美国文学简史笔记常耀信.docx

1、美国文学简史笔记常耀信A Concise History of American LiteratureWhat is literature?Literature is language artistically used to achieve identifiable literary qualities and to convey meaningful messages.Chapter 1 Colonial PeriodI.Background: Puritanism1.features of Puritanism(1)Predestination: God decided everythi

2、ng before things occurred.(2)Original sin: Human beings were born to be evil, and this original sin can be passed down from generation to generation.(3)Total depravity(4)Limited atonement: Only the “elect” can be saved.2.Influence(1)A group of good qualities hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety (serio

3、us and thoughtful) influenced American literature.(2)It led to the everlasting myth. All literature is based on a myth garden of Eden.(3)Symbolism: the American puritans metaphorical mode of perception was chiefly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American.(

4、4)With regard to their writing, the style is fresh, simple and direct; the rhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible.II.Overview of the literature1.types of writingdiaries, histories, journals, letters, travel books, autobiogra

5、phies/biographies, sermons2.writers of colonial period(1)Anne Bradstreet(2)Edward Taylor(3)Roger Williams(4)John Woolman(5)Thomas Paine(6)Philip FreneauIII.Jonathan Edwards1.life2.works(1)The Freedom of the Will(2)The Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended(3)The Nature of True Virtue3.ideas pioneer

6、 of transcendentalism(1)The spirit of revivalism(2)Regeneration of man(3)Gods presence(4)Puritan idealismIV.Benjamin Franklin1.life2.works(1)Poor Richards Almanac(2)Autobiography3.contribution(1)He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the American Philosophical Society.(2)He was called “the ne

7、w Prometheus who had stolen fire (electricity in this case) from heaven”.(3)Everything seems to meet in this one man “Jack of all trades”. Herman Melville thus described him “master of each and mastered by none”.Chapter 2 American RomanticismSection 1 Early Romantic PeriodWhat is Romanticism?An appr

8、oach from ancient Greek: PlatoA literary trend: 18c in Britain (17981832)Schlegel Bros.I.Preview: Characteristics of romanticism1.subjectivity(1)feeling and emotions, finding truth(2)emphasis on imagination(3)emphasis on individualism personal freedom, no hero worship, natural goodness of human bein

9、gs2.back to medieval, esp medieval folk literature(1)unrestrained by classical rules(2)full of imagination(3)colloquial language(4)freedom of imagination(5)genuine in feelings: answer their call for classics3.back to naturenature is “breathing living thing” (Rousseau)II.American Romanticism1.Backgro

10、und(1)Political background and economic development(2)Romantic movement in European countriesDerivative foreign influence2.features(1)American romanticism was in essence the expression of “a real new experience and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that “the spirit of the place” was

11、 radically new and alien.(2)There is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider. American romantic authors tended more to moralize. Many American romantic writings intended to edify more than they entertained.(3)The “newness” of Americans as a nation is in connection with American Romant

12、icism.(4)As a logical result of the foreign and native factors at work, American romanticism was both imitative and independent.III.Washington Irving1.several names attached to Irving(1)first American writer(2)the messenger sent from the new world to the old world(3)father of American literature2.li

13、fe3.works(1)A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty(2)The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (He won a measure of international recognition with the publication of this.)(3)The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus(4)A Chronicle of t

14、he Conquest of Granada(5)The Alhambra4.Literary career: two parts(1)18091832a.Subjects are either English or Europeanb.Conservative love for the antique(2)18321859: back to US5.style beautiful(1)gentility, urbanity, pleasantness(2)avoiding moralizing amusing and entertaining(3)enveloping stories in

15、an atmosphere(4)vivid and true characters(5)humour smiling while reading(6)musical languageIV.James Fenimore Cooper1.life2.works(1)Precaution (1820, his first novel, imitating Austens Pride and Prejudice)(2)The Spy (his second novel and great success)(3)Leatherstocking Tales (his masterpiece, a seri

