美国文学选读总结陶洁版.docx

1、美国文学选读总结陶洁版第一讲Periods of American Literature16071775 the Colonial Period17651790 the Revolutionary Age17751865 the early national period and the Romantic Period18651914 the Realistic Period19001914 the Naturalistic period19141939 the Modern period1939- the contemporary periodThe Colonial Period From

2、 the founding of the first settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, to the outbreak of the American RevolutionHistorical backgroundThe Reformation in Europe most of the founding fathers were puritans the American Puritanism became one of the most enduring shaping influences what is American Puritanism?How

3、 does it influence American literature?American Puritanism A code of values, a philosophy of life , or a set of tenets of The American puritansThey were idealists believing that their chief business to see that man lived and thought and acted in a way which tended to the glory of God. They accepted

4、the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement (or the salvation of a selected few) through irresistible grace of God.On the other hand, they were practical idealists, or doctrinaire opportunists. They felt they were exiles under the grace of God to establish

5、 a paradise in the new world, yet the harsh reality forced them to build a way of life that stressed hard work, thrift, piety, and sobriety.The influences on American literatureOptimism: Anglo-American literature, based on the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden, is a literary expression of the piou

6、s idealism of the Puritan bequest. Fired with a sense of mission, they dreamed of building a new Eden in America, which led to the emergence of American dream in literature.Literary symbolism: Puritans metaphorical mode of perception helped to develop literary symbolism as they saw the physical, phe

7、nomenal world was nothing but a symbol of God. Hence symbolism as a technique was a common practice.The literary scene in Colonial AmericanHumble origins: histories, travel accounts, diaries, letters, sermons, biographies, autobiographies, commonplace books, and poems to record their experiences and

8、 express their views and feelings.Literature of discovery, of puritan expansion, and of GodWilliam Bradford(1590-1657) Of Plymouth PlantationJohn Smith(1580-1631) A Description of New EnglandAnne Bradstreet(1612-1672 “the Tenth Muse”) Puritan Poet :Edward Taylor (1642-1729) characteristicsFull of Sy

9、mbolic meaningsUtilitarian, polemical, or didacticThe style: fresh, simple, and directThe rhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility traceable to the direct influence of the BibleThe 18th Century“For three generations the prevailing American character was compact in one type, the

10、man of action who was also the man of God. Not until the eighteenth century did the rift appear it appeared in the two philosophers, Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin who fixed the poles of our national life. Jonathan Edwards displayed the infinite inflexibility of the upper levels of the Ameri

11、can mind typically Franklin the finite flexibility of its lower levels” Van Wyck Brooks: Americans Coming of Age 1915American Puritanism is a two-faceted tradition of religious idealism and level common sense. Edwards represented the former aspect, while Franklin the latterTwo basic patterns of thou

12、ght in American The influence of the deism. (God as the maker of the clock) The age of enlightenment, reason, order the persistent Calvinist beliefs the “Great Awakening ” Edwards and Franklin represent the paradox of Puritan materialism and immateriality.Benjamin Franklin and his AutobiographyBorn

13、in 1706 into a poor candle-makers family- “poor and obscure”, little formal education.Independent printer and publisher, essayist, scientist, orator, statesman, philosopher, political economist, ambassador, parlor man,- “Jack of all trades”Since early 1750s, public career began. The only American to

14、 sign the four documents that created the US-The Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France, the treaty of peace with England, and the constitution.Master of each and mastered by none- the type and genius of his land-Herman Melville thus described him.The Autobiographythe simple

15、 yet fascinating record of a man rising to wealth and fame from a state of poverty and obscurity, the faithful account of the career of Americans first self-made man. a Puritan document, a record of self-examination and self-improvement. A convincing illustration of the puritan ethic that in order t

16、o get on in the world, one has to be industrious, frugal, and prudent.An eloquent explanation of his philosophy: moderation, order, mans basically good and free nature, mans capability of improvement, mans inalienable rights.Celebrates the fulfillment of the American dream through the spirit of self

