美国文学选读名词解释.doc

美国文学选读名词解释.doc

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1.Puritanism（清教主义）:

PuritanismisthepracticesandbeliefsofthePuritans.

1.）simplyspeaking,AmericanPuritanismjustreferstothespiritandidealofpuritans,whosettledintheNorthAmericancontinentintheearlypartoftheseventeenthcenturybecauseofreligiouspersecutions.

2.）Incontentitmeansscrupulous,moralrigor,eapeciallyhostilitytosocialpleasureandreligion.

3.）withtimepassingitbecameadominantfactorinAmericanlife,oneofthemostenduringshapinginfluencesinAmericanthoughtandliterature.tosomeextentitisastateofmind,apartofthenationalculturalatmospherethattheAmericanbreathes,ratherthanasetoftenets.

4.）Actuallyitisacodeofvalues,aphilosophyoflifeandapointofviewinAmericanminds,alsoatwo-facetedtraditionofreligiousidealismandlevel-headedincommonsense.

5）Majortopic:

AmericanPuritanism

Introduction

Therewerenowrittenliteratureamongthemorethan500differentIndianlanguagesandtribalcultures，AmericanwritingbeganwiththeworkofEnglishadventurersandcolonistsintheNewWorldchieflyforthebenefitofreadersinthemothercountry.Thereforethewritinginthisperiodwasessentiallytwokinds:

（1）practicalmatter-of-factaccountsoffarming,hunting,travel,etc.designedtoinformpeople“athome”whatlifewaslikeinthenewworld,and,often,toinducetheirimmigration;

（2）highlytheoretical,generallypolemical（好辩的）,discussionsofreligiousquestions.

2.TheAmericanRomanticism（浪漫主义）

I.WhatisRomanticism

aliterarymovementflourishedasaculturalforce

theearlyperiodandthelateperiod.

associatedwithimaginationandboundlessness,

asanhistoricalmovementitaroseinthe18thand19thcenturies.

ThemostclearlydefinedromanticliterarymovementintheU.S.AwasTranscendentalism.

WashingtonIrvingandJamesFenimoreCooper,

andthoseofthelateperiodcontainRalphWaldoEmerson,HenryDavidThoreau,WaltWhitman,NathanielHawthorne,HermanMelville,EdgarAllanPoe.

II.FeaturesofAmericanromanticism

（1）Itwastheexpressionof“arealnewexperience（全新体验）”.

（2）AmericanPuritanismwasaculturalheritage.ManyAmericanromanticwritingsintendedtoedify（启发）morethantheyentertained.

（3）AmericanRomanticismisfullof“newness（新奇）”.

Ideals：

Individualism;politicalequality

Dream：

America:

anewGardenofEden

（4）Americanromanticismwasbothimitativeandindependent.

3..transcendentalism、（超验主义）transcendentalism:

Itstressedthepowerofintuition,believingthatpeoplecouldlearnthingsbothfromtheoutsideworldbymeansofthefivesensesandfromtheinnerworldbyintuition.IttooknatureassymbolicofspiritorGod.Allthingsinnatureweresymbolsofthespiritual,ofGod’spresence.Itemphasizedthesignificanceoftheindividualandbelievedthattheindividualwasthemostimportantelementinsocietyandthattheidealkindofindividualwasself-reliantandunselfish.Transcendentalistsenvisionedreligionasanemotionalcommunicationbetweenanindividualsoulandtheuniversal“Oversoul”.

4.Naturalism:

Itviewshumanbeingsasanimalsinthenaturalworldrespondingtoenvironmentalforcesandinternalstressesanddrives,overnoneofwhichtheyhavecontrolandnoneofwhichtheyfullyunderstand.Theliterarynaturalistshaveamajordifferencefromtherealists.Theylookatadifferentspottofindreallife.

5.Freeverse:

Itispoetrythathasanirregularrhythmandlinelengthandthatattemptstoavoidanypredeterminedversestructure;instead,itusesthecadencesofnaturalspeech.

6.Internationalnovel:

INbringstogetherpersonsofvariousnationalitieswhorepresentcertaincharacteristicsoftheirowncountries.

7.thelostgeneration:

revealsthehugedestructionofthewarstotheyounggeneration.ItdescribestheAmericanswhoremainedinParisasacolonyof“expatriates”.Theywerelostindisillusionment.

