美国文学整理(终)

The romantic age (1815-1865)Romanticism: It is aassociated with imagination and creation of individuality. Romantic writers attach importance to the portrayal of figures of distinctive charactersOne of the characteristics: it took a predominantly philosophical toneI. BackgroundA. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, romanticism occurred and developed in Europe.B. American Puritanism清教Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. The Puritans were originally members of a division of the Protestant Church. As the word itself hints, Puritans wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They are a group of highly religious and serious people. They are Self-disciplined, sobriety, hard work, thrift, piety without any earthly joy and extravagancy.C. American was striving for争取political, economic, and cultural independence from Britain, radical 彻底的changes took place: Development of industrialism, great immigration, westward expansion, etc. The buoyant令人鼓舞的mood of the nation called for a new literary expression, and romanticism answered the call.D. The European influence.II. Features of the romantic literature.1.Expressiveness:Wordsworth华滋华斯: ―all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow洋溢of powerful feeling‖The romanticists held that the writers should express their emotions, feelings, impressions. 印象, instinct直觉, intuition直觉, or their beliefs in their works instead of the imitation模仿of the classical writers.2. Imagination3. Worship崇拜of nature4. Simplicity简单: turned to the humble低下的people and the everyday life，adopted the everyday languageRomanticism的特点：frequently shared certain general characteristics, moral enthusiasm, faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that he natural world was a source of corruption.浪漫主义之间大多是相通的，都注重道德，强调个人主义价值观和直觉感受，并且认为自然是美的源头，人类社会是腐败之源。

美国文学总结美国文学作为世界文学的重要组成部分，以其丰富多样的文体和深刻的思想内涵，对人类文明的发展作出了重要贡献。

本文将从不同的角度来总结美国文学的特点和影响，希望读者能够对美国文学有一个更深入的了解。

一、多元文化的交融和反映美国是一个多元文化的国家，这种多元化的文化背景也深刻地反映在了美国文学中。

不同民族、不同种族、不同宗教信仰的交融，使得美国文学具有丰富多样的题材和内容。

例如，非裔作家托尼·莫里森的作品《宠儿》以及拉斯姆斯·沙迪的作品《千万次的告别》都深入地反映了非洲裔美国人的生活经历和种族歧视问题。

同时，美国文学中也出现了很多关于移民和流亡的作品，如海明威的《老人与海》、耶尔·玛特基的《侍女的故事》等，这些作品都以独特而真实的方式表达了来自不同国家和地区的人们的痛苦和奋斗。

二、对人性的思考和揭示美国文学有着对人性的深刻思考和揭示，呈现了人类内心世界的复杂性和矛盾性。

在美国文学的经典作品中，我们可以看到人性的种种弱点和缺点，比如弗朗西斯·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德的小说《了不起的盖茨比》中描述了个人欲望和贪婪的堕落，约瑟夫·康拉德的小说《黑暗之心》中探讨了人性中的野蛮和暴力倾向。

但是，美国文学也揭示了人性中那些令人感动和崇敬的品质，如荣格的《舞人木偶之死》中展现了人类对友谊和爱的渴望，哈珀·李的小说《杀死一只知更鸟》中讲述了一个女孩成长的故事，提倡了宽容和正义。

三、对历史和社会的反思和批判美国文学不仅仅是对个人内心世界的深入思考，还对历史和社会进行了深刻的反思和批判。

在美国的历史中，有许多黑暗的时刻，比如对土著人、非洲裔美国人和女性的歧视等。

文学作为一个重要的社会反思工具，呈现出了对这些社会问题和历史事件的批判。

例如，马克·吐温的小说《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》通过一个贫穷少年的目光，展示了奴隶制度和社会不公的丑恶。

美国文学复习整理一、殖民主义时期的文学（colonial settlements)＆理性和革命时期文学（revolutionary period）（文艺复兴时期)1.清教主义的shaping influence2.代表人物“T he Tenth Muse”第一位移民诗人2. Philip Freneau 菲利普·佛瑞诺有宗教隐喻，关注本土地貌、人文.写印第安人故事。

