeninthewholeworld-theartofcommonlife-theart ofapeople-universalart.-TOLSTOY:WhatisArt?
ItisamarkofthedemocraticindependenceofAmericathatshehas betrayedasingularindifferencetotheappraisalofherliteratureat thehandsofforeigncriticism.Uponherwriterswhohaveexhibited derivativegenius-Irving,Hawthorne,Emerson,Longfellow-Americancriticismhaslavishedthemostextravaganteulogiums.Thethree geniuseswhohavemadepermanentcontributionstoworldliterature, whohaveeitherembodiedinthecompletestdegreethespiritof Americandemocracyorwhohavewonthewidestfollowingof imitatorsandadmirersinforeigncotmtries,stillawaittheirfinaland justdesertsatthehandsofcriticalopinionintheirownland.The geniusofEdgarAllanPoegaverisetoschoolsofliteratureinFrance
andonthecontinentofEurope;yetinAmericahisnameremained untilnowdebarredfrominclusioninaso-calledHallofFame!Walt WhitmanandMarkTwain,thetwogreatinterpretersandembodimentsofAmerica,representthesupremecontributionofdemocracy touniversalliterature.Insofarasitislegitimateforanyonetobe denominateda'self-mademan'inliterature,thesetwomenarejustly entitledtothatcharacterization.TheyowenothingtoEuropean literature-theirgeniusistranscendentlyoriginal,native,democratic. ThecaseofMarkTwainisaliteraryphenomenonwhichimposesupon criticism,peculiarlyuponAmericancriticism,thedistinctobligation oftracingthestepsinhisunhaltingclimbtoaneminencecompletely internationalincharacter.MarkTwainachievedthateminenceby thesolepowerofbrainandpersonality.Inthissensehiscareeris unprecedentedandunparalleledinthehistoryofAmericanliterature. Criticismmustdefinethosesignalqualities,traits,characteristicsindividual,literary,social,racial,national-whichencompassedhis world-widefame.Forifitbetruethatthejudgmentofforeignnations isvirtuallythejudgmentofposterity,thenisMarkTwainalreadya classic.
