Early Romantics.docx

1、Early Romantics.Literature of Colonial Period (1607-1765)Puritanism: 1.Origin: The early Puritans felt that the Protestant church in England was too political, too compromising, and too Catholic. The aim of the early Puritans was to further purify the church (hence their name). Hard work was conside

2、red a religious duty and emphasis was laid on constant self-examination and self-discipline. 2.4 doctrines: 1. Predestination2. Original sin3.Total depravity4.Limited atonement from Gods grace3. Relationship with American literatureAmerican literature is based on a myth, that is, the Biblical myth o

3、f the Garden of Eden. American literature is in good measure a literary expression of the pious idealism of the American Puritan bequest.writers:Anne Bradstreet: the first American woman writer II Revolutionary and Independent War Period (17651800)Writers:1.The Great Awakening(大觉醒时期） Jonathan Edward

4、s Personal Narrative 自述 Freedom of the Will 意志的自由 The Doctrine of Original Sin Defend原罪说辩 The Nature of True Virtue 真正美德的本质 Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God 发怒的上帝手中的罪人 Images or Shadows of Divine Things 神灵的形影2.The Enlightenment(启蒙运动时期）Benjamin Franklin：the first person to pick out American dream

5、 and the 1st writer to write autobiography, the first self-made American.Works: Poor Richards Almanac 格言历书The Autobiography 自传His status： 1)social reformer 2) scientist 3) politician 4) writerHe Sign The Declaration of Independence（独立宣言）3.Thomas Paine （1737-1809）Fight for the rights of man. Help to

6、spur and inspire two greatest revolutions of his ageWorks: Common Sense 常识 (1776) The American Crisis 美国危机(1776.12 1783.4) The Rights of Man 人的权利(1791- 92) The Age of Reason 理智时代(1794 - 95)3.Thomas Jefferson :Declaration of Independence 独立宣言术语解释Puritanism：Historically Puritanism began early (c.1560)

7、 in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I as a movement for religious reform. The early Puritans felt that the Protestant church in England was too political, too compromising, and too Catholic. The aim of the early Puritans was to further purify the church (hence their name).补充：To the Puritans, a person b

8、y nature was wholly sinful and could achieve good only by severe and unremitting discipline. Hard work was considered a religious duty and emphasis was laid on constant self-examination and self-discipline.Original sin：God had created humanity originally to be capable of obeying Gods will, but with

9、the first sin in the Garden of Eden, humanity lost that capacity, now it is impossible to overcome this basic separation between God and people. Nothing we do can help.American dream：Autobiography realistically described the life of Franklin whose rags-to-riches experiences became the prototype of m

10、any Americans dream of success.（这里无答案，自己概括)Early Romanticism (1800- )Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882): Voices of the Night 夜籁集 Ballads and Other Poems歌谣及其他 Evangeline 伊凡吉林 The Song of Hiawatha 海华沙之歌 The Courtship of Miles Standish 麦尔思斯丹狄士的求婚 Poem: I Shot an Arrow. A Psalm of Life-from Voices o

11、f the Night His literary status: First American poet to write narrative poems. Most celebrated poet of his time. American subjects in European styles. Musical and spiritual. New England PoetWilliam Cullen Bryant (1794-1878): A collection of poems The Fountain (1842) Thanatopsis死亡观(1817）-his most fam

12、ous nature poems/death as part of nature To A Waterfowl致水鸟（1815） The Prairies大草原（1833）-blank verse(素体诗） His literary achievement: One of Americas earliest naturalist poets. “The American Wordsworth” New England Poet Four subjects: 1.The beauty of nature 2. The dignity of humanity 3. The sacredness o

13、f human freedom 4. The power of GodJames Fenimore Cooper (17891851):Novels about the revolutionary past，sea novels and the American frontier novels.Themes: wilderness vs. civilization; Freedom vs. law; Order vs. change; Aristocrat vs. democrat; Natural rights vs. legal rights Works: The Spy (1821)-a

14、 novel about the Revolutionary War The Pilot (1824)- a sea novel Leatherstocking series(1st series novel) -5 novels about American frontier, with Natty Bumppo as the central figure 包括： The pioneers(1823) -开拓者youth The Last of Mohicans(1826) -最后的莫西干人 middle age maturity The Prairie (1827) -草原 in the

15、late 30s and fall in love The Pathfinder (1840) -探路者old The Deerslayer (1841) -杀鹿者dying His style: Highly imaginative Good at inventing tales Good at landscape description Conservative Characterization wooden and lacking in probability Language and use of dialect not authenticHis contribution to Am.