美国诗歌之父 father of American poetry代表作《野金银花》The Wild Honey Suckle3。

Thomas Jefferson 托马斯·杰弗逊起草了独立宣言 The Declaration of Independence 17764.Thomas Paine 托马斯·佩因拥护独立宣言代表作：《常识》Common Sense《理性时代》The Age of Reason5.Jonathan Edwards乔纳森·埃德沃兹大觉醒运动的代表人物 the Great Awakening6.Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林代表作：《自传》The Autobiography《穷理查德历书》Poor Richard's Almanac美国梦的代表二．浪漫主义时期的文学(American Romanticism）早期浪漫主义（Early Romantic Period）1.背景：1> 时间：18世纪末到内战爆发前夕（1861）2> 条件：○1国家的快速发展，大量移民和工业化发展错误!小说的发展，期刊杂志（periodical)出现错误!受英国文学的影响2.浪漫主义的基本特征1>Stressing emotion rather than reason2>Stressing freedom and individuality3>Idealism rather than materialism4>Writing about nature, medieval legends（中世纪传说）and with supernaturalelements。

reasoning and revolution代表作家：1、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林 1706-17901）"Poor Richard's Almanac" 穷人查理德的年鉴annual collection of proverbs 流行谚语集It soon became the most popular book of its kind, largely because of Franklin's shrewd humor, and first spread his reputation2) Founded the Junto, a club for informal discussion of scientific, economic and political ideas. 建立了一个秘密俱乐部，讨论的主题是政治、经济和科学等时事方面的问题3）established America's first circulating library, founded the college--University of Pennsylvania. 建立了美国第一个可租借的图书馆，还创办了一所大学——就是现在的宾夕法尼亚大学。

4）first applied the terms "positive" and "negative" to electrical charges.5)As a representative of the Colonies, he tried in vain to counsel the British toward policies that would let America grow and flourish in association with England. He conducted the difficulty negotiations with France that brought financial and military support for America in the war. 作为殖民地的代表，他不断建议英国改变政策，使美国可以和英国一起发展、繁荣。

第一部分殖民主义时期the colonial period1.Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the Puritan values that dominated much of the earliest Americanwriting.代表人物: cotton mather 科顿.马瑟Jonathan Edwards 乔纳森.爱德华兹Anne brandstreet 安妮.布雷斯特里特殖民时期第一位诗人，《最近在北美出现的第十位缪斯》第二部分理性和革命时期文学reasoning and revolution1、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明.弗兰克林代表作：Poor Richard’s Almanac穷人理查德的年鉴annual collection of proverbs 流行谚语集Autobiography 自传 18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传2、Thomas Paine 托马斯.潘恩Rights of man 人的权利The age of reason 理性时代American Crisis《美国危机》, signed “Common Sense”.署名为“常识”3、Philip Freneau 菲利浦.弗瑞诺the most outstanding writer of the post-Revolutionary period（18th century）. 是革命战争后期（18世纪）最杰出的作家。

the “Father of American Poetry”美国诗歌之父poet of American revolution4、Thomas Jefferson 托马斯.杰弗逊drafted the Declaration of Independence. 起草了独立宣言第三部分浪漫主义文学/Romanticismtranscendentalism超验主义：1、Ralf Waldo Emerson拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生be responsible for bringing Transcendentalism to New England, 是把超验主义引入新英格兰的先驱。

美国文学史总结从第二次世界大战后到新世纪，美国文学还有一个值得一提的发展现象——通俗文学（Popular Literature）日益受到重视，过去以低级杂志（pulps）为阵地的通俗小说有了平装本和精装本，进了图书馆和大学。

战后兴起的后现代主义思潮为研究通俗文学起了推波助澜的作用，学术界和思想界对于通俗文学观念的变化，刺激了通俗文学的进一步发展。

不但许多传统的通俗小说保持强劲的发展势头，而且诞生了许多新型通俗小说。

这些传统型和创新型的小说，很多都进入了《纽约时报》的“畅销书排行榜”（New York Times Best Sellers）。

每一本畅销小说诞生后，都会被改编成电影、电视剧；原创电影、电视剧在走红后也很快派生出同名畅销小说。

畅销小说和火爆的影视剧交相辉映，构成战后美国通俗文学的繁荣景象。

50年代，历史西部小说（Historical Western）占据了通俗文学的主导地位，随后现代犯罪小说（Modern Crime Fiction）迅速崛起，在60年代末和70年代初压倒了其他一切通俗小说。

70、80年代是美国通俗小说大发展时期，诞生了诸如甜蜜野蛮小说（Sweet-Savage Romance）、高科技惊险小说（High-Technical Thriller）之类的新型通俗小说。

此外，传统的女性言情小说（Women's Fiction）、科幻小说（Science Fiction）和恐怖小说（Horror Fiction）也出现有力回潮。

90年代，社会暴露小说（Social Expose Fiction）逐渐成为美国通俗文学领域的主导力量，如此格局一直维持到世纪末。

像马里奥·普佐（Mario Puzo）的《教父》（The Godfather）、斯蒂芬·金（Stephen King）的系列恐怖小说、迈克尔·克莱顿（Michael Crichton）的《侏罗纪公园》（Jurassic Park）和《失落的世界》（The Lost World）、玛格丽特·杜鲁门（Margaret Truman）的“谋杀案”系列政治暴露小说等，都是我国读者较为熟悉的美国通俗文学作品。

