美国文学史复习资料内江师范学院.docx

美国文学史复习资料内江师范学院.docx

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美国文学史复习资料内江师范学院

HistoryAndAnthologyOfAmericanLiterature

PartITheLiteratureofColonialAmerica

TheearliestsettlersincludedDutch,Swedes,Germans,French,Spaniards,Italians,andPortuguese,

ThefirstpermanentEnglishsettlementinNorthAmericawasestablishedatJamestown,Virginiain1607.Atlastearlyinthe17thcentury,theEnglishsettlementsinVirginiaandMassachusettsbeganthemainstreamofwhatwerecognizeastheAmericanhistory.

TwoImportantNewEnglandSettlements：

ThePlymouthColony（TheMayflowerCompact）;TheMassachusettsBayColony（TheArbellacovenant）

ThefirstAmericanwritings：

ThefirstwritingsthatwecallAmericanwerethenarrativesandjournalsofthesesettlements.（wroteindiariesandinjournals）

CaptainJohnSmith（1580-1631）wasthefirstAmericanwriterandhepublishedeightinall.Hisworksalwayshaslongtitles.

EarlyNewEnglandLiterature

1）Aliteratureofideas:

NewEnglandhadfromthebeginningaliteratureofideas:

theological,moral,historical,political.

2）Theocracy:

ThefirstintentioninMassachusettswastofoundatheocracy—asocietyinwhichGodwouldgovernthroughthechurch.Thechurchthusbecamethesupremepoliticalbody.

3）ThePuritanvaluesthatdominatedmuchoftheearliestAmericanwriting:

Overtheyearsthepuritansbuiltawayoflifethatwasinharmonywiththeirsomberreligion,onethatstressedhardwork,thrift,piety,andsobriety.ThesewerethePuritanvaluesthatdominatedmuchoftheearliestAmericanwriting,includingthesermons,books,andlettersofsuchnotedPuritanclergymanasJohnCottonandCottonMather.

4）TheAmericanpoets:

TheAmericanpoetswhoemergedinthe17thcenturyadaptedthestyleofestablishedEuropeanpoetstothesubjectmatterconfrontedinastrange,newenvironment.AnneBradstreetwasonesuchpoet.

WilliamBradford（威廉·布拉德福德）:

firstgovernorofPlymouth.HewroteTheHistoryofPlymouthPlantation.

ThePilgrimFathers:

EnglishPuritanswhowenttoAmericain1620andfoundedthecolonyofPlymouth,Massachusetts

JohnWinthrop（约翰·温思罗普）:

firstgovernoratBoston.HewroteTheHistoryofNewEngland.

PuritanThoughts:

1.WhatwasaPuritan?

The“Puritan”was“awould-bepurifier”.Puritanswantedtomakepuretheirreligiousbeliefsandpractices.

2.WhatdidthePuritanswanttodo?

ThePuritanswishedtorestoresimplicitytochurchservicesandtheauthorityoftheBibletotheology.TheyfeltthattheChurchofEnglandwastooclosetotheChurchofRomeindoctrine,formofworship,andorganizationofauthority.AnotherpointofcontroversywasthattheChurchofEnglandwastheestablishedchurch,thatis,theofficialchurchofthestate,andthemostextremePuritans,amongthemthePlymouthPlantationgroup,felttheinfluencesofpoliticsandthecourthadledtocorruptionwithinthechurch.

3.WhatkindofpeoplewerethePuritans?

PuritansincludepeoplefromthehumblesttotheloftiestranksofEnglishsociety,botheducatedanduneducated,poorandrich.

Puritanoppositiontopleasureandtheartshassometimesbeenexaggerated,butitistruethattheirlivesweredisciplinedandhard.Puritanstendedtosuspectjoyandlaughterassymptomsofsin.

PuritanreligiousteachingtendedtoemphasizetheimageofawrathfulGodandtoforgethismercy.

Puritanism（thepracticesanddoctrinesofthePuritans）wasthestrongestintheNewEnglandregionandhadgreatinfluenceuponitshistory,itspeopleanditsliterature.

JohnCottonandRogerWilliams:

`contradictoryexamplesofPuritans

JohnCotton约翰·科登

ThefirstmajorintellectualspokesmanoftheMassachusettsBayColony,sometimescalled“thePatriarchofNewEngland”.

RogerWilliams罗杰·威廉姆斯

WithWilliamsbeginsthehistoryofreligioustolerationinAmerica,andwithhim,too,thehistoryoftheseparationofchurchandstate.Williamsadvocatedthefreedomofbelief.InhimwehaveabalancetoJohnCotton.

AnneBradstreetandEdwardTaylor安妮·布莱德斯特和爱德华·泰勒

AnneBradstreetandEdwardTaylor,rosetothelevelofrealpoetry.

AnneDudleyBradstreetisoneofthemostinterestingoftheearlypoets.

Bradstreet’sfirstpublishedworkappearedinLondon:

TheTenthMuseLatelySprungUpinAmerica.

EdwardTaylor:

PuritanPreacherandPoet

ThebestofthePuritanpoetswasEdwardTaylor.HisworkfollowedthestyleandformsoftheleadingEnglishpoetsofthemid-seventeenthcentury.

PartIITheLiteratureofReasonandRevolution（18th）

Twohistoricalevent:

I.TheAmericanWarforIndependence1775-1783

II.Enlightenment

TheologydominatedthePuritanphaseofAmericanwriting.Politicswasnowthegreatsubjecttocommandtheattentionofthebestminds.

