美国文学选读期末名词解释.docx

美国文学选读期末名词解释.docx

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美国文学选读期末名词解释

1.AmericanRomanticism（美国浪漫主义）

①RomanticismreferstoanartisticandintellectualmovementoriginatinginEuropeinthelate18thcenturyandcharacterizedbyaheightenedinterestinnature,emphasisontheindividual’sexpressionofemotionandimagination,departurefromtheattitudesandformsofclassicism,andrebellionagainstestablishedsocialrulesandconventions.

②TheromanticperiodinAmericanliteraturestretchesfromtheendofthe18thcenturythroughtheoutbreakoftheCivilwar.

③Irving,WhitmanandThoreauaretherepresentatives.

Background

（1）Politicalbackgroundandeconomicdevelopment

（2）RomanticmovementinEuropeancountries

Derivative–foreigninfluence

features

（1）Americanromanticismwasinessencetheexpressionof―arealnew

experienceandcontained―analienquality‖forthesimplereasonthat―the

spiritoftheplace‖wasradicallynewandalien.

（2）ThereisAmericanPuritanismasaculturalheritagetoconsider.American

romanticauthorstendedmoretomoralize.ManyAmericanromantic

writingsintendedtoedifymorethantheyentertained.

（3）The―newness‖ofAmericansasanationisinconnectionwithAmerican

Romanticism.

（4）Asalogicalresultoftheforeignandnativefactorsatwork,American

romanticismwasbothimitativeandindependent.

浪漫主义两大主题：

爱和大自然的力量

ThesocialandculturalbackgroundofRomanticism：

---TheyoungRepublicwasflourishingintoapolitically,economicallyandculturallyindependentcountry.

---TheRomanticwritingsrevealeduniquecharacteristicsoftheirownintheirworksandtheygrewonthenativelands.

---ThedesireforanescapefromsocietyandareturntonaturebecameapermanentconventionofAmericanliterature.

---TheAmericanPuritanismasaculturalheritageexertedgreatinfluencesoverAmericanmoralvalues.

Romanticsfrequentlysharedcertaingeneralcharacteristics:

moralenthusiasm,faithinvalueofindividualismandintuitiveperception,andapresumptionthatthenaturalworldwasasourceofgoodnessandman’ssocietiesasasourceofcorruption.

2.Transcendentalism（超验主义、先验主义）:

Itwasagroupofnewideasinliterature,religion,cultureandphilosophythatemergedinNewEnglandinthemiddle19thcentury.Itbeganasaprotestagainstthegeneralstateofcultureandsociety.Amongtranscendentalist’scorebeliefswasanidealspiritualstatethat“transcends”thephysicalandempirical（以观察或实验为依据的）andisonlyrealizedthroughtheindividual’sintuition,ratherthanthroughthedoctrinesofestablishedreligions.ProminenttranscendentalistsincludedRalphWaldoEmerson（爱默生）,HenryDavidThoreau（梭罗）,WaltWhitman（惠特曼）,etc.Itisakindofphilosophythatstressesbeliefintranscendentalthingsandtheimportance

ofspiritualratherthanmaterialexistence.（相信超凡的事物，认为精神存在比物质存在更重要）.

AmericanTranscendentalism（美国超验主义）

①TranscendentalismisthesummitoftheRomanticMovementinthehistoryofAmericanliteratureinthe19thcentury,whichflourishedfromabout1835to1860.

②TranscendentalistsplaceemphasisontheimportanceoftheOversoul,theindividualandnature.Specifically,theystressedintuitiveunderstandingofGod,withoutthehelpofthechurch,andadvocatedindependenceofthemind.

③ThemostimportantrepresentativesareRalphWaldoEmersonandHenryDavidThoreau.

RalphWaldoEmerson

①RalphWaldoEmersonwasanAmericanessayist,philosopherandpoet,bestrememberedforleadingtheTranscendentalistmovementofthemid19thcentury.

②HeexpressedthephilosophyofTranscendentalisminhis1836essay,Nature.

③Besides,hisTheAmericanScholarwasconsideredtobeAmerican’s―IntellectualDeclarationofIndependence‖.

Oversoul

①Itisanall-pervadingpowerforgoodnessfromwhichallthingscomeofwhichallthingsareapart.

②ItisakeydoctrineforTranscendentalists.

Self-reliance

①Self-relianceisanessaywrittenbyAmericanTranscendentalistphilosopherRalphWaldoEmerson.

②Itcontainsthemostsolidstatementofoneofhisrepeatingthemes,theneedforeachindividualtoavoidconformityandfalseconsistency,andfollowhisorherowninstinctsandideas.

③Theseideasareconsideredareactiontoacommercialidentify.Emersoncallsforareturntoindividualidentity.

Individualism（个人主义）

①Individualismisamoral,political,andsocialphilosophy,whichemphasizesindividualliberty,theprimaryimportanceoftheindividual,andthe“virtuesofself-reliance”.

②Itisthusdirectlyopposedtocollectivism,socialpsychologyandsociology,whichconsidertheindividual’srapporttothesocietyorcommunity.

③Itisoftenconfusedwith―egoism‖,butanindividualistneednotbeanegoist.Walden

①ItisoneoftheAmericanclassicswrittenbyHenryDavidThoreau.

②ItrecordshisexperimentinlivingatWaldenpond,hissympatheticunderstandingofnature,hismeditationonthemeaningsoflifeandhissocialcriticism.

③ComparedwithEmerson’sNature,itismoreradicalandsocial-minded.