16、 Lit.:He was the first writer of sea novels.He was the first excellent writer of border novels.He was the first writer of series novels.He was the first romantic writer with rationalism-Coopers ambivalence.(go back to the themes) He was the first writer in Am. appreciated by many writers of differen

17、t nationalities and different generations. He was a mythic writer and created a myth about the formative period of the Am. Nation.1st author to write about Western MovementWashington Irving (1783-1859):The Sketch Book （1820）见闻札记-a collection of 33 essays and stories “Rip Van winkle” 瑞普.凡.温克尔 “The Le

18、gend of Sleepy Hollow” 睡谷的传说 His style: Graceful and refined；Sentimental；Write to amuse and entertain，not to moralize； Write with great humor;The theme of change and mutability; nostalgic怀旧情绪 His contribution to Am. Lit.:He was the father of American literature He was the first romantic writer, firs

19、t to get international fame; He made short story as a genre; His stories based on the legends of Europe and Spain gave his readers a glimpse of a world beyond their own shores His colorful legends of the Hudson River Valley helped awaken Am. to an appreciation of their nation and its native lit.Roma

20、nticism: Imagination Heart feeling more important than head thinking Close relationship btw man and nature Individualism against group and authority The affirmation of the inner self Use of the past and non-normalAmerican Romanticism（II）-TranscendentalismHistorical backgroundA broad, philosophical m

21、ovement in New England during the Romantic era（peak：1836-1855）; the first American intellectual movement.Started by a group of people in the Transcendental Club in the 1830s who published their views in the journal The DialSources of the rise of Transcendentalism1.Unitarianism（唯一神论）2.The idealistic

22、philosophy from France and Germany3. Oriental mysticism such as Hinduism and philosophy of the Chinese Confucius and Mencius;4. American Puritan traditionFeatures of New England Transcendentalism1.Spirit Oversoul (Oversoul is a unitary power of goodness， omnipresent and omnipotent，from which all thi

23、ngs came and of which everyone was a part。)2.Importance of individualism3.Nature- symbol of spirit/God garment of the oversoul4.Focus on intuition (irrationalism and subconsciousness)Weakness1. was never a systematic philosophy. It borrowed from many sources and reconciled few of them. 2.Whenever th

24、e demand of logic became too insistent, it turned to mysticism. Literary representatives of New England TranscendentalismRalph Waldo Emerson拉尔夫.瓦尔多.爱默生 (1803-1882)His lifeDescendant of New England clergymenExperienced “genteel poverty” as a child Went to Harvard, reconsider Calvinist belief, embrace

25、d UnitarianismBecame a Unitarian minister to the Second church of BostonLeft his job to Europe and brought back European RomanticismFormed Transcendentalist Club and its journal “The Dial”, became spokesman of New England Transcendentalism“preach” in the lecture-room instead of at the pulpitTraveled

26、 around and spread his transcendentalismHis worksNature 论自然 “The Manifesto of American Transcendentalism”“The Bible of New England Transcendentalism”1）Man is divine; The spiritual and immanent God is operative in the soul of man;2) The individual, not the crowd, is the most important of all. “the in

27、finitude of man”人类发展无限论3) The physical world is vitalistic and evolutionary. Nature was emblematic of God. In a word, “Nature is the symbol of spirit”.The Poet 论诗人His aesthetics brought about a revolution in American literature in general and in American poetry in particular; it marked the birth of

28、true American poetry and true American poets such as Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.The American Scholar 美国学者-Americas Declaration of Intellectual Independence Representative Men 代表性人物English Traits 英国人的特性The Conduct of Life 论为人处事Essays 散文选Emerson: “Self-Reliance”(1841) An essay by Emerson, publis

29、hed in Essays, First Series (1841).Essays: First Series 散文选：第一集Essays: Second Series 散文选：第二集Many of his famous essays are included in Essays, which convey the best of his philosophical discussions, such as “The American Scholar”, “Self-Reliance”, “The over-soul”.Comments on himFounder of the Transce

30、ndental movement Shaper of a distinctly American philosophy embracing optimism, individuality, and mysticism, His “The American Scholar”, an address delivered before Harvards Phi Beta Kappa Society, attacked American dependence on European thought and urged the creation of a new literary heritage. H

31、enry David Thoreau亨利.大卫.梭罗 (1817-1862) His works “Civil Disobedience” 非暴力反抗or论公民的不服从“A Plea for John Brown” 为约翰布朗辩护A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers 在康科德及麦瑞迈克河的一周Walden / Life in the Woods （1854）瓦尔登湖 / 林中生活The Maine Woods 缅因森林Letters to Various Person 书信集 Thoreaus masterpiece-Walden, or Life in the WoodsA series of eighteen essays describing his idealistic creed and the beauty of natureWhy did he move onto Walden Pond on July 4, the Independence Day?It