American Literature 美國文學(xué)簡史

1、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 period i. background: puritanism1.features of puritanism（1）predestination: god decided everything before

2、 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 每 hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety （serious and th

3、oughtful） influenced american literature.（2）it led to the everlasting myth. all literature is based on a myth 每 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）with

4、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, autobiographies/

5、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 每 pioneer of

6、 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 new p

7、rometheus who had stolen fire （electricity in this case） from heaven.（3）everything seems to meet in this one man 每 jack of all trades. herman melville thus described him master of each and mastered by none.chapter 2 american romanticismsection 1 early romantic period what is romanticism?lan approach

8、 from ancient greek: platola literary trend: 18c in britain （17981832）lschlegel bros.i. preview: characteristics of romanticism1.subjectivity（1）feeling and emotions, finding truth（2）emphasis on imagination（3）emphasis on individualism 每 personal freedom, no hero worship, natural goodness of human bei

9、ngs2.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 每 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 ra

11、dically 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 romanticism

12、.（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.life3.

13、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 the c

14、onquest 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 每 beautiful（1）gentility, urbanity, pleasantness（2）avoiding moralizing 每 amusing and entertaining（3）enveloping stories i

15、n an atmosphere（4）vivid and true characters（5）humour 每 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

16、 series of five novels）the deerslayer, the last of the mohicans, the pathfinder, the pioneer, the prairie3.point of view he 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 inventin

17、g tales（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 p

18、rocess 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

19、tradition to american literature.section 2 summit of romanticism 每 american transcendentalism i. 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

20、 mankind（7）depravity of mankind2.romantic idealismcenter of the world is spirit, absolute spirit （kant）3.oriental mysticismcenter of the world is oversoul4.puritanismeloquent expression in transcendentalismii. appearance1836, nature by emersoniii. features1.spirit/oversoul2.importance of individuali

21、sm3.nature 每 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

22、off shackles 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 t

23、o spiritual height.3.it helped to create the first american renaissance 每 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 tr

24、anscendence 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 b

25、etter and 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）th

26、e poet 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.p

27、oint of 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 spir

28、itual well-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

29、 ardent belief in a new generation of men.section 3 late romanticism i. 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 huma

30、n life, 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

31、these 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 每 typical romantic writer（1）the use of symbols（2）re

32、velation of characters psychology（3）the use of supernatural mixed with the actual（4）his stories are parable （parable inform） 每 to teach a lesson（5）use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty 每 multiple point of viewii. herman melville1.life2.works（1）typee（2）omio（3）mardi（4）redburn

33、（5）white jacket（6）moby dick（7）pierre（8）billy budd3.point of view（1）he never seems able to say an affirmative yes to life: his is the attitude of everlasting nay （negative attitude towards life）.（2）one of the major themes of his is alienation （far away from each other）.other themes: loneliness, suici

34、dal individualism （individualism causing disaster and death）, rejection and quest, confrontation of innocence and evil, doubts over the comforting 19c idea of progress4.style（1）like hawthorne, melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple view of his

35、 narratives.（2）he tends to write periodic chapters.（3）his rich rhythmical prose and his poetic power have been profusely commented upon and praised.（4）his works are symbolic and metaphorical.（5）he includes many non-narrative chapters of factual background or description of what goes on board the shi

36、p or on the route （moby dick）romantic poets i. walt whitman1.life2.work: leaves of grass （9 editions）（1）song of myself（2）there was a child went forth（3）crossing brooklyn ferry（4）democratic vistas（5）passage to india（6）out of the cradle endlessly rocking3.themes 每 catalogue of american and european th

37、oughthe had been influenced by many american and european thoughts: enlightenment, idealism, transcendentalism, science, evolution ideas, western frontier spirits, jeffersons individualism, civil war unionism, orientalism.major themes in his poems （almost everything）:lequality of things and beingsld

38、ivinity of everythinglimmanence of godldemocracylevolution of cosmoslmultiplicity of naturelself-reliant spiritldeath, beauty of deathlexpansion of americalbrotherhood and social solidarity （unity of nations in the world）lpursuit of love and happiness4.style: free verse（1）no fixed rhyme or scheme（2）

39、parallelism, a rhythm of thought（3）phonetic recurrence（4）the habit of using snapshots（5）the use of a certain pronoun i（6）a looser and more open-ended syntactic structure（7）use of conventional image（8）strong tendency to use oral english（9）vocabulary powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign o

