2美国文学

Washington Irving《柑掌录》（即《见闻札记》[The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon,Gent.1819-1820]）其中收录奠定了欧文在美国文学史上的地位。

其中的散文《威斯敏斯特教堂》、短篇小说《瑞普·凡·温克尔》和《睡谷的传说》等，都是脍炙人口至今不衰之作。

《睡谷的传说》（The legend of the Sleepy Hollow）Ichabod Crane 和Katrina V an Tassel《瑞普．凡．温克尔》（Rip V an Winkle）等32篇《纽约外史》(A History of New Y ork,1809)第一部重要作品美国第一部诙谐文学杰作《布雷斯布里奇田庄》（Brace bridge Hall,1822）《旅人述异》（即《旅客谈》[Tales of a Traveller,1824]）《哥伦布的生平和航行》即《哥伦布传》[The Life and V oyages of Christopher Columbus,1828] 《哥伦布同伴航海及发现》（V oyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus,1831）《攻克格拉纳达》（The Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada,1829）《大食故宫余载》（即《阿尔罕伯拉》[Tales of the Alhambra,1832]）《阿斯托里亚》（Astoria,1836）《哥尔德斯密斯传》（The Life of Oliver Goldsmith,1840[revised1849]）《穆罕默德及其继承者》（Mahomet and His Successors,1850）《华盛顿传》（The Life of George Washington[5volumes],1855-1859）●James Fenimore CooperPrimary WorksFiction:Precaution,1820;The Spy,1821;The Pioneers, 1823;The Pilot, 1824;Lionel Lincoln,1824;The Last of the Mohicans, 1826;The Prairie, 1827;The Red Rover, 1828;The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish,1829;The Water Witch,1830;The Bravo,1831;The Heidenmauer,1832 ;The Headsman,1833;The Monikins,1835;Homeward Bound,1838;Home as Found,1838;Mercedes of Castile,1840;The Pathfinder, 1840;The Deerslayer, 1841;The Two Admirals,1842;The Wing-and-Wing,1842;Romance,1843;Ned Myers, 1843;Wyandotte, 1843;Afloat and Ashore,1844;Miles Wallingford: A Sequel to Afloat and Ashore,1844;Satanstoe,1845;The Chain Bearer,1845;The Redskins,1846;The Crater,1847;Jack Tier,1848;Oak Openings, 1849;The Sea Lions,1849;The Ways of the Hour,1850.Non-Fiction:Notions of the Americans: Picked Up by a Travelling Bachelor, 1828;Sketches of Switzerland,1836;Gleanings in Europe,1837;The American Democrat,1838;The History of the Navy of the United States of America,1839.New England T ranscendentalism and Emerson超验主义& 爱默生Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early to middle 19th century. It is sometimes called American Transcendentalism.超验主义的特色First, the Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe.Oversoul is a unitary power of goodness，omnipresent and omnipotent，from which all things came and of which everyone was a part.Second, the Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. To them the individual was the most important element of society.Third, the Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of Nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was, to them, not purely matter. It was alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. Weakness1. The transcendentalist movement had a small membership and only lasted for a few years.2. The transcendentalism was never a systematic philosophy. It borrowed from many sources.3. The failure of transcendentalism as a moral force in American life was its denial of its real spiritual origin.EmersonNature 《论自然》Laying out the problem that he will attempt to solve in the essay, Emerson states that our energy and excitement in creating something new has been lost because we try to understand the world around us by using only theories and histories about nature rather than personally observing it. One solution to this problem involves our casting off impersonal theories or descriptions that distance us from nature and ourselves; afterwards, we can reexamine theactual thing that we are a part of —namely, nature. Direct experience with nature is best because it provides better insight into the contemporary world than does the historian's teachings or the scientist's theories.Emerson's discarding traditional ways of viewing the world indicates the importance that progress will play in the essay. Note that the worm/man relationship in the 1849 epigraphic poem contains verbs — " striving" and "mounts" — that connote the idea of progress. But Emerson also draws attention to the backward steps we too readily think of as progressive. He characterizes these steps as groping "among the dry bones of the past," and he quickly moves from this notion of a stagnant death to one of a revitalized future in which original thoughts reign.In order to help us focus more clearly on nature, Emerson distinguishes nature from art. Art, he says, is natural objects or materials that we alter for our own purposes —for example, a statue or a picture. That said, however, this distinction is relatively inconsequential to Emerson.The introduction ends by defining nature as all that is external to ourselves — all that is "not me," including our own bodies.Theme :The search for truth and beauty and how theses two qualities are relatedThe Poet 《论诗人》The American Scholar 《美国学者》---America’s Declaration of Intellectual IndependenceRepresentative Men 《代表性人物》English Traits 《英国人的特性》The Conduct of Life 《论为人处事》Essays 《散文选》the art of the life 《生活的艺术》《论自助》(Self-Relianc e)、《论超灵》(The Over-Soul)、《论补偿》(Compensation)、《论爱》(Love)、《论友谊》(friendship) 《五月节及其他诗歌》May Day and Other Poems，1867●Nathaniel Hawthorne＊1828: Fanshawe 《范肖》＊1835:Y oung Goodman Brown 《小伙子布朗》＊1836:The Minister's Black V eil 《教长的黑纱》＊1837: Twice-Told Tales 《重讲一遍的故事》＊1844:Rappaccini's Daughter ）《拉伯西尼医生的女儿》＊1846: Mosses from an Old Manse《古宅青苔》＊1850: The Scarlet Letter 《红字》Content ：Noisy crowd→they thougt Hester should be punished for she broke the law of puritanism→she was thought as a baggage→Hester stood exposed on the public scaffold with a baby in her arms →there is a scarlet “A”on her breast.本书写的是一段婚外恋情中三个主要人物的命运。

