A brief summary of American literature.docx

A brief summary of American literature.docx

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AbriefsummaryofAmericanliterature

AbriefsummaryofAmericanliterature

CONTEHT

1.Abstract

2.Briefintroduction

3.AmericanRomanticism

3.1backgroundofAmericanRomanticism

3.2majorcharacteristicoftheRomanticism

3.3representativewritersandworks

4.AmericanRealism

4.1backgroundofRealism

4.2majorcharacteristicofRealism

4.3representativewritersofRealism

5.AmericanNaturalism

5.1backgroundofNaturalism

5.2majorcharacteristicofNaturalism

5.3representativewritersofNaturalism

6.AmericanModernism

6.1backgroundofModernism

6.2majorcharacteristicofModernism

6.3representativewritersofModernism

7.Conclusions

8.Biographies

1.Abstract

Inthispaper,IamgoingtomakeabriefsummaryofAmericanLiterature;mainlywe’llcatchaglimpseofAmericanLiteratureoftheperiodfromAmericanRomanticismtoModernism.AndIwilldivideditintofourparts,includingRomanticism,Realism,Naturalismandmodernism,andintroducethemonebyone.Toachievethisgoal,Iwillmainlydealwiththeaspectsofthebackground:

themajorcharacteristic,themostrepresentativewritersandtheirmajorachievements.AndfinallyIwillmakeaconclusiononAmericanLiteratureonitsdevelopmentandmainfeaturesandthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenAmericanandEuropeanLiterature,especiallyBritishLiterature.

Keywords:

AmericanRomanticism;AmericanRealism;AmericanNaturalism;AmericanModernism;

在这篇论文中我将主要从美国的浪漫主义到现代主义这个文学发展阶段出发，对美国文学的发展史做一个简要的介绍和总结。

按照不同阶段的不同特点，这个文学时期由主要分文四个文学阶段：

浪漫主义，现实主义，自然主义，现代主义。

这里我将主要从三个方面对没一个时期的文学现象进行总结分析----历史背景、主要的特征和思想以及代表作家以及代表作。

最后还将对美国文学的发展和特征进行整体的分析总结，并简要的对比美国文学和欧洲文学特别是英国文学的异同点.

关键字：

美国浪漫主义；美国现实主义；美国自然主义；美国现代主义

2.Introduction

TheUnitedStatesisaveryyoungcountryanditsliteraturehasahistoryofonlysome400years.Despiteitsshorthistory,Americanliterature,likethenation,hasrapidlydevelopedlikemushroomsandsoonreachesveryhighlevel.

Generally,wedivideAmericanliteratureintoseveralages,suchasEarlyAmericanLiterature,includingliteratureoftheColonialPeriodandliteratureofEnlightenmentandRevolution,Romanticism,Realism,Naturalismandsoon.HereImainlytalkabouttheliteratureoftheRomanticism,Realism,NaturalismandModernism.

ItiswellacknowledgedthatAmericanLiteraturereachedveryhighstandardinthe19sandearly20s,whichcoverstheagesofRomanticism,Realism,Naturalismandmodernism.TheAmericanRomanticPeriodstretchedfromtheendof18thcenturytothebreakoftheCivilWarin1865;theageofRealismcoveredtheyearsbetween1865and1914;theperiodbetweenthetwoworldwarssawthedominationofAmericanModernism.

ThoseperiodshavewitnessedthebloomingofAmericanLiteratureandcrowdofmastersandhandfulsplendidworks.

3.AmericanRomanticism

3.1backgrounds

ThereareplentyoffactorsthatcontributedtotheprosperityofAmericanLiterature.AmericawonitsindependenceandfreefromthecontrolofBritainattheendof18thcentury.Afterthe1812waragainstEngland,theUnitedStateswasfinallyfree.TheseveranceofpoliticaltiedwiththeEmpireleftsomeimportantlegacieswhichworkedassolidfoundationtopromotetheU.S.asafutureworldleadingnation.TheUnitedStatespromoteditselfabeaconofmorality,anditsstriveforlibertyandprosperityanditsrichnessinnaturalresourceprovidedthenewborncountrywithabrightfuture.TheindustrialrevolutionhadaresoundingeffectonAmericaneconomyandurbanization.Therisingmaterialismandfocusonbusinessatthecostofthemindandthespiritwasignitingreformmovementsalloverthenation.Governmentmadelawstoprotectwriters’rights,andreaders,especiallywomen,wereeagertoexpendtheirminds.

AfterthefoundoftheUnitedStates,immigrantsfloodedintothepromisinglandandthepopulationofthenationwasincrediblyexpanded,fromonly5,308,483inhabitantsin1800to76,000,000justinafewdecades.MassimmigrantsfromdifferentcontinentmadeAmericanasocietyfullofdiversityandthisalsocontributedgreatlytotheprosperityofitsliterature.

3.2Characteristics

Romanticismisatermthatisassociatedwithimaginationandboundlessnessandincriticalusageisincontractwithclassicism,whichiscommonlyassociatedwithreasonandrestriction.Aromanticattitudemaybedetectedinliteratureinthe18thand19thcenturiesinreactiontomorerationalliterary,philosophic,artistic,religiousandeconomicstandards.Themostprofoundandcomprehensiveideaofromanticismistheversionofagreaterpersonalfreedomofindividual

Theromanticismemphasizesexpressiveness,imagination,simplicityandtheworshipofnature.Romanticistsheldthatwritersshouldnotexpresstheiremotions,feelings,impressions,instincts,intuition,ortheirbeliefintheirworksinsteadoftheimitationoftheclassicalwriters.