BenjaminFranklin（本杰明·富兰克1706-1790）

Representativeworks:

1.PoorRichard’sAlmanac;

2.TheAutobiography:

Anintroductionofhislifetohisownson,includingfourpartswrittenindifferenttimes.Thefirstsuccessstoryofself-madeAmericans;

ThomasPaine（托马斯·佩因1737-1809）:

RevolutionaryWarpatriotandpamphleteer.

Majorworks:

1.TheCaseoftheOfficersoftheExcise（1772）;

2.CommonSense（1776）;

3.TheAmericanCrisis（1776-1783）;

4.TheRightsofMan（1791-92）.

ThomasJefferson（托马斯·杰弗逊1743-1826）:

AuthoroftheDeclarationofIndependence.

TheDeclarationofIndependencewasanactoftheSecondContinentalCongress,adoptedonJuly4,1776,whichdeclaredthattheThirteenColoniesinNorthAmericawere"FreeandIndependentStates".

PhilipFreneau（菲利浦·弗瑞诺1752-1832）

PhilipMorinFreneauwasanAmericanpoet,essayist,andjournalist.RememberedasthepoetoftheAmericanRevolutionandthefatherofAmericanpoetry,hewasatransitionalfigureinAmericanliterature.

“TheWildHoneySuckle”Hisnaturepoem,“TheWildHoneySuckle”,isconsideredanearlyseedtothelaterTranscendentalistmovementtakenupbyWilliamCullenBryant,RalphWaldoEmerson,andHenryDavidThoreau.

In this poem the poet expressed a keen aware-nessof the loveliness and transienceofnature.He not only meditated on Mortalitybut also celebrated nature.Thepoem impliesthatlifeand deathare inevitable law of nature.

“The wild honey suckle”is PhilipFreneau'smostwidely read natural lyric with thetheme of transience.

The centralimage is anativewild flower,which makes a drastic difference from elite 

flowerimages typical oftraditionalEnglish poems.

The poem showed strong feelings forthe natural beauty,whichwas thecharacteristic ofromantic poets.

The poem was written in regular 6-line tetrameter stanzas,rhyming:

ababcc.The structureof thepoem is regular,so it has the neoclassic quality of proportionand balance.

The line“the space is but an hour“contains a hyperbole stressing the transienceoflife.The tone of the poem is both sentimental andoptimistic.

PartIIITheLiteratureofRomanticism

LiteraryCharacteristics:

Romanticism;Transcendentalism.

1.Romanticism

TheattitudesofAmerica’swriterswereshapedbytheirNewWorldenvironmentandanarrayofideasinheritedfromtheromantictraditionsofEurope.AnewromanticismhadappearedinEnglandinthelastyearsofthe18thcentury.ItspreadtocontinentalEuropeandthencametoAmericaearlyinthe19thcentury.

Romanticsfrequentlysharedcertaingeneralcharacteristics:

moralenthusiasm,faithinthevalueofindividualismandintuitiveperception,andapresumptionthatthenaturalworldwasasourceofgoodnessandman’ssocietiesasourceofcorruption.

RomanticvalueswereprominentinAmericanpolitics,art,andphilosophyuntiltheCivilWar.

2.Transcendentalism（超验主义）

ThephaseofNewEnglandTranscendentalismisthesummitofAmericanRomanticism.

Itisaphilosophicalview,anotion,aconcept,anidea,awayoflookingatthings,asetofattitudesaboutman,God,andtheuniverse,awayofhowtogettothebasictruthoftheuniverse.Transcendentalismhasbeendefinedphilosophicallyas"therecognitioninmanofthecapacityofknowingtruthintuitively,orofattainingknowledgetranscendingthereachofthesenses".

TherepresentativewritersofTranscendentalismareRalphWaldoEmersonandHenryDavidThoreau.

3.ThegrowthofculturalnationalismarousedAmericanartiststowritepatrioticsongs,topaintvastpanoramaofAmericanscenes,andtodesignmonumentalbuildingsthatwouldregisterthegrandeuroftheAmericanpeopleandtheirland.

A.Art

---music:

mostAmericanmusicremainedderivative;FrancisScottKey’s“Star–SpangledBanner”

---painting:

theHudsonRiverSchool

---architecture:

Gothicbuildings

B.Literature:

1）Literatureceasedtobeprimarilydidactic,aservantofpoliticsandreligion.

2）Imaginativeliteraturebecameintense,personal,andsymbolicasmorewriterscametoperceivethemselvesasprophetsandseers.Movedbyacallforanationalliterature,writerscelebratedAmerica’smeadows,groves,andstreams,itsendlessprairies,denseforests,andvastoceans.

3）Thedesireforanescapefromsociety,andareturntonaturebecameapermanentconventionofAmericanliterature

4）Romanticwritersdisplayedincreasingattentiontothepsychicstatesoftheircharacters.

5）NationalismstimulatedagreaterliteraryinterestinAmerica’slanguageanditscommonpeople.NoahWebster:

AnAmericanDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage.

6）NewEnglandliteraryrenaissance（“floweringofNewEngland”）

WashingtonIrving（华盛顿·欧文1783-1859）.

1）IrvingisthefirstbelletristinAmericanliterature,writingforpleasureatatimewhenwritingwaspracticalandforusefulpurposes.

2）HeisthefirstAmericanliteraryhumorist.

3）Hehaswrittenthefirstmodernshortstories.TheshortstoryasagenreinAmericanliteratureprobablybeganwithIrving's TheSketchBook.

4）Heisthefirsttowritehistoryandbi