17、-reliance.The stylePattern of puritan simplicity, directness, and concision.Plainness of styleHomeliness of imagerySimplicity of dictionLucidity of the narrativeWashington Irving (1783-1859)Born into a wealthy New York merchant family.First book in 1809: A History of New YorkWith the publication The

18、 Sketch Book(1819-1820), a collection of essays, tales, and sketches, he won a measure of international recognition. In 1826, sent to Spain as an American diplomatic attach. from 1829-1832, was a secretary of the united states Legation in London.Up to 1832, he was drawn to the ruins and relics of Eu

19、rope and writing about subjects either English or European. He found values in the past and in the traditions of the old world. Back in America, he found a whole new spirit of nationalism in American feeling and letters.Irving was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain internati

20、onal fame. The short story as a genre in American literature began with his The Sketch Book, of which the most famous are Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleep Hollow. It also marked the beginning of American Romanticism. Irvings style1. Avoid moralizing as much as possible; wrote to amuse and ente

21、rtain.2. Despite the slim plot, he is good at enveloping his stories in an atmosphere3. His language is finished and musical. The American Goldsmith第二讲The Romantic PeriodStretches from the end of 18th century through the outbreak of the civil warHistorical and cultural background a. the buoyant mood

22、 of the nation bursting into new life b. the flourishing romantic movement in Europe c. the cultural heritage: American PuritanismAmerican romanticism was both imitative and independent a. it was in essence the expression of a real new experience and contained an alien quality. It exhibited an apath

23、y to American life like the westward expansions and democracy and equality. b. in technique American romanticist loved traditional meters and stanza forms, used stereotyped metaphors and superficial and explicit symbolismNew England TranscendentalismThe summit of American romanticism, “American Rena

24、issance”The transcendental club with its journal Dial express their resentment to the materialistic-oriented life of the time and to the cold, rigid rationalism of unitarianismThe major featuresEmphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. The oversoul was an all-

25、pervading power for goodness, omnipresent and omnipotent, from which all things came and of which all were a part. It existed in nature and man alike. a new way of looking at the world, reaction against the Newtonian concept of the universe and the mechanized capitalistic America.Stressed the import

26、ance of individual which was the most important element of society. The individual soul communed with the oversoul and was therefore divine. The first concern of man was his perfection through self-culture, self-improvement, and self-reliance. a new way of looking at man, reaction against the Calvin

27、ism and the dehumanization of capitalismOffered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the spirit or God.Nature was, to them, not purely matter. It was alive, filled with Gods overwhelming presence. It was the garment of the Oversoul. Therefore it could exercise a healthy and restorative influe

28、nce on the human mind.New England transcendentalism was the product of a combination of foreign romantic influences and the American Puritan idealism. Romanticism on the Puritan soil.Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803-1882)Descendant of a long line of New England clergymen.Went to Harvard, where he underwent

29、a spiritual “odyssey” Calvinist belief Unitarian minister European Romanticismthe most eloquent spokesman of New England transcendentalismHis Nature(1836): the manifesto of American transcendentalismThe Divinity School Address (1838) The American Scholar (1837): Americans declaration of Intellectual

30、 IndependenceThe Representative Men (1850): biographies of great men, reveal his ambivalence toward aggressiveness and self-seekingThe Conduct of Life (1860)The Transcendentalist views of EmersonThe transcendence of the “Oversoul” and the divinity of manThe spiritual and immanent God is operative in

31、 the soul of man, and that man is divine.The infinitude of the private manIf man depends upon himself, cultivates himself, and brings out the divine in himself, he can hope to become better and even perfect. the possibilities for man to develop and improve himself are infinite.Man should and could b

32、e self-reliant. Trust thyself and make thyselfThe sanctifying moral influence of nature as the symbol of spiritThe natural world is vitalistic and evolutionary. It mediates between man and god, and is a wholesome moral influence on man.Aesthetics: romantic organic principle true poetry and art should serve as a moral purification and a passage toward organic unity and higher reality.Self-reliance is widely considered to be