AmericanRomanticismsharesmanycharacteristicswithBritishRomanticism.ItwasgreatlyinspiredbyBritishromanticistssuchasWordsworth,ColeridgeandKeatsetc.whileAmericanRomanticismdisplaysfeatureofitsown:

itwasessencetheexpressionof”anewexperienceandanewcountry”andcontainsanalienquality.Also,theexperienceofpioneeringtothewestandthenationalidentityshowsthroughintheirworkssuchastheimaginationoffrontiersmanandtheprototypeofcowboy.AmericanRomanticismadvocatedspiritualintuitionorself-individualismandsociallysearchedforfairness,equalityandfreedomandwaspoliticallyaggressive.The“self”intheconsciousnessoftheindividualemergedasthecoreoftheAmericanRomanticwriters.

3.3Majorwritersandworks

TherearemanyfamouswritersatthattimeandamongthemarenovelistsasWashingtonIrving,JamesFennimorecooper,NathanielHawthorneandHermanMelville,non-fictionprosewritersasRalphWaldoEmersonandHenryDavidThoreauandpoetsasEdgarAllenPoe,WaltWhitmanandEmilyDickenson.TheAmericannovelsofthisperiodwereinclinedtoexpresswhatHawthornecalledthe“Romance“.HereIamgoingtointroducesomeofthemtoyou.

WashingtonIrvingwasbornonApril30,1783,inNewYorkandwasthefirstU.S.authortoachieveinternationalrenown.Hewasalsoconsidered“TheFatherofAmericanLiterature”or“TheFatherofAmericanLetters,”aswellasoneoftheinventorsofmodernshortessayandfiction.

HeisbestknownforhiscollectedworksLettersofJonathanOldstyle,Gen,（1802-1803）RipVanWinkleandTheLegendofSleepHollowcollectedintheSketchBook（1820）.WashingtonIrvingwonbountifulgloriesinthehallofliterature.

NathanielHawthorneranksamongthebest19thcenturyAmericannovelists.Hewasbornin1804,inSalem,Massachusetts.HisfamousworksincludesMossesfromanOldManseandTheScarletLetter.MostofhisworksweresetonNewEngland.HewasthefirstmajornovelistsinEnglishtocombinemoralitywithart.

HenryDavidThoreauwasanAmericanpoet,essayist,philosopher,naturalistandenvironmentalscientist.HewasborntoaFrenchdescentfamilyinconcord,Massachusettsin1817.ThoreauhasbeenregardedasaprophetofindividualisminAmericanliterature.HismasterpieceWaldenisnowbeentalkedeverywhere.

EdgarAllanPoe,borninBoston,onJanuary19,1809,wasanAmericanpoets,criticandshortstorywriter.Thepoems“AnnabelLee”and“ToHelen”arethemostfamousones.

4.AmericanRealism

4.1backgrounds

Attheyear1865,AmericanCivilWarendedwiththenorthwinningthewar.Afterthecivilwar,American’seconomydevelopedrapidlyandsocietybecamemoreandmorecomplex.Andtheonceflourishedidealisticromanticismcouldnolongerfullyreflectthecomplexrealityandthefastchangingsociety.

Thecivilwarhadbeen,atleastinpart,astragglebetweentheconceptofagrariandemocracyandthatofindustrialandcapitalisticdemocracy,andtheresultofthenorthernvictorywasthetriumphantemergenceofindividualismandthepromotionofthe“ragtorich”concept.Thisindustrialismwastobringgreatmechanicalandmaterialadvancesforthenationbutitwasalsotobringgreatdifficultiesintheformofseverelabordisputes,economicdepression,andstrikesthateruptedinviolence.Americadrewfarawayfromitsoriginaldream.Theunfairnessofthedistributionofwealthmadethecontractofthesocietysharper.AsCarnegiewrote:

Thecontractbetweenthepalaceofthemillionaireandthecottageofthelaborerwithustodaymeasuresthechangethathascomewithcivilization.Thischange,however,isnottobedeplored,butwelcomeashighlybeneficial.

AndaftertheAmericanCivilWar,issuesconcerningregionsbecamemoreandmoreserious,andAmericanregionalismbecamemorepopularaftertheCivilWar.

4.2characteristics

Realisticfictionisthoughttobewrittentogivetheeffectthatitrepresentslifeandthesocialworldasitseemstobetothecommonreader,evokingthesensethatitscharactersmightinfactexist,andthatsuchthingsmighthappeninreallife.Realism,asaliterarymovement,aroseinreactionagainst“thelie”oftheromanticismandsentimentalism.

Generally,thoserealisticwriters’writingconcernedwiththelifeofasmalltown.RealismseekstoportrayAmericanlifeasitreallyis,insistingthattheordinary,thelocal,andeventhevulgarandthecoarsearesuitableforartisticportrayasthemagnificentastheandtheremote.Apartfromthetruthfulnessofdetail,typicalcharacterinthetypicalenvironmentisanessentialqualityofrealism.

4.3Majorwritersandworks.

ThegreatauthorialtriumviratesofAmericanrealismwereWilliamsDeanHowells,MarkTwain,andHenryJames.Theymovedwellbeyondasuperficialportrayof19thcentury