American Literature---A General reviewA general thread of American literature•I. American Literature of Colonial Period•(1607—1765)•II. American Literature of Revolutionary Period (1765—1800)•III. The Age of Romanticism (1800—1865)•IV. The Age of Realism (1865—1918)•V. American Modernism (1918—1945)•VI. Contemporary Literature (1945-- )Ⅰ.Literature of colonial period (1607-1765)• 1.Terms:•Puritanism: origin, doctrines, relationship with American literatureOrigin: grow out of religious controversy, out of an urge for religious freedom anddetermination, out of fleeing from religious and political oppression and persecution, out of human thirst for great economic opportunity, for land, and for adventure.Doctrines: stress predestination, original sin, total depravity, and limited atonementfrom God‟s graceWay of life: stress hard work, thrift, piety, and sobrietyRelationship with American literature: expression of the puritan idealism, puritanoptimism impact on American literature, a literature of discovery.• 2. writers:•Anne Bradstreet:安妮. 布拉德斯特里特the first American woman writer; PuritanismWorks：The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in American《最近在美国出现的第十位缪斯》II Revolutionary Period (1765—1800)•Terms:•EnlightenmentThey assumed that people were naturally good and that a harmonious universeproclaimed the beneficence of God. They are not interested in theology but in man‟s own nature.•Important figures:Jonathan Edwards: 乔纳森. 爱德华兹神学家，leader of the Great Awakening, 美国哲学思想的开拓者The Personal NarrativeBenjamin Franklin:self-made, reflection of American dream, epitome of the EnlightmentFounding father of the United States of AmericaThe AutobiographyIII. The Age of Romanticism (1800—1865)•Terms:•RomanticismTime: turn of the 18th and 19thHistory background: Industrial Revolution, French RevolutionRomantics stress individual and creative function of imagination. It place individual at the very centre of all life and all experience and at the centre of art.Characteristics:(1) A rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism,(2) The feelings, intuitions, and emotions are more important than reasonand common sense.(3) Stress the relationship between man and nature.(4) Emphasize individualism, placing the individual against the group, againstauthority, the very centre of all life and all experience and at the centre of art.(5) Affirm the inner life of the self, and want each person to be free to develop andexpress his own inner thoughts.(6) Cherish strong interest in the past, especially the medieval(7) Attracted by the wild, the irregular, the indefinite, the remote, the mysterious,and the strange.(8) Interested in variety•TranscendentalismTime: appear after 1830, mid-19thMeaning: marked the maturity of American Romanticism and the AmericanRenaissance and the first American intellectual movement. It laid emphasis on spirit and individual nature.(Whatever belongs to the class of intuitive thought, idealism as it appears )---by Emerson Major concepts:(1)Stress the power of intuition(2)Place spirit first and matter second(3)Take nature as symbolic of spirit or God(4)Emphasize the significance of the individual and believe that individual is themost important element in the society and that the ideal kind of individual isself-reliant and unselfish.(5)Envision religion as an emotional communication between an individual souland the universal Oversoul.(6)Commerce is degrading and a life spent in business is a wasted of life.Early periodFireside poets (炉边诗人): William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and James Russell Lowell. First put American poetry on an equal footing with British poetryPoets:William Cullen Bryant 威廉.柯伦.布莱恩特The first distinctive lyric poet. 第一位享有盛誉的抒情诗人The American WordsworthWorks：To a waterfowl 《致水鸟》Thanatopsis 《死亡观》Song of Marion’s Men《马里恩的人类之歌》Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 亨利.沃兹沃斯.朗费罗He was among the first of American writers to use native theme. Longfellow‟s works are highly spiritual. He emphasizes the mysteries of birth, death and love. His poems are filled with melody and charm of meter.Works: A Psalm of Life 《人生赞礼》：most famous workThe Song of Hiawatha 《海华沙之歌》fiction writers:Washington Irving 华盛顿.欧文Irving has called the father of American literature(美国文学之父). He is the f irst American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame. (美国第一位享誉国际的作家) .Irving‟s works are characterized by a strong sense of humor, which gives an impetus to the growth and popularity of American indigenous humor.Works: A History of New Y ork from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty《纽约外传》a great success and win him reputationThe Sketch Book《见闻札记》Win him an international fameMark the beginning of American RomanticismIt‟s a collection of essays, including:Rip V an winkle《瑞普. 