3.Freeverse（自由体诗歌）

①Freeverseisageneraltermreferringtothemodernformofversewithnofixedfoot,rhythmorrimeschemes.

②ItwasfirstwrittenandlabeledbyagroupofFrenchpoetsofthelate19thcentury.

③FreeversehasbeencharacteristicoftheworkofmanyAmericanpoets,including

WaltWhitman,EzraPoundandCarlSandburg.

“TheSongofMyself”

①ItisthebestknownpoeminLeavesofGrassbyWaltWhitman.

②Itisacelebrationoftheindividualaswellasthecommonpeople.

4.AmericanRealism（美国现实主义）

①Theperiodrangingfrom1865to1914hasbeenpreferredtoastheageofRealism.

②Itwasaliterarydoctrinethatcalledfor―realityandtruth‖inthedepictionofordinarylife.Itis,inliterature,anapproachthatattemptstodescribelifewithoutidealizationorromanticsubjectivity.

③ThreedominantfiguresareWilliamDeanHowells,MarkTwainandHenryJames.LocalColorism/Regionalism（地方特色主义）

①LocalColorismispopularinthelate19thcentury,particularlyamongauthorsinthesouthoftheU.S.

②Thisstylereliedheavilyonusingwords,phrases,andslangthatwerenativetotheparticularregioninwhichthestorytookplace.Thetermhascometomeananydevicewhichimpliesaspecificfocus,whetheritisgeographicalortemporal.

③Awell-knowlocalcolorismauthorwasMarkTwainwithhisbookTheAdventureofHuckleberryFinn.

5.JazzAge（爵士乐时代）

①TheJazzAgereferstothe1920s,atimemarkedbyhedonismandexcitementinthelifeofflamingyouth.

②WiththeriseoftheGreatDepression,materiallyrich,spirituallylost,thegenerationfeltfrustratedwithlifeandindulgedinpleasure.

③PerhapsthemostrepresentativeliteraryworkoftheageisAmericanwriterF.ScottFitzgerald’sTheGreatGatsby,highlightingwhatsomedescribeasthedecadenceandhedonism,aswellasthegrowthofindividualism.

6.Yoknapatawpha（约克纳帕塔法）

①MostofFaulkner’sliteraryworksweresetinthesmallcountyofAmericanSouth.Itisthefictionalmodificationofhishometown,Oxford,Mississippi.

②ToFaulkner,thissmallpieceoflandwasworthalife’sworkinliterarywritingandhereFaulknercreatedaworldofimagination.

③YoknapatawphahasbecomeanallegoryoftheOldSouth,withwhichFaulknerhasmanagedsuccessfullytoshowapanoramaoftheexperienceofthewholeSouthernsociety.

7.SouthernRenaissance（南方文艺复兴）

①ItistherevivalofAmericanSouthernliteraturethatbeganinthe1920suntilthe1950s.

②ThewritersaffirmedtheirpositiononthesuperiorityoftheSouthernlifestyleoverthatoftheindustrializednorth.

③WilliamFaulknerandKatherineAnnePorterarewritersofthistype.

Avant-garde（先锋派）

①ItisaFrenchmilitaryandpoliticaltermforthevanguardofanarmyorpoliticalmovement.

②Thistermextendedsincethelate19thcenturyinliterature,whichreferstotheinnovativewriterwhoisaheadofthetimebothinthemesandstyle.

③Inthe20thcenturyAmericanliterature,writerslikeFaulknerande.e.cummingscanbecalledavant-gardewriters.

8Imagism:

it’sapoeticmovementofEnglandandtheU.Sflourishedfrom1909to1917.Themovementinsistsonthecreationofimagesinpoetryby―thedirecttreatmentofthething‖andtheeconomyofwording.TheleadersofthismovementwereEzraPoundandAmyLowell艾米?

洛威尔.

Imagism:

ItcameintobeinginBritainandU.Saround1910asareactiontothetraditionalEnglishpoetrytoexpressthesenseoffragmentationanddislocation.Theimagists,withEzraPoundleadingtheway,holdthatthemosteffectivemeanstoexpressthesemomentaryimpressionsisthroughtheuseofonedominantimage.Imagismischaracterizedbythefollowingthreepoeticprinciples:

directtreatmentofsubjectmatter;economyofexpression;asregardsrhythm,tocomposeinthesequenceofthemusicalphrase,notinthesequenceofmetronome节拍器.Pound’s“InaStationoftheMetro”isawell-knownimagistpoem.

Imagism（意象派）

①Imagismwasapoeticschoolatthebeginningofthe20thcentury.

②Imagistpoetsstrivedforasimple,clearandvividimage,whichinitselfistheexpressionofartandmeaning.Theimagistpoetryisakindoffreeverseshakingofconventionalmetresandemphasizingtheuseofcommonspeechandnewrhythms.

③ThismovementwasledbyEzraPoundandT.S.Eliot.

Imagery（意象）

①Imagerymeanswordsandphrasesthatcreatepictures,orimagesinthereaders’mind.

②Inaliterarytext,itoccurswhenanauthorusesanobjectthatisnotreallythere,inordertocreateacomparisonbetweenonethatis,usuallyevokingamoremeaningfulvisualexperienceforthereader.

③Itisusefulasitallowsanauthortoadddepthandunderstandingtohiswork,likeasculptoraddinglayerandlayertohisstatue,buildingitupintoabeautifulworkofart.

9.Blackhumor:

Todealwithtragicthingsincomicwaystomakeitmorepowerfu