美国文学史知识点梳理.docx

美国文学史知识点梳理.docx

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美国文学史知识点梳理

PartITheLiteratureofColonialAmerica

I．HistoricalIntroduction

ThecolonialperiodstretchedroughlyfromthesettlementofAmericaintheearly17thcenturythroughtheendofthe18th.ThefirstpermanentsettlementinAmericawasestablishedbyEnglishin1607.（AgroupofpeoplewassentbytheEnglishKingJamesItohuntforgold.TheyarrivedatVirginiain1607.TheynamedtheJamesRiverandbuildtheJamestown.）

II．Thepre-revolutionarywritinginthecolonieswasessentiallyoftwokinds:

1）Practicalmatter-of-factaccountsoffarming,hunting,travel,etc.designedtoinformpeople"athome"whatlifewaslikeinthenewworld,and,often,toinducetheirimmigration

2）Highlytheoretical,generallypolemical,discussionsofreligiousquestions.

III．TheFirstAmericanWriter

ThefirstwritingsthatwecallAmericanwerethenarrativesandjournalsofthesesettlements.Theywroteabouttheirvoyagetothenewland,theirlivesinthenewland,theirdealingswithIndians.

CaptainJohnSmithisthefirstAmericanwriter.

ATrueRelationofsuchOccurrencesandAccidentsofNoteasHathHappenedinVirginiaSincetheFirstPlantingofThatColony（1608）

AMapofVirginia:

ADescriptionoftheCountry（1612）

GeneralHistoryofVirginia（1624）:

theIndianprincessPocahontas

CaptainJohnSmithwasoneofthefirstearly17th-centuryBritishsettlersinNorthAmerica.HewasoneofthefoundersofthecolonyofJamestown,Virginia.HiswritingsaboutNorthAmericabecamethesourceofinformationabouttheNewWorldforlatersettlers.

OneofthethingshewroteaboutthathasbecomeanAmericanlegendwashiscapturebytheIndiansandhisrescuebythefamousIndianPrincess,Pocahontas.

IV．EarlyNewEnglandLiterature

WilliamBradfordandJohnWinthrop

JohnCottonandRogerWilliams

AnneBradstreetandEdwardTaylor

V．PuritanThoughts

1.Theoriginofpuritan

InthemediaevalEurope,therewaswidespreadreligiousrevolution.Inthe16thCentury,theEnglishKingHenryVIII（Atthattime,theCatholicswerenotallowedtodivorceunlesstheyhavethePope'spermission.HenryVIIIwantedtodivorcehiswifebecauseshecouldn'tbearhimason.ButthePopedidn'tallowhimtodivorce,sohe）brokeawayfromtheRomanCatholicChurch&establishedtheChurchofEngland.ButtherewasnoradicaldifferencebetweenthedoctrinesoftheChurchofEnglandandtheCatholicChurch.AgroupofpeoplethoughttheChurchofEnglandwastooCatholicandwantedtopurifythechurch.ThencamethenamePuritans.

2.Puritanism--basedonCalvinism

（1）predestination:

God'select

Puritansbelievedtheyarepredestinedbeforetheywereborn.

Nothingornogoodworkcanchangetheirfate.

Theybelievedthesuccessofone'sbusinessisthesigntoshowheistheGod'select.SothePuritansworksveryhard,spendverylittleandinvestmoreforthefuturebusiness.Theylivedaveryfrugallife.Thisistheirethics.

（2）Origianlsinandtotaldepravity

Manisbornsinful.Thisdeterminessomepuritanspessimisticattitudetowardslife.

（3）Limitedatonement（thesalvationofaselectedfew）

（4）theocracy

Theycombinedstatewithreligion.Theirgovernmentisatleastnotaliberalone.

ThePuritansestablishedAmericantradition--intolerantmoralism.Theystrictlypunisheddrunks,adultery&heretics.

Puritanschangedgraduallyduetotheseverityoffrontierenvironment

3.InfluenceonAmericanLiterature

（1）Itsoptimism

AmericanliteraturewasfromtheoutsetconditionedbythePuritanheritage.ItcanbesaidAmericanliteratureisbasedontheBiblicalmythoftheGardenofEden.Afterthat,manhaveanillusiontorestoretheparadise.Thepuritans,afterarrivingatAmerica,believingthatGodmusthavesentthemtothisnewlandtorestorethelostparadise,tobuildthewildernessintoanewGardenofEden.Firedwithsuchastrongsenseofmission,theytreatedlifewithatremendousamountofoptimism.TheoptimisticPuritanhasexertedagreatinfluenceonAmericanliterature.

（2）Puritan'smetaphoricalmodeofperceptionchangedgraduallyintoaliterarysymbolism.

PartIITheLiteratureofReasonAndRevolution

I．HistoricalIntroduction

Withthegrowth,especiallyofindustry,thereappearedtheintensestrainwithEngland.TheBritishgovernmentdidnotwantcolonialindustriescompetingwiththoseinEngland.TheBritishwantedthecoloniestoremainpoliticallyandeconomicallydependentonthemothercountry.Theytookaseriesofmeasurestoinsurethisdependence.TheypreventedcolonialeconomybyrequiringAmericanstoshiprawmaterialsabroadandtoimportfinishedgoodsatpriceshigherthanthecostofmakingtheminthiscountry.Politically,theBritishgovernmentforceddependencebyrulingthecoloniesfromoverseasandbytaxingthecolonieswithoutgivingthemrepresentationinParliament.

