美国文学选读期末复习资料.docx

1、美国文学选读期末复习资料美国文学选读期末复习资料美国文学选读期末复习资料The Colonial Period or The Enlightenment and Revolution PeriodAmerican Puritanism ( roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th)一、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明富兰克林作品：1、Poor Richards Almanac 格言历书 - A Collection of maxims, or

2、 proverbs, on thevalue of work and savings for success. 2、The Autobiography 自传-“美国梦”的根源 3、参与起草独立宣言American RomanticismThe Romantic Period stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It is a period of the great flowering of American literature. 浪漫主义两大主题：爱和大自然的力量2、Edga

3、r Allan Poe 埃德加爱伦坡-poet, short story writer and literary critic (48 poems,70 short stories)He greatly influenced the devotees of “Art for arts sake.”He was father of psychoanalytic criticism (心理分析批评), and the detective story.诗歌的精髓就是追求美小说的主题常常是恐怖和死亡，其中还运用了象征手法。The Poetic Principle : 1. The poem, shou

4、ld be short, readable at one sitting; 2. Beauty (the rhythmical creation of beauty); 3. Melancholy 忧伤(especially the death of a beautiful woman).代表作：The Fall of the House of Usher 厄舍大厦的倒塌 Ligeia 莉盖亚 Annabel Lee 安娜贝尔李 The Raven 乌鸦 The Cask of Amontillado 阿芒提拉多的酒桶-gothic novel 人物：蒙特利瑟Montresor, 弗图纳多Fo

5、rtunato ，筵席上男人将喝醉的死对头哄骗至地窖并砌墙活埋的故事。 三、Ralph Waldo Emerson 拉尔夫华尔多爱默生-The chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism （超验主义）He was a descendent（后裔）of a long line of New England clergymen（牧师）. 散文家、诗人、超验主义的哲学的主要倡导者。 American TranscendentalismAs a philosophical and literary movement, American Transc

6、endentalism (also known as “American Renaissance”) flourshed in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War. It is the high tide of American romanticism and its doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Emerson and Thoreau. Transcendentalists spoke for the cultural rejuvenation and agains

7、t the materialism of American society.The major features of Transcendentalism: The Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. 思想 超灵 宇宙 The Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. To them, the individual is the mos

8、t important element of Society. 个体+社会 The Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was not purely matter. It was alive, filled with Gods overwhelming presence.自然+上帝代表作：Nature论自然-the Bible of Transcendentalism by Emerson ； Self-Reliance 论自助 -是表达

9、他的超验主义观点的最重要作品之一 The American Scholar论美国学者 ； The Over-soul 论超灵四、Nathaniel Hawthorne纳撒尼尔霍桑 - effected by 超验主义He was born into a prominent Puritan family. One of the most ambivalent（矛盾的）writers in the American literary history.主要成就： 美国心理分析小说的开创者 浪漫主义小说家 心理小说家 代表作：Mosses from an Old Manse 古宅青苔; Twice-T

10、old Tales 故事重述; The Marble Faun 玉石雕像; The House of the Seven Gables 带有七个尖角阁的房子 The Scarlet Letter红字Many of his earlier stories had treated themes that led to The Scarlet Letter. Puritan severity toward sex and matrimony and its tendency to suppress bright color and true feelings.The Scarlet Letter红字

11、 ：Hester Prynne-strong-willed, impetuous, a king of compassionate, maternal figure;Pearl-innocent, perceptive;Roger Chillingworth-a man deficient in human warmth, true evil in the story;Arthur Dimmesdale-intelligent and emotional.Symbolism in his worksHawthorne is a master of symbolism, which he too

12、k from the Puritan tradition 清教徒传统and bequeathed to American literature in a revivified form. In his masterpiece, by using Pearl as a thematic symbol, Hawthorne emphasizes the consequence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and people living in that community. With the scarlet A as the

13、biggest symbol of all, which is ambiguous, he proves himself to be one of the best symbolists.5、Herman Melville 赫尔曼梅尔维尔The early sailing experiences were rewarding.代表作： White Jacket 白外衣 Billy Budd毕利伯德, Typee泰比, Omoo欧穆, Mardi玛地. Moby Dick 1851 白鲸-百科全书式性质/海洋作品/动物史诗（ 熊 福克纳、老人与海 海明威、白鲸梅尔维尔）Moby Dick rep

14、resents the sum total of Melvilles bleak view of the world in which he lived. It is at once Godless and purposeless. Man in this universe lives a meaningless and futile life, meaningless because futile. Once he attempts to seek power over it he is doomed. The idea that man can make the world for him

15、self is nothing but a Transcendentalist folly. Moby Dick thus reveals the basic pattern of 19th century American life: loneliness and suicidal individualism in a self-styled democracy. (a negative reflection upon Transcendentalism)Symbolism in Moby Dick：-It is regarded as the first American prose epic. It is not merely a whaling tale or sea adventure, considering that Melville is a great symbolist. It turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth 寻找真理and knowledge of the universe