The Great British Novel

[RiverNotch]

Whitman and Dickinson created their own poetic, which stamps them as individuals not as Americans.

Possibly Dickinson, but I'd say Whitman wouldn't have been anyone but if he weren't American, considering how America [all caps] permeates the entire body of his work. 

I dunno why I'm sorta defending America on this, especially since they ravage us by the beginning of last century. Maybe it's because I feel like the sense of condescension over here is in large part because America's so young compared to the great western nations, which by extension would just flat-out exclude us developing nations -- at least Harold Bloom invited in the Latin Americans. Or maybe it's just because I love American culture that much, with their blue jeans and pop music.

But as for the topic at hand, I can't really give a proper answer -- I didn't even know "the great American novel" was meant to be anything more than some sort of cultural propaganda. Then again, Austen, Dostoevsky, *Rizal*, Fitzgerald -- it's all Hiligaynon to me.