However,bythemid-eighteenthcentury,freedomwaswonasmuchbythefieryrhetoricofThomasPaine'sCommonSenseandtheeloquenceoftheDeclarationofIndependenceasbytheweaponsofWashington.Intheseventiesofthe18thcentury,theEnglishcoloniesinNorthAmericaroseinarmsagainsttheirmothercountry.TheWarforIndependencelastedfor8years（1776-1783）andendedintheformationofafederativebourgeoisdemocraticrepublic--theUnitedStatesofAmerica.

II．AmericanEnlightenment

Itwassupportedbyallprogressiveforcesofthecountrywhichopposedthemselvestotheoldcolonialorderandreligiousobscurantism.

Itdealtadecisiveblowuponthepuritantraditionsandbroughttolifeseculareducationandliterature.Thespirituallifeduringthatperiodwastoagreatdegreemouldedbyit.

Therepresentativessetthemselvesthetaskofdisseminatingknowledgeamongthepeopleandadvocatingrevolutionaryideas.

ThewritersinjectedaninvigoratingveinintotheEnglishlanguageinAmericaastheyaimedatclarityandprecisionoftheirwritings.

AttheinitialperiodthespreadoftheideasoftheEnlightenmentwaslargelyduetojournalism.WritingsofEuropewerewidelyreadinAmerica.ThesecularidealsoftheAmericanEnlightenmentwereexemplifiedinthelifeandcareerofBenjaminFranklin.

III．BenjaminFranklin（1706-1790）

TheAutobiography

PoorRichard’sAlmanac

Life

BenjaminFranklincamefromaCalvinistbackground.

Hewasbornintoapoorcandle-maker’sfamily.Hehadverylittleeducation.Helearnedinschoolonlyfortwoyears,buthewasavoraciousreader.

At12,hewasapprenticedtohiselderhalf-brother,aprinter.

At16,hebegantopublishessaysunderthepseudonym“SilenceDogood”.

At17,heranawaytoPhiladelphiatomakehisownfortune.

Hesethimselfupasanindependentprinterandpublisher.In1727hefoundedtheJuntoclub.

Multipleidentities:

aprinter

aleadingauthor

apolitician

ascientist

ainventor

adiplomat

acivicactivist

Franklin’sContributionstoSociety

HehelpedfoundthePennsylvaniaHospital.

HefoundedanacademywhichledtotheUniversityofPennsylvania.

AndhehelpedfoundtheAmericanPhilosophicalSociety.

Franklin’sContributionstoScience

Hewasalsorememberedforvolunteerfiredepartments,effectivestreetlighting,theFranklinstove,bifocalglassesandefficientheatingdevices.

Andforhislightning-rod,hewascalled“thenewPrometheuswhohadstolenfirefromheaven.”

Franklin’sContributionstotheU.S.

HewastheonlyAmericantosignthefourdocumentsthatcreatedtheUnitedStates:

TheDeclarationofIndependence,

TheTreatyofAlliancewithFrance,

TheTreatyofPeacewithEngland,

TheConstitution

TheAutobiography

TheAutobiographyofBenjaminFranklinwasprobablythefirstofitskindinliterature.Itisthesimpleyetimmenselyfascinatingrecordofamanrisingtowealthandfamefromastateofpovertyandobscurityintowhichhewasborn,thefaithfulaccountofthecolorfulcareerofAmerica’sfirstself-mademan.

TheAutobiographyis,firstofall,aPuritandocument.ItisPuritanbecauseitisarecordofself-examinationandself-improvement.Themeticulouschartof13virtueshesetforhimselftocultivatetocombatthetemptingvices,thestupendousefforthemadetoimprovehisownperson,thebeliefthatGodhelpsthosewhohelpsthemselvesandthateverycallingisaservicetoGod–alltheseindicatethatFranklinwasintenselyPuritan.Then,thebookisalsoaconvincingillustrationofthePuritanethicthat,inordertogetonintheworld,onehastobeindustrious,frugal,andprudent.

TheAutobiographyisalsoaneloquentelucidationofthefactthatFranklinwasspokesmanfortheneworderofeighteenth-centuryenlightenment,andthatherepresentedinAmericaallitsideas,thatmanisbasicallygoodandfreebynature,endowedbyGodwithcertaininalienablerightsoflibertyandthepursuitofhappiness.

AlookatthestyleofTheAutobiographywillreadilyrevealthatitisthepatternofPuritansimplicity,directnessandconcision.Theplainnessofitsstyle,thehomelinessofimagery,thesimplicityofdiction,syntaxandexpressionaresomeofthesalientfeatureswecannotmistake.Thelucidityofthenarrative,theabsenceofornamentsinwordingandofcomplex,involvedstructuresinsyntax,andthePuritanabhorrenceofparadoxareallgraphicallydemonstratedinthewholeofthebook.Takenasawhole,itissafetosaythatthebookisanexemplaryillustrationoftheAmericanstyleofwriting.

IV．ThomasPaine（1737-1809）

CommonSense

AmericanCrisis

V．ThomasJefferson（1743-1826）

TheDeclarationofIndependence

VI．PhilipFreneau（1752-1832）

“PoetoftheAmericanRevolution”

“FatherofAmericanPoetry”

“PioneeroftheNewRomanticism”

“Agiftedandversat