美国文学史第二讲--浪漫主义时期

美国文学之二：美国浪漫主义文学美国文学之二：美国浪漫主义文学在殖民地时期，美国文学基本上扮演着欧洲文学附庸的角色。

经过1775至1783年的战争，美国摆脱了英国的殖民统治而宣告独立。

独立的国家在呼唤着独立的民族文学。

因此，进入19世纪之后，伴随着整个社会政治、经济、文化的全面发展，美国民族文学破土而出，并很快就达到了繁荣发展的第一个高峰期。

这一阶段的美国民族文学，从新大陆蓬勃向上的资本主义社会现实中汲取了充沛的热情和理想，与浪漫主义的基本精神正相吻合，故而十分自然地汇入了席卷西方的浪漫主义文学潮流之中。

30年代以前，是美国浪漫主义文学发展的前期。

从这时开始，美国形成了比较成熟的民族文学，并逐渐产生了世界性的影响。

散文作家欧文和小说家库珀，同被视为美国民族文学的奠基者。

他们以生动的民族语言表现地道的民族题材，显示了鲜明的民族风格。

欧文的散文故事集《见闻札纪》使一贯自大的欧洲人对美国文学不得不刮目相看。

库珀的长篇小说更是" 纯粹美国式" 的。

他的" 皮袜子故事" 五部曲和《舵手》、《间谍》等作品，分别为美国文学开创了边疆生活小说、航海冒险小说、革命历史小说三种类型。

此外，诗人威廉.柯伦.布莱恩特(1794-1878)也为美国民族诗歌的诞生，作出了积极的贡献。

他在1821年出版了《诗选》，将美国乡土的自然景色融入优美的诗句，并借此表达了对美好、和谐生活的由衷向往。

30年代以后，美国浪漫主义文学转入了发展的后期。

与前期相比，其理论上更为成熟，创作上的成就也更为卓著。

由散文作家爱默生等人倡导的超验主义学说，构成了后期浪漫主义的重要理论基石。

超验主义在当时集中代表了文化领域中思想解放的时代要求。

它充分肯定人的自我价值，肯定人与真理沟通的直接性，从而具有反对宗教、反对权威、反对传统的特殊意义。

爱默生在《论自然》等著作中，对超验主义做了精辟的阐发。

超验主义以其强大的思想魅力，将散文作家梭罗(1817-1862)以及杰出的小说家霍桑和麦尔维尔都吸引到了自己的旗帜之下。

TheRomanticPeriodLecture美国文学浪漫主义时期Lecture 2 The Romantic Period (1800-1865)1. What is Puritanism?2 What is “original sin”?Original sin: the tendency to evil supposedly innate in all human beings, held to be inherited from Adam in consequence of the Fall. The concept of original sin was established by the writings of St. Augustine.3 What are major works by Franklin?(1)Poor Richard’s Almanac(2)Autobiography（1）Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack, begun in 1732 and published for many years, made Franklin prosperous and well-known throughout the colonies. In this annual book of useful encouragement, advice, and factual information, amusing characters such as old Father Abraham and Poor Richard exhort 劝告the reader in pithy精练的, memorable sayings.In "The Way to Wealth," which originally appeared in the Almanack, Father Abraham,"a plain clean old Man, with white Locks," quotes Poor Richard at length."A Word to the Wise is enough,"he says. "God helps them that help themselves.""Early to Bed, and early to rise, makes a Man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Poor Richard is a psychologist ("Industry pays Debts, while Despair encreaseth them"),and he always counsels hard work ("Diligence is the Mother of Good Luck").Do not be lazy, he advises, for "One To-day is worth two tomorrow." Sometimes he creates anecdotes to illustrate hispoints: "A little Neglect may breed great Mischief....For want of a Nail the Shoe was lost; for want of a Shoe the Horse was lost; and for want of a Horse the Rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the Enemy, all for want of Care about a Horse-shoe Nail." Franklin was a genius at compressing a moral point: "What maintains one Vice, would bring up two Children." "A small leak will sink a great Ship." "Fools make Feasts, and wise Men eat them."（2）Franklin's Autobiography is, in part, another self-help book. Written to advise his son, it covers only the early years. The most famous section describes his scientific scheme of self-improvement. Franklin lists 13 virtues: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. He elaborates on each with a maxim; for example, the temperance maxim is "Eat not to Dullness. Drink not to Elevation."A pragmatic实用主义的scientist, Franklin put the idea of perfectibility to the test, using himself as the experimental subject.Romantic Period1． Brief Introduction 2. Early Romantic Period3 .Summit of Romanticism – American Transcendentalism超自然论，超越主义4. Late Romanticism5. Romantic PoetsDuring the Revolutionary Age,1765-1790, some of the greatest documents of American history wereauthored.In 1776, Thomas Paine authored Common Sense and Thomas Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence.In 1781, The Articles of Confederation were ratified.Between 1787 and 1788, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote The Federalist Papers. Finally, in 1787, The Constitution of the United States was drafted and in 1789 it was ratified.（2）The Early National Period of American Literature saw the beginnings of literature that could be truly identified as "American". The writers of this new American literature wrote in the English style, but the settings, themes, and characters人物角色were authentically American. In addition, poets of this time wrote poetry that was relatively independent of English precursors先驱者. Three of the most recognized writers of this time areWashington Irving华盛顿·欧文, James Fenimore Cooper库柏, and Edgar Allan Poe.