凡. 温克尔》, most famousThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow《睡谷的传说》James Fennimore Cooper 詹姆斯.费尼莫尔.库珀He was the first author to write about western, of sea novel, border novel, and series novels, romantic writer with rationalism.美国民族文学奠基人之一，第一位描述西进运动的作家，开创边疆传奇小说Works：Leatherstocking Tales《皮袜子故事集》about the frontier life of American settlersIncluding:The Pioneers 《拓荒者》The Last of the Mohicans 《最后的莫希干人》, most excellentThe Prairie 《草原》The Pathfinder 《探路者》The Deerslayer 《杀鹿者》•Transcendentalists:•Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803--1882) 拉尔夫.沃尔多.爱默生Nature《论自然》: It …s regarded as “the manifesto of AmericanTranscendentalism”. In this work, Emerson put forward that behind everyphenomenon of the nature there was the spirit of the nature.•Henry David Thoreau (1817--1862) P45 亨利.大卫. 梭罗Walden《瓦尔登湖》, a great transcendentalism workCivil Disobedience《论公民之不服从》A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers《在康科德河和梅里麦克河上的一周》•High romantics:•Emily Dickinson 埃米莉.迪金森女诗人P63Her poems are characterized by the abundant use of dashes(破折号) and otherpunctuations and capitalization and original imagery, precise diction andfragmentary pattern.Theme: love, nature, friendship, death, and immortalityWorks: I’m Nobody《我是无名之辈》To Make a prairie《要描绘一片草原》Success Is Counted Sweetest《最美妙的胜利感觉》•Edgar Allan Poe 埃德加.爱伦. 坡P10He has been held among the greatest poets;The first American professional writer;The first writer of detective story.Works: The Raven《乌鸦》The Fall of the House of Usher《厄舍古厦的倒塌》The Cask of Amontillado《阿芒提拉多的酒桶》Annabel Lee《安娜贝尔. 李》The Poetic Principle《诗歌原理》Sonnet--- To Science《致科学》To Helen《致海伦》诗歌：美丽女子的死亡•Walt Whitman 沃尔特.惠特曼P60A great democratic poet; father of free verseThoughts: equality& democracy; dignity; the joy of common man; openness, freedom, individualism.Works: Leave of Grass《草叶集》, mark the birth of truly American poetry Praised as “democratic Bible”(共和圣经)；“American Epic”(美国史诗)Including：One’s Self I Sing《我歌唱自我》Song of Myself《自我之歌》O Captain! My Captain! 《噢，船长! 我的船长！》•Nathaniel Hawthorne 纳撒尼尔.霍桑P26 First great American writer of fiction; a master of symbolismCentral subject: human soulWorks:The Scarlet Letter《红字》, establish him as the leading American nativenovelist of 19th century.The House of the Seven Gables《带七个尖角阁的房子》Twice- Told Tales《路人皆知的故事》Mosses from an Old Manse 《古宅青苔》The Blithedale Romance《福谷传奇》•Herman Melville 赫尔曼.梅尔维尔美国浪漫主义时期成就最高的小说家，擅长描写航海奇遇和异域风情Works: Moby Dick 《白鲸》, a Shakespeare tragedy of man fighting againstoverwhelming odds in an indifferent and even hostile universe.IV. The Age of Realism (1865—1918)•Terms:•RealismTime: the approach of realist fiction occurring at the latter part of 19th centuryRealism came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism. Itturned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary,a slice of life as it is really lived. It‟s based on the accurate, unromanticizedobservation of human experiences. It insists on precise description, authentic action and dialogue, moral honesty, and a democratic openness in subject and style.Major features:(1)familiar aspects of contemporary life and everyday scenes are represented in astraightforward or matter-of-fact manner(2)in realist fiction characters from all society levels are examined in depth(3)open ending(4)focus on commonness of the lives of the common peole(5)emphasize objective and offer an objective view of human nature and humanexperience(6)presents moral vision•Local colorismTime: popular after civil warLocal colorism, namely, regionalism stresses fidelity to a particular geographical section and a faithful representation of its habits, speech, manners, history, folklore, or belief.Basic features:(1)Presents locale which is distinguished from the outside world(2)Describes the exotic and the pictureseque(3)Glorifies the past(4)Attempts to show things as they are(5)Stresses the influence of setting on character•NaturalismTime: in the late 19thAmerican Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author‟s tone on writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic.It is no more than a gloomy philosophical approach to reality, or to human existence.Major features:(1)Humans are controlled by laws of heredity and environment(2)The universe is cold, godless, indifferent and hostile to human desires(3)They look at the violent, sensational, sordid, unpleasant, and ugly aspects of life•writers:•William Dean Howell 威廉.迪恩. 霍威尔斯The champion of realism，描写美国中产阶级生活Centre and circumference of realism in AmericaWorks: Criticism and Fiction《批评与小说》V enetian life《威尼斯生活》The Rise of Silas Lapham《塞拉斯.拉帕姆的发迹》•Henry James 亨利.詹姆斯•美国与欧洲文化的比较，新与旧、逝去年代与即将来临的新时代的连贯性。