8,AmericanDream:

Americandreammeansthebeliefthateveryonecansucceedaslongashe/sheworkshardenough.Itusuallyimpliesasuccessfulandsatisfyinglife.ItusuallyframedintermsofAmericancapitalism（资本主义）,itsassociatedpurportedmeritocracy,（知识界精华）andthefreedomsguaranteedbytheU.S.BillofRights

9.AmericanRealism:

InAmericanliterature,theCivilWarbroughttheRomanticPeriodtoanend.TheAgeofRealismcameintoexistence.Itcameasareactionagainstthelieofromanticismandsentimentalism.Realismturnedfromanemphasisonthestrangetowardafaithfulrenderingoftheordinary,asliceoflifeasitisreallylived.Itexpressestheconcernforcommonplaceandthelow,anditoffersanobjectiveratherthananidealisticviewofhumannatureandhumanexperience.

10.BlackHumor:

alsocalledBlackComedy,writingthatjuxtaposesmorbidorghastlyelementswithcomicalones.Thetermdidnotcomeintocommonuseuntilthe1960s.ThenitwasappliedtotheworksofthenovelistsNathanaelWest,VladimirNabokov,andJosephHeller.Thelatter'sCatch-22（1961）isanotableexample,inwhichCaptainYossarianbattlesthehorrorsofairwarfareovertheMediterraneanduringWorldWarIIwithhilariousirrationalitiesmatchingthestupiditiesofthemilitarysystem.ThetermblackcomedyhasbeenappliedtoplaywrightsintheTheatreoftheAbsurd.

11.Localcolorism:

asatrendbecamedominantinAmericanliteratureinthe1860sandearly1870s，itisdefinedbyHamlinGarlandashavingsuchqualityoftextureandbackgroundthatitcouldnothavebeenwritteninanyotherplaceorbyanyoneelsethananativestoriesoflocalcolorismhaveaqualityofcircumstantial（详细的）authenticity（确实性）,aslocalcoloriststriedtoimmortalize（使不朽）thedistinctivenatural,socialandlinguisticfeatures.Itischaracteristicofvernacular（本国语）languageandsatirical（讽刺的）humor

12.CodeHero

GeneralFeatures:

1.Hehasgreatphysicalpotentialandcourage.

2.The“codeheroes”havestrongwillpower.

3.Thirdly,anotherimportantfeatureofthe“codeheroes"istheirloyalty.

4.Fourthly,the"codeheroes”maintaingreatdignityinallsituations.

5.Fifthly,the“codeheroes”areendowedwithcertainspecializedskills,suchasfishing,bullfighting,andhunting,etc

6,the“codeheroes”arealwaysputinsometouch-andgosituations,whattheheroesmustalwaysfaceuptoistheirownpersonalfearofdeathandthethreatofdestruction,anditisthisobstacle,death,thattheyhavetoovercome.

13.icebergtheory:

Thedignityofmovementoftheicebergisduetoonlyone-eighthofitbeingabovewater.

2AmericanTranscendentalism

Asaphilosophicalandliterarymovement,AmericanTranscendentalism（alsoknownas“AmericanRenaissance”）flourishedinNewEnglandfromthe1830stotheCivilWar.ItisthehightideofAmericanromanticismanditsdoctrinesfoundtheirgreatestliteraryadvocatesinEmersonandThoreau.TranscendentalistsspokefortheculturalrejuvenationandagainstthematerialismofAmericansociety.

Transcendentalism超验主义（+H.D.Thoreau;NathanielHawthorne;）

ThemajorfeaturesofTranscendentalism:

①TheTranscendentalistsplacedemphasisonspirit,ortheOversoul,asthemostimportantthingintheuniverse.思想超灵宇宙

②TheTranscendentalistsstressedtheimportanceoftheindividual.Tothem,theindividualisthemostimportantelementofSociety.个体+社会

③TheTranscendentalistsofferedafreshperceptionofnatureassymbolicoftheSpiritorGod.Naturewasnotpurelymatter.Itwasalive,filledwithGod’soverwhelmingpresence.自然+上帝

3StreamofConsciousness意识流or“interiormonologue”,内心独白isoneofthemodernliterarytechniques.Itisthestyleofwritingthatattemptstoimitatethenaturalflowofacharacter’sthoughts,feelings,reflections,memories,andmentalimagesasthecharacterexperiencesthem.Itwasfirstusedin1922bytheIrishnovelistJamesJoyce.

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