第一章早期美国与殖民时代美国文学的基础始于印第安文化的口传神话、传奇、故事与歌词(多为歌曲)。

美洲原住民的口述传统相当多样化，印地安故事对大自然的敬畏精神，以及身体与母亲。

大自然拥有生命并赋予精神力量；主角可能是动物或植物，通常是与部落、族群或与个人有关的图腾。

印第安人对美国的贡献往往大于常人所认为的。

美国英语中有数百个印地安字，包括"独木舟"、"烟"、"马铃薯"、"鹿皮鞋"、"鹿"、"柿子"、"貉"、"战斧"以及"图腾"。

当代印第安写作还包含非常优美的作品，将于第8章讨论。

欧洲第一个关于美洲探险的纪录是斯堪的纳维亚语。

古挪威冒险故事“Vinland Saga”叙述爱冒险的莱弗埃里克松(Leif Eriksson)与一伙四处流浪的古挪威人在11世纪的头十年于美洲东北岸某处短暂定居的故事—可能是在加拿大的新斯科细亚省(Nova Scotia)。

然而，第一位为人熟知并持续在美洲与全世界接触者，始于意大利探险家克里斯托弗哥伦布(Christopher Columbus)的著名航行旅程，由西班牙皇后依莎贝拉(Isabella)所赞助。

哥伦布在其“书信集”(Epistola)中的日志于1493年出版，内容叙述旅程的见闻。

初次的英国殖民是场灾难，第一个殖民地于1585年成立于南北卡罗莱纳沿岸的罗阿诺克(Roanoke)；所有殖民地居民消失。

第2个殖民地更加永久：詹姆士城(Jamestown)成立于1607年，其间忍受了饥饿、暴力与暴政。

然而，此时期的文学将美国描绘成具有财富与机会之地的色彩，殖民叙述便举世闻名。

在17世纪，海盗、探险与探险家开辟了第2波永久殖民者的道路，将老婆、孩子、农具与工匠的工具带来至此。

早期探险文学由日记、书信、旅行日志、船只记录所组成，而探索者向资助者报告内容。

美国文学（本科）试题5I. Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases andput your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 1 point for each)1. The first permanent English settlement in North America was established atJamestown, Virginia in .2. became the first American writer.3. Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the values that dominated muchof the early American writing.4. In American literature, the 18th century was an age of and Revolution.5. Franklin’s best writing is found in his masterpiece .6. On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine’s famous pamphlet appeared.7. The signing of symbolized the birth of an independent American nation.8. The most outstanding poet in America of the 18th century was .9. Washington Irving’s became the first work by an American writer to win international fame.10. is the summit of American Romanticism.11. With the publication of Emerson’s in 1836,American Romanticism reached its summit.12. Hester Prynne is the heroine in Hawthorne’s novel .13.Henry James’ major fictional theme is .14. brought the Romantic period to an end. So the age of Realism came into existence.15. The Poetic style invented by Whitman is now called .16. “Because I could not stop for Death---” is written by .17. The term The Gilded Age is given by to describe the post-civil war years.18. Theodore Dreiser’s first novel is .19. The leader of the literary movement Imagism is .20. is the spokesman for Lost Generation.II. Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answersor completions. Choose the one that is the best in each case and put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 1 point for each)1. The first American writer of local color to achieve wide popularity was .A. Bret HarteB. Mark TwainC. Henry JamesD. William Dean Howells2. Which of the following is the masterpiece of Mark Twain?A. The Gilded AgeB. The Adventures of Tom SawyerC. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnD. Jumping Frog3. Which writer has no naturalist tendency?A. Mark TwainB. Jack LondonC. Theodore DreiserD. Frank Norris4. Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in andThoreau.A. JeffersonB. EmersonC. FreneauD. Oversoul5. Which of the following doesn’t belong to Dreiser’s “Trilogy of Desire”?A. The FinancierB. The TitanC. The StoicD. An American Tragedy6. Which is the character who appears in the novel Moby Dick?A. Hester PrynneB. Mr. HooperC. AhabD. Pearl7. written by Henry James brought him first international fame.A. The Golden BowlB. The AmericanC. The Tragic MuseD. Daisy Miller8. “”was a term created by the French novelist, Emile Zola.A. realismB. naturalismC. transcendentalismD. veritism9. Jack London was at his height of his powers when he wrote , which is deeply influenced by Darwinism.A. The Sea WolfB. To Build a FireC. The Call of the WildD. Martin Eden10. The Cop and the Anthem is written by .A. O. HenryB. Henry JamesC. Jack LondonD. Mark Twain11. “Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.” is a line in the poem The River-Merchant’sWife: A Letter written by .A. T. S. EliotB.Robert FrostC.Ezra PoundD. Carl Sandburg12. The imagist poets followed three principles, they are , direct treatment and economy ofexpression.A. blank verseB. rhythmC. free verseD. common speech13. Of the following American writers, who has NOT been an expatriate in Paris?A. Ernest HemingwayB. Ezra PoundC. F. S. FitzgeraldD. Emily Dickinson14. Who was the foremost novelist of the American Depression of the 1930s?A. Ernest HemingwayB. Ezra PoundC. John SteinbeckD. F. S. Fitzgerald15. The first writings that we call American were the narratives and of the early settlements.A. journalsB. poetryC. dramaD. folklores16. An American Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1828 by .A. Samuel JohnsonB. Noah WebsterC. Daniel WebsterD. Daniel Defoe17. Walden is written by .A. EmersonB. ThoreauC. PoeD. Hawthorne18. is famous for psychological realism.A. Mark TwainB. William Dean HowellsC. Henry JamesD. Walt Whitman19. Which is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism?A. NatureB. WaldenC. On BeautyD. Self-Reliance20. Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”?A. The American ScholarB. English TraitsC. The Conduct of LifeD. Nature21. Santiago is the character in Hemingway’s novel .A. In Our TimeB. The Old Man and the SeaC. For Whom the Bell TollsD. The Sun Also Rises22. Which of the following is a much harsher realism?A. local colorismB. naturalismC. romanticismD. imagism23. Who is the arbiter of 19th century literary realism in America?A. Mark TwainB. Bret HarteC. William Dean HowellsD. Henry James24. F. S. Fitzgerald is NOT the author of .A. The Great GatsbyB. Tender is the NightC. A Farewell to the ArmsD. This Side of Paradise25. The pessimism and deterministic ideas of naturalism pervaded the works of such Americanwriters as .A. Mark TwainB. F. S. FitzgeraldC. Walt WhitmanD. Stephen Crane26. Charles Drouet is a character in the novel of______.A. The AmericanB. The Portrait of a LadyC. Sister CarrieD. The Gift of the Magi27. American literature produced only one female poet during the 19th century. She was .A. Anne BradstreetB. Jane AustenC. Emily DickinsonD. Harriet Beecher28. read his poetry at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.A. Robert FrostB. T. S. EliotC. Carl SandburgD. Ezra Pound29. With Howells, James and Mark Twain active on the scene, became the major trend in the 70sand 80s of the 19th century.A. sentimentalismB. romanticismC. realismD. naturalism30. “The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough”. This is the shortestpoem written by .A. T. S. EliotB. Robert FrostC.Ezra PoundD. Wallace StevensIII. Comment on the following poems. Put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 10 points for each)1.Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningby: Robert FrostWhose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound’s the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.1. I Heard a Fly Buzz—When I Died—by: Emily DickinsonI heard a Fly buzz —when I died —The Stillness in the RoomWas like the Stillness in the Air —Between the Heaves of Storm —The Eyes around — had wrung them dry —And Breaths were gathering firmFor that last Onset —when the King Be witnessed —in the Room —I willed my Keepsakes —Signed away What portion of me beAssignable —and then it was There interposed a Fly —With Blue —uncertain stumbling Buzz —Between the light —and me —And then the Windows failed — and thenI could not see to see —IV. Give brief answers to the following and write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 15 points for each)1. Being a period of the great flowering of American literature, the Romantic Period is called “the American Renaissance”. Briefly discuss what the features of American literature in this period are.2. How does Sister Carrie embody Dreiser’I. Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases andput your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 1 point for each)1. 16072. John Smith3. Puritan4. Reason5. The Autobiography6. Common Sense7. The Declaration of Independence8. Philip Freneau 9. Sketch Book 10. Transcendentalism11. Nature 12. The Scarlet Letter 13. international theme 14. The civil war15. free verse 16. Emily Dickinson 17. Mark Twain18. Sister Carrie 19. Ezra Pound 20. Ernest HemingwayII. Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers or completions. Choose the one that is the best in each case and put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 1 point for each)1 --- 5: A C A B D 6 --- 10: C D B C A11 ---15:C B D C A 16 --- 20: B B C A A21 ---25: B B C C D 26 --- 30: C C A C CIII. Comment on the following poems. Put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 10 points for each)1. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" was Frost's favorite of his own poems and Frost ina letter to Louis Untermeyer called it "my best bid for remembrance."This poem illustrates many of the qualities most characteristic of Frost, including the attention to natural detail, the relationship between humans and nature, and the strong theme suggested by individual lines. The speaker in the poem, a traveler by horse on the darkest night of the year, stops to watch a woods filling up with snow. He thinks the owner of the woods is someone who lives in the village and will not see him stopping there. While he is attracted by the beauty of the woods and nature, he is reminded by his little horse and realizes that he has obligations which pull him away from the lure of nature. The speaker describes the beauty and temptation of the woods as “lovely, dark and deep,” but reminds himself that he must not remain there, because he has “promises to keep,” and a long journey ahead of him. He has to complete his obligations and then make his aspirations to be realized. Through the symbolic woods and horse, we also get to know that the speaker has strong self-awareness and self-discipline.In another way, the poem can be analyzed from the perspective of aspiration and realization. Aspiration is something to be worked at. We enjoy the fruit of our realization only when we reach our destination. But from the spiritual point of view, we notice something else that is the transformation of aspiration and realization. Today's aspiration transforms itself into tomorrow's realization. Again, tomorrow's realization is the pathfinder of a higher and deeper goal. There is no end to our realization, and there