英語(yǔ)國(guó)家概況1.ppt

1、Chapter 1,Colonial America,outline,American Puritanism: origin and development; Calvinism; heritage and curse; the biblical myth of the Garden of Eden as the base of American L.,outline,The literary scene in Colonial America: 1 origins: personal literature in various forms; 2 early poets: Anne Brads

2、treet and Edward Taylor; 3 Authors for civil and religious freedom and against British colonial rule: Roger Williams, John Woolman, Thomas Paine, and Philip Freneau; 4 Charles Brockden Brown,Origin of American Puritanism,Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans, who were originally me

3、mbers of a division of the Protestant church, who came into existence in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James. The first settlers, the founding fathers of the A. nation were quite a few of them English Puritans, who came to A. out of various reasons; but they were a group of serious, religio

4、us people, advocating highly religious and moral principles.,A. Puritanisms development,The American Puritans, like their brothers back in England, were idealists, believing that the church should be restored to complete purity. They accepted the doctrine of John Calvin, the great French theologian

5、who lived in Geneva: predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement (or the salvation of a selected few) through a special infusion of grace from God. (Calvinism),Puritanism as heritage and curse,A. Puritans became more and more practical in the grim struggle for survival im

6、mediately after their arrival in A. They drove out of their settlements all those opinions that seemed dangerous to them. A. Puritans lives were extremely disciplined and hard, they came under violent and often virulent attacks for their religious intolerance (persecution) and bigotry, for their aus

7、terity of taste and killjoy way of life.,Puritanism as culture heritage,American Puritanism had an enduring shaping influence on American thought and American Literature. It had become , to some extent, so much a state of mind, so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere, rather than a set of

8、 tenets.,the biblical myth of the Garden of Eden as the base of A L.,the sense of mission: Thinking that they were Gods chosen people, A. Puritans, with a tremendous amount of optimism in the face of the worst of life, dreamed to rebuild a new Garden of Eden to restore the lost paradise in the new l

9、and of vast expanse of wilderness never corrupted.,the biblical myth of the Garden of Eden as the base of A L.,Puritanical optimism (restore the lost paradise) exerted a great influence on A Literature: romanticism, transcendentalism, symbolism, James international theme and his innocent Americans a

10、broad , frustration and disillusionment of American dream, a gilded Age, ,The origin of American L,Personal literature in various forms: Diaries, histories, journals, letters, commonplace books, travel books, sermons, ponderously religious poems ,Early poets: Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor,Anne B

11、radstreet: known as the “Tenth Muse” by English people. The argument of most of her poems is essentially about the justice of Gods way with His Puritan flock. They search for a sense of mans nature and destiny and his mission in the new world. See her Contemplations (9). p17,Early poets: Anne Bradst

12、reet and Edward Taylor,Edward Taylor: a meditative Puritan poet who concerned about how his images speak for God. In his splendid, exotic images, Taylor came nearest to the English baroque poets. See “Upon a Spider Catching a Fly” p20 In his poem, “Huswifery”, he saw religious significance in a simp

13、le daily incident like a housewife spinning. p19,Roger Williams, a great Puritan dissenter,His book “The Bloody Tenet of Persecution for the Cause of Conscience” (1644), attacking the soul-killing requirement of religious conformity and upholding the spiritual freedom of the individual, was ordered

14、to be burned. Cotton Mathers comment: “the first rebel against the divine church order in the wilderness”. P20,John Woolman, a pious Quaker,Against Calvinism (total depravity, original sin and limited atonement), attacking all forms of iniquity, be it a social evil or the atrocious slavery system. T

15、he New England Transcendentalists derived no small inspiration from Woolman, who kept a Journal for the most part of his life, recording his spiritual experiences of inward communication with God. P 21,Thomas Paine 1737-1809,Revolutionary and inflammatory pamphlets helping to spur and inspire two gr

16、eatest revolutions (A.R, F.R) Common Sense: attacked B. monarchy and added fuel to the fire which was to bring the colossus of its colonial rule down in flames. American Crisis: for A.R. The Rights of Man and The Age of Reason: spreading the ideals of the French R. P22,Philip Freneau 1752-1832,The m

17、ost significant poet of eighteenth -century America. Some of his themes and images anticipated the works of such 19thC American Romantic writers as Cooper, Emerson, Poe and Melville. The Wild Honeysuckle p23 The Indian Burying Ground The Dying Indian: Tomo Chequi,Charles Brockden Brown, one most pro

18、minent 18th C novelist,An imitator of Gothic tradition; Remembered for: 1. His awareness that his inspiration was rooted in his own land; 2. the description of his characters inner world (read as psychological novels). His four major novels: Wieland; or, The Transformation: An American Tale (1798, the first American novel), Edgar Huntly, Ormond, Arthur Mervyn P25,conclusion,The 18t