16、es of five novels)The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, The Prairie3.point of viewthe theme of wilderness vs. civilization, freedom vs. law, order vs. change, aristocrat vs. democrat, natural rights vs. legal rights4.style(1)highly imaginative(2)good at inventing tal

17、es(3)good at landscape description(4)conservative(5)characterization wooden and lacking in probability(6)language and use of dialect not authentic5.literary achievementsHe created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the proces

18、s of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward, then Coopers Leatherstocking Tales effectively approximates the American national experience of adventure into the West. He turned the west and frontier as a useable past and he helped to introduce western tradi

19、tion to American literature.Section 2 Summit of Romanticism American TranscendentalismI.Background: four sources1.Unitarianism(1)Fatherhood of God(2)Brotherhood of men(3)Leadership of Jesus(4)Salvation by character (perfection of ones character)(5)Continued progress of mankind(6)Divinity of mankind(

20、7)Depravity of mankind2.Romantic IdealismCenter of the world is spirit, absolute spirit (Kant)3.Oriental mysticismCenter of the world is “oversoul”4.PuritanismEloquent expression in transcendentalismII.Appearance1836, “Nature” by EmersonIII.Features1.spirit/oversoul2.importance of individualism3.nat

21、ure symbol of spirit/Godgarment of the oversoul4.focus in intuition (irrationalism and subconsciousness)IV.Influence1.It served as an ethical guide to life for a young nation and brought about the idea that human can be perfected by nature. It stressed religious tolerance, called to throw off shackl

22、es of customs and traditions and go forward to the development of a new and distinctly American culture.2.It advocated idealism that was great needed in a rapidly expanded economy where opportunity often became opportunism, and the desire to “get on” obscured the moral necessity for rising to spirit

23、ual height.3.It helped to create the first American renaissance one of the most prolific period in American literature.V.Ralph Waldo Emerson1.life2.works(1)Nature(2)Two essays: The American Scholar, The Poet3.point of view(1)One major element of his philosophy is his firm belief in the transcendence

24、 of the “oversoul”.(2)He regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man, and advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature.(3)If man depends upon himself, cultivates himself and brings out the divine in himself, he can hope to become better and

25、 even perfect. This is what Emerson means by “the infinitude of man”.(4)Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself.4.aesthetic ideas(1)He is a complete man, an eternal man.(2)True poetry and true art should ennoble.(3)The poet

26、should express his thought in symbols.(4)As to theme, Emerson called upon American authors to celebrate America which was to him a lone poem in itself.5.his influenceVI.Henry David Thoreau1.life2.works(1)A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River(2)Walden(3)A Plea for John Brown (an essay)3.point of

27、view(1)He did not like the way a materialistic America was developing and was vehemently outspoken on the point.(2)He hated the human injustice as represented by the slavery system.(3)Like Emerson, but more than him, Thoreau saw nature as a genuine restorative, healthy influence on mans spiritual we

28、ll-being.(4)He has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man.(5)He was very critical of modern civilization.(6)“Simplicitysimplify!”(7)He was sorely disgusted with “the inundations of the dirty institutions of mens odd-fellow society”.(8)He has calm trust in the future and his ard

29、ent belief in a new generation of men.Section 3 Late RomanticismI.Nathaniel Hawthorne1.life2.works(1)Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales, Mosses from and Old Manse(2)The Scarlet Letter(3)The House of the Seven Gables(4)The Marble Faun3.point of view(1)Evil is at the core of human life

30、, “that blackness in Hawthorne”(2)Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation (causality).(3)He is of the opinion that evil educates.(4)He has disgust in science.4.aesthetic ideas(1)He took a great interest in history and antiquity. To him thes

31、e furnish the soil on which his mind grows to fruition.(2)He was convinced that romance was the predestined form of American narrative. To tell the truth and satirize and yet not to offend: That was what Hawthorne had in mind to achieve.5.style typical romantic writer(1)the use of symbols(2)revelation of characters psychology(3)the use of supernatural mixed with the actual(4)his stories are parable (parable inform) to teach a lesson(5)use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty multiple point of viewII.Herman Melville1.life2.wor