is no end of our aspiration as long as you are alive. Our journey is eternal, and the road that we are taking on is also eternal. All aspirations become realization till the end of one’s life.The poem is written in iambic tetrameter in the Rubaiyat stanza created by Edward Fitzgerald. Each verse (save the last) follows an a-a-b-a rhyming scheme, with the following verse's a's rhyming with that verse's b, which is a chain rhyme. Overall, the rhyme scheme is AABA-BBCB-CCDC-DDDD.2. The poetess is watching her own death and recording the process. Instead of seeing God and hearing the songs of angels yearned for by Puritans upon death she heard a fly buzz, which is really ironic.Fly: sets off the stillness in the room;blocks off the light (from heaven);suggests a coming decadence→ the speaker loses the opportunity of gaining immortality after deathThe fly plays an important role in the speaker’s experience of death. The poem is, in part, about “the conflict between preconception and perception.” The person on his or her deathbed shifts perspective from “the ritual of dying” to “the fact of death.” The fly, by interrupting the dying speaker with its “Blue — uncertain stumbling Buzz —” obliterates his or her false notions of death. The sound of the fly represents “the last conscious link with reality.” The poem lacks any hint of a life after death.IV. Give brief answers to the following and write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 15 points for each)1.(1) The whole nation had a strong sense of optimism and the mood of “feeling good”, giving birthto the spectacular outburst of romantic feeling.(2) The English counterpart exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the young nation.(3) Taking foreign influence in consideration, the great works of American writers still carriedtypically American romantic color.(4) The young nation had brought forth its own philosophy. Transcendentalism stresses man’scapacity of knowing truth intuitively, and of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses.2.(1) In this novel, Dreiser expressed his naturalistic pursuit by expounding the purposelessness oflife and attacking the conventional moral standards.(2) The novel best embodies his naturalistic belief that while men are controlled by heredity,instinct and chance, a few extraordinary and unsophisticated human beings refuse to accept their fate wordlessly and instead strive, unsuccessfully, to find meaning and purpose for their existence.(3) To Sister Carrie, the world is cold and harsh. Alone, helpless, she moves along like amechanism driven by desire and catches blindly at any opportunities for a better existence, opportunities first offered by Drouet, and then by Hurstwood. A feather in the wind, she was totally at the mercy of forces she cannot comprehend, still less to say control. The famous picture of Carrie sitting in a rocking chair in her room in the evening, rocking back and forth, is a picture of Carrie’s drifting with the tide. She has no control, no freedom of will. 2007—2008学年度第二期《美国文学史及作品选读》考试A卷参考答案命题人：王琪、丁华良I: Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases. (20%, 1 point for each)1.Bryant2. frontier saga3. transcendentalist4. Moby Dick5. Sketch Book6.Walden7. Longfellow8. Civil War9. Howells 10. free verse11.Henry James 12. Martin Eden 13. The Gift of Magi14. Pound 15. The Great Gatsby 16. A Farewell to Arms17. Steinbeck 18. Mark Twain19. Environment 20. American CrisisII: Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers or completions. Choose the one that is the best in each case. (30%, 1 point for each)1 --- 5: B B D A B 6 --- 10: D D A C D11 ---15: A D B C D 16 --- 20: B D B D C21 --- 25: C B B A C 26 --- 30: C B B D AIII. Read the poems and answer the questions that follow. (20%)Poem 11.1 Who wrote this poem? (1%)Emily Dickinson.1.2 What is the poet or the speaker in the poem watching and recording? (1%)Apparently the woman tells the story of how she is busily going about her day when a polite gentleman by the name of Death arrives in his carriage to take her out for a ride, but, in reality, the speaker is watching and recording her own funeral.1.3 What is death compared to in the poem? (1%)Death is compared to a polite gentleman or polite wooer.1.4 What is depicted in the 3rd stanza? How is it related to the whole poem? (2%)Death takes the woman on a leisurely ride to the grave and beyond, passing playing children, wheat fields, and the setting sun, which indicate the three periods of a day, morning, noon and evening and symbolize the three stages of human life — childhood, middle age and old age.1.5 What is depicted in the 4th stanza? (1%)In this stanza, the speaker describes her dead body and what is wearing. She feels cold because it is evening now and dew drops are forming and she is not wearing much, but more probably it is because she is dead and blood circulation in her body has