美国文学选读名词解释.doc

美国文学选读名词解释.doc

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1.Puritanism（清教主义）:

PuritanismisthepracticesandbeliefsofthePuritans.

1.）simplyspeaking,AmericanPuritanismjustreferstothespiritandidealofpuritans,whosettledintheNorthAmericancontinentintheearlypartoftheseventeenthcenturybecauseofreligiouspersecutions.

2.）Incontentitmeansscrupulous,moralrigor,eapeciallyhostilitytosocialpleasureandreligion.

3.）withtimepassingitbecameadominantfactorinAmericanlife,oneofthemostenduringshapinginfluencesinAmericanthoughtandliterature.tosomeextentitisastateofmind,apartofthenationalculturalatmospherethattheAmericanbreathes,ratherthanasetoftenets.

4.）Actuallyitisacodeofvalues,aphilosophyoflifeandapointofviewinAmericanminds,alsoatwo-facetedtraditionofreligiousidealismandlevel-headedincommonsense.

5）Majortopic:

AmericanPuritanism

Introduction

Therewerenowrittenliteratureamongthemorethan500differentIndianlanguagesandtribalcultures，AmericanwritingbeganwiththeworkofEnglishadventurersandcolonistsintheNewWorldchieflyforthebenefitofreadersinthemothercountry.Thereforethewritinginthisperiodwasessentiallytwokinds:

（1）practicalmatter-of-factaccountsoffarming,hunting,travel,etc.designedtoinformpeople“athome”whatlifewaslikeinthenewworld,and,often,toinducetheirimmigration;

（2）highlytheoretical,generallypolemical（好辩的）,discussionsofreligiousquestions.

2.TheAmericanRomanticism（浪漫主义）

I.WhatisRomanticism

aliterarymovementflourishedasaculturalforce

theearlyperiodandthelateperiod.

associatedwithimaginationandboundlessness,

asanhistoricalmovementitaroseinthe18thand19thcenturies.

ThemostclearlydefinedromanticliterarymovementintheU.S.AwasTranscendentalism.

WashingtonIrvingandJamesFenimoreCooper,

andthoseofthelateperiodcontainRalphWaldoEmerson,HenryDavidThoreau,WaltWhitman,NathanielHawthorne,HermanMelville,EdgarAllanPoe.

II.FeaturesofAmericanromanticism

（1）Itwastheexpressionof“arealnewexperience（全新体验）”.

（2）AmericanPuritanismwasaculturalheritage.ManyAmericanromanticwritingsintendedtoedify（启发）morethantheyentertained.

（3）AmericanRomanticismisfullof“newness（新奇）”.

Ideals：

Individualism;politicalequality

Dream：

America:

anewGardenofEden

（4）Americanromanticismwasbothimitativeandindependent.

3..transcendentalism、（超验主义）transcendentalism:

Itstressedthepowerofintuition,believingthatpeoplecouldlearnthingsbothfromtheoutsideworldbymeansofthefivesensesandfromtheinnerworldbyintuition.IttooknatureassymbolicofspiritorGod.Allthingsinnatureweresymbolsofthespiritual,ofGod’spresence.Itemphasizedthesignificanceoftheindividualandbelievedthattheindividualwasthemostimportantelementinsocietyandthattheidealkindofindividualwasself-reliantandunselfish.Transcendentalistsenvisionedreligionasanemotionalcommunicationbetweenanindividualsoulandtheuniversal“Oversoul”.

4.Naturalism:

Itviewshumanbeingsasanimalsinthenaturalworldrespondingtoenvironmentalforcesandinternalstressesanddrives,overnoneofwhichtheyhavecontrolandnoneofwhichtheyfullyunderstand.Theliterarynaturalistshaveamajordifferencefromtherealists.Theylookatadifferentspottofindreallife.

5.Freeverse:

Itispoetrythathasanirregularrhythmandlinelengthandthatattemptstoavoidanypredeterminedversestructure;instead,itusesthecadencesofnaturalspeech.

6.Internationalnovel:

INbringstogetherpersonsofvariousnationalitieswhorepresentcertaincharacteristicsoftheirowncountries.

7.thelostgeneration:

revealsthehugedestructionofthewarstotheyounggeneration.ItdescribestheAmericanswhoremainedinParisasacolonyof“expatriates”.Theywerelostindisillusionment.

8,AmericanDream:

Americandreammeansthebeliefthateveryonecansucceedaslongashe/sheworkshardenough.Itusuallyimpliesasuccessfulandsatisfyinglife.ItusuallyframedintermsofAmericancapitalism（资本主义）,itsassociatedpurportedmeritocracy,（知识界精华）andthefreedomsguaranteedbytheU.S.BillofRights

9.AmericanRealism:

InAmericanliterature,theCivilWarbroughttheRomanticPeriodtoanend.TheAgeofRealismcameintoexistence.Itcameasareactionagainstthelieofromanticismandsentimentalism.Realismturnedfromanemphasisonthestrangetowardafaithfulrenderingoftheordinary,asliceoflifeasitisreallylived.Itexpressestheconcernforcommonplaceandthelow,anditoffersanobjectiveratherthananidealisticviewofhumannatureandhumanexperience.

10.BlackHumor:

alsocalledBlackComedy,writingthatjuxtaposesmorbidorghastlyelementswithcomicalones.Thetermdidnotcomeintocommonuseuntilthe1960s.Then