埃德加·爱伦·坡（女The period1828-1865in American Literature is commonly identified as the Romantic Period in America, but may also be referred to as the American Renaissance or the Age of Transcendentalism超自然论. The writers of this period produced works of originality and excellence that helped shape the ideas, ideals, and literary aims of many American writers. Writers of the American RomanticPeriod includeRalph Waldo Emerson,拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生Henry David Thoreau亨利·大卫·梭罗, Edgar Allan Poe埃德加·爱伦·坡, Herman Melville赫尔曼·麦尔维尔, Nathaniel Hawthorne纳撒尼尔·霍桑, Harriet Beecher Stowe哈里特·比彻·斯托,Henry Wadsworth Longfellow亨利·沃兹渥斯·朗费罗,Emily Dickinson艾米莉·迪金森, and Walt Whitman沃尔特·惠特曼.Elements of Romanticism1. Frontier: vast expanse, freedom, no geographic limitations.2. Optimism: greater than in Europe because of the presence of frontier.3. Experimentation: in science, in institutions.4. Mingling of races: immigrants in large numbers arrive to the US.5. Growth of industrialization: polarization 两级分化of north and south; north becomes industrialized, south remains agricultural.Romantic Subject Matter主题1. The quest for beauty: non-didactic, "pure beauty."2. The use of the far-away and non-normal - antique and fanciful:a. In historical perspective历史展望: antiquarianism古物研究; antiquing or artificially aging; interest in the past.b. Characterization and mood: grotesque奇异风格, Gothicism 哥特式风格, sense of terror, fear; use of the odd and queer同性恋者3. Escapism空想；逃避主义 - from American problems.4. Interest in external nature - for itself, for beauty:a. Nature as source for the knowledge of the primitive.b. Nature as refuge. 避难所c. Nature as revelation of God to the individual.Romantic Attitudes态度，看法1. Appeals to imagination; use of the "willing suspension of disbelief."2. Stress on emotion rather than reason; optimism, geniality. 亲切，温暖舒适3. Subjectivity. 主观性，主观: in form and meaning.Romantic Techniques技术1. Remoteness of settings in time and space.2. Improbable plots.3. Inadequate不充分的，不适当的or unlikely characterization.4. Authorial subjectivity.5. Socially "harmful morality;" a world of "lies."(Compare the above with Realistic T echniques.)6. Organic principle in writing: form rises out of content, non-formal.7. Experimentation in new forms: picking up and using obsolete patterns. 废弃的；老式的8. Cultivation of the individualized, subjective formPhilosophical Patterns哲学的模式1.Nineteenth century marked by the influence of French revolution of 1789and its concepts of liberty自由, fraternity友爱, equality平等:a. Jacksonian democracy杰克逊民主 of the frontier. (Andrew Jackson on the Web)b. Intellectual and spiritual revolution - rise of Unitarianism 政府集权制.c. Middle colonies - utopian experiments like New Harmony, Nashoba,Fourierism傅立叶主义, and the Icarian community.2. America basically middle-class and English - practicing laissez-faire放任政策；不干涉主义(live and let live), modified because of geographical expansion and the need for subsidies forsetting up industries, building of railroads, and others.2.Institution of slavery in the South - myth of the master and slave - WilliamGilmore Simms' modified references to Greek democracy (Pericles' Athens which was based on a slave proletariat, but provided order, welfare and security for all) as a way of maintaing slavery1 Early Romantic PeriodWhat is Romanticism?(1) An approach from ancient Greek: Plato 柏拉图(2) A literary trend: 18c in Britain (1798~1832)Characteristics of romanticism1. Subjectivity 主观性，主观(1) Feeling and emotions, finding truth(2) Emphasis on imagination(3) Emphasis on individualism – personal freedom, no hero worship,Natural goodness of human beings2. back to medieval, esp medieval folk literature(1) unrestrained by classical rules 自然的，无限制的，放纵的(2) full of imagination(3) colloquial language通俗语(4) Freedom of imagination(5) Genuine in feelings: answer their call for classics3. back to naturenature is “breathing living thing” (Rousseau卢梭)American Romanticism1. Background(1) Political background and economic development(2) Romantic movement浪漫主义运动 in European countriesDerivative衍生物，派生物– foreign influence2. features(1) American romanticism was in essence the expression of“a real new experience and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that “the spirit of the place” was radically new and alien.