stopped.1.6 What does the poet or the speaker in the poem think of eternity? (2%)The speaker is not quite sure whether there will be eternity after death since she just surmises that “the Horses’ Heads / wer e toward Eternity —”.1.7 What is the attitude of the poet or the speaker in the poem towards death? (2%)The woman describes their journey with the casual ease one might use to recount a typical Sunday drive. She treats death light-heartedly for she believes that death is a necessary step towards eternity or immortality. Poem 22.1 Who wrote this poem? (1%)Edgar Allan Poe.2.2 What is the theme of the poem? (2%)In the poem, Poe examines a theme which he examines in many of his works: the death of a beautiful woman. It is a poem written in memory of his deceased young wife Virginia Clemm.2.3 What is the mood of the poem? (1%)The poem is permeated with melancholy.2.4 How does the poem coincide with Poe’s poetics or theory of poetry writing? (3%)The poem coincides with Poe’s poetics. It is readable at one sitting. In the poem, Poe examines a theme which he examines in many of his works: the death of a beautiful woman, which, according to him, is “unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.” The poem is permeated with melancholy as he believes “melancholy is the most legitimate of all the poetic tones.” And it is rhythmic.2.5What makes you think the poem reads like a fairy tale? (3%)The poem has got the elements of a fairy tale.1)It has the beginning of a fairy tale (1st stanza).2)The couple's love originated from their childhood.3)Annabel Lee died because "the angels" envied the couple's great love and, with a cold wind, they killedAnnabel Lee, who was then carried away and buried in a sepulchre in the kingdom by the sea.4)However, unlike The Raven, in which the narrator believes he will "nevermore" be reunited with his love,Annabel Lee says the two will be together again.And neither the angels in heaven above，Nor the demons down under the sea，Can ever dissever my soul from the soulOf the beautiful Annabel Lee.5)On moonlit nights, the speaker will go and lie down by the side of his deceased young wifeIn the sepulchre there by the sea，In her tomb by the side of the sea.The poem reads like a fairy tale.IV. Answer the following questions, and put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 15 points for each)1. What is local color fiction? List at least 5 of the best known writers of local color.Realism first appeared in the United States in the literature of local color, an amalgam of romantic plots and realistic descriptions of things was immediately observable; the dialects, customs, sights, and sounds of regional America. Bret Harte was the first American writer of local color to achieve wide popularity, presenting stories of western mining towns with colorful gamblers, outlaws, and scandalous women. Harte, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Kate Chopin, Joel Chandler Harris, and Mark Twain provided regional stories and tales of the life of America’s Westerners, Southerners, and Easterners. Local color fiction reached its peak of popularity in the 1880s, but by the turn of the century it had begun to decline.2. Instead of having her punished for her life of sin, Dreiser let Caroline Meeber in Sister Carrier become successful. Can you tell why?This is due to a number of reasons:1) Theodore Dreiser based the novel on the life of his sister Emma. In 1883 she ran away to Toronto, Canada with a married man who had stolen money from his employer. Another sister of his was a prostitute.2) Like Sister Carrie who went to Chicago at the age of 18, Dreiser himself left home at age 15 for Chicago and started to support himself, doing menial jobs. He understood perfectly well how hard life was for a girl like Sister Carrie in a big city.3) His sympathy for Sister Carrie is related to his naturalistic beliefs. The naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral, that men and women had no free will, that their lives were controlled by heredity and the envir onment, that religious “truth” were illusory, that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion in death. As a pioneer of naturalism in American literature, Dreiser wrote novels reflecting his mechanistic view of life, a concept that held humanity as the victim of such ungovernable forces as economics, biology, society, and even chance. In his works, conventional morality is unimportant, consciously virtuous behavior having little to do with material success and happiness. So Sister Carrie is not to be blamed for her sin of life.4) His sympathy for Sister Carrie also shows the influence of the teachings of Charles Darwin----natural selection and the survival of the fittest and that of the teachings of Herbert Spencer----social Darwinism. In this novel, Sister Carrie is portrayed as an example of the survival of the fittest in an indifferent world.。

美国文学的特点（范文5篇）以下是网友分享的关于美国文学的特点的资料5篇，希望对您有所帮助，就爱阅读感谢您的支持。

美国文学的特点（1）20世纪的美国文学，堪称美国文学史上的“黄金时期”，同时也可以说是又一次“文艺复兴”。

这一时期，现实主义、自然主义和现代主义形成了多元并存的局面，促进了现代美国文学的空前繁荣。

==小说==这一时期的小说创作主旨虽然是现实主义，但不同的作家在创作实践中却呈现出各自的特色。

这一时期的小说创作有几种倾向：1、两种现实主义小说。

在这方面的主要代表是亨利詹姆斯，他的创作继承了19世纪的高雅“现实主义”传统，擅长描写美国东部有闲阶级男女的心理。

他作品描写的民主思想浓厚、独立性强、天真无邪、不拘虚礼但又有些我行我素的美国上层妇女形象，始终被看成是美国文化产物的典型。

与这种创作倾向截然相反的是乡土小说和反映农民心声的作品。

这方面比较有影响的作家哈姆林加兰。

2、乡土作家和幽默小说。

这方面的代表性作家是欧亨利。

他的短篇小说篇幅不长，以情节取胜，一般以写小市民生活为主，充满了蕴含同情的幽默和恢谐之特色。

尤其是那些出人意料的结尾和“情理之中、意料之外”的谋篇布局手法更每每令读者拍案叫绝。

3、“黑幕揭发者”与厄普顿辛克莱。

从19世纪90年代开始，一批以揭露资本家穷奢极欲和政府丑闻为主要内容的暴露文学曾一度发展到高峰。

其中以厄普顿辛克莱的《屠场》最有影响。

4、自然主义和现实主义的交织。

这一时期美国文学的一个重要成就在于出现了一批既具有现实主义倾向同时又受到欧洲自然主义哲学和文学思潮影响的作家。

他们所描写的往往是一些没有文化、出身贫寒的下层人民和社会渣滓。

第一部显示出决定论哲学倾向的作品是斯蒂芬克莱斯的中篇小说《街头妇女郎梅季》。

杰克伦敦参加过美国的社会主义运动，曾有“美国无产阶级文学之父”之称。

实际上，他同时受到马克思主义、尼采的超人哲学和斯宾塞的社会达尔文主义的影响，这些均反映在他的主要长短篇小说中。

History And Anthology of American Literature（2）Part ⅡThe Literature of Reason And Revolution理性和革命时期文学1．托马斯·佩因《常识》Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”;托马斯·杰弗逊《独立宣言》Thomas Jefferson “Declaration of Independence”2．在经济方面，英国要求美出口原材料，后从英国购回高成本的机器they hampered colonial economy by requiring Americans to ship raw materials abroad and to import finished goods at prices higher than the cost of making them in this country.3．在政治方面，要求他们归英国政府统一管理，交各种税收但在议会中却没有代表by ruling the colonies from overseas and by taxing the colonies without giving them representation in Parliament.4．美独立战争持续了八年（1776-1783）The War for Independence.诺亚·韦伯斯特（Noah Webster）说：文化上的独立，艺术上的著名。

5．文学上独立的代表作：1785年杰弗逊：《弗吉尼亚洲的声明》Jefferson’s “Notes on the State of Virginia”;1791年巴特姆：《旅行笔记》“Travels” by BartramⅠ. Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林1706-1790殖民地时期作家。