40、rigins, some even wrong（10） sentences catalogue technique: long list of names, long poem lines5.influence（1）his best work has become part of the common property of western culture.（2）he took over whitmans vision of the poet-prophet and poet-teacher and recast it in a more sophisticated and europeani

41、zed mood.（3）he has been compared to a mountain in american literary history.（4）contemporary american poetry, whatever school or form, bears witness to his great influence.ii. emily dickenson1.life2.works（1）my life closed twice before its close（2）because i cant stop for death（3）i heard a fly buzz 每 w

42、hen i died（4）mine 每 by the right of the white election（5）wild nights 每 wild nights3.themes: based on her own experiences/joys/sorrows（1）religion 每 doubt and belief about religious subjects（2）death and immortality（3）love 每 suffering and frustration caused by love（4）physical aspect of desire（5）nature

43、每 kind and cruel（6）free will and human responsibility4.style（1）poems without titles（2）severe economy of expression（3）directness, brevity（4）musical device to create cadence （rhythm）（5）capital letters 每 emphasis（6）short poems, mainly two stanzas（7）rhetoric techniques: personification 每 make some of ab

44、stract ideas vividiii. comparison: whitman vs. dickinson1.similarities:（1）thematically, they both extolled, in their different ways, an emergent america, its expansion, its individualism and its americanness, their poetry being part of american renaissance.（2）technically, they both added to the lite

45、rary independence of the new nation by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before: they were pioneers in american poetry.2.differences:（1）whitman seems to keep his eye on society at large; dickinson explores the inner life of the individu

46、al.（2）whereas whitman is national in his outlook, dickinson is regional.（3）dickinson has the catalogue technique （direct, simple style） which whitman doesnt have.edgar allen poei. lifeii. works1.short stories（1）ratiocinative storiesa. ms found in a bottleb. the murders in the rue morguec. the purloi

47、ned letter（2）revenge, death and rebirtha. the fall of the house of usherb. ligeiac. the masque of the red death（3）literary theorya. the philosophy of compositionb. the poetic principlec. review of hawthornes twice-told talesiii. themes1.death 每 predominant theme in poes writingpoe is not interested

48、in anything alive. everything in poes writings is dead.2.disintegration （separation） of life3.horror4.negative thoughts of scienceiv. aesthetic ideas1.the short stories should be of brevity, totality, single effect, compression and finality.2.the poems should be short, and the aim should be beauty,

49、the tone melancholy. poems should not be of moralizing. he calls for pure poetry and stresses rhythm.v. style 每 traditional, but not easy to readvi. reputation: the jingle man （emerson）vii. his influenceschapter 3 the age of realismi. background: from romanticism to realism1.the three conflicts that

50、 reached breaking point in this period（1）industrialism vs. agrarian（2）culturely-measured east vs. newly-developed west（3）plantation gentility vs. commercial gentility2.1880s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalism3.the closing of american frontierii. characteristics1.truthful desc

51、ription of life2.typical character under typical circumstance3.objective rather than idealized, close observation and investigation of liferealistic writers are like scientists.4.open-ending:life is complex and cannot be fully understood. it leaves much room for readers to think by themselves.5.conc

52、erned with social and psychological problems, revealing the frustrations of characters in an environment of sordidness and depravityiii. three giants in realistic period1.william dean howells 每 dean of american realism（1）realistic principlesa. realism is fidelity to experience and probability of mot

53、ive.b. the aim is talk of some ordinary traits of american life.c. man in his natural and unaffected dullness was the object of howellss fictional representation.d. realism is by no means mere photographic pictures of externals but includes a central concern with motives and psychological conflicts.

54、e. he condemns novels of sentimentality and morbid self-sacrifice, and avoids such themes as illicit love.f. authors should minimize plot and the artificial ordering of the sense of something desultory, unfinished, imperfect.g. characters should have solidity of specification and be real.h. interpre

55、ting sympathetically the common feelings of commonplace people was best suited as a technique to express the spirit of america.i.he urged writers to winnow tradition and write in keeping with current humanitarian ideals.j.truth is the highest beauty, but it includes the view that morality penetrates all things.k. with regard to literary criticism, howells felt that the literary critic should not try to impose arbitrary or subjective evaluations on books but should follow the detached scientist in accurate description, interpretation, and classification.（2）wo