(2) There is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider. American romantic authors tended more to moralize. Many American romantic writings intended to edify more than they entertained.(3) The “newness” of Americans as a nation is in connection with American Romanticism.(4) As a logical result of the foreign and native factors at work, American romanticism was both imitative and independent.Washington Irving华盛顿·欧文1. Several names attached to Irving(1) First American writer(2) the messenger sent from the new world to the old world(3) father of American literature2. life3. works(1) A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty(2) The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (He won a measure of international recognition with the publication of this.)(3) The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus 克里斯多弗·哥伦布（意大利航海家）(4) A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada 格拉纳达（西班牙格拉纳达省会）(5) The Alhambra 阿罕布拉（美国加利福尼亚州的一个城市）；阿尔罕布拉宫（西班牙格拉纳达的摩尔人王宫）Literary career: two parts(1) 1809~1832a. Subjects are either English or Europeanb. Conservative love for the antique(2) 1832~1859: back to US2. style – beautiful(1) gentility文雅, urbanity都市风格；雅致, pleasantness 愉快(2) avoiding moralizing 说教– amusing and entertaining(3) enveloping stories in an atmosphere(4) vivid and true characters(5) humour – smiling while reading(6) musical languageJames Fenimore Cooper 詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库柏1. life2. works(1) Precaution (1820, his first novel, imitating Austen’s Pride and Prejudice 傲慢与偏见)(2) The Spy (his second novel and great success)(3) Leatherstocking Tales皮袜子五部曲(his masterpiece, a series of five novels) The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans最后的莫希干人, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, The Prairie3. point of view 观点立场the theme of wilderness vs. civilization, freedom vs. law, order vs. change, aristocrat贵族vs. democrat民主主义者, natural rights vs. legal rights法定权利4. style(1) highly imaginative(2) good at inventing tales 故事(3) good at landscape description(4) conservative 保守派，守旧者(5) characterization wooden and lacking in probability(6) language and use of dialect not authentic5 .literary achievementsHe created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the process of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward, then Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales皮袜子五部曲effectively approximates the American national experience of adventure into the West. He turned the west and frontier as a useable past and he helped to introduce western tradition to American literature.2. Summit of Romanticism – American TranscendentalismI. Background: four sources1. Unitarianism 政府集权制(1) Fatherhood of God(2) Brotherhood of men(3) Leadership of Jesus(4) Salvation by character (perfection of one’s character)(5) Continued progress of mankind(6) Divinity of mankind(7) Depravity 神；神性；神学of mankind2. Romantic IdealismCenter of the world is spirit, absolute spirit (Kant)3. Oriental mysticismCenter of the world is “oversoul”超灵 ,上帝4. PuritanismEloquent expression in transcendentalismI. Appearance1836, “Nature” by Emerson ,爱默生（Ralph Waldo Emerson 美国思想家，诗人）II. Features1. spirit/oversoul 超灵；大灵2. importance of individualism3. nature – symbol of spirit/Godgarment of the oversoul4. focus in intuition直觉(irrationalism非理性主义and subconsciousness潜意识) III. Influence1. It served as an ethical guide to life for a young nation and brought about the idea that human can be perfected by nature. It stressed religious tolerance, called to throw off shackles of customs and traditions and go forward to the development of a new and distinctly American culture.2. It advocated提倡idealism唯心主义，理想主义t hat was great needed in a rapidly expanded economy where opportunity often became opportunism, and the desire to “get on” obscured the moral necessity for rising to spiritual height.3. It helped to create the first American renaissance复兴–one of the most prolific period in American literature.Ralph Waldo Emerson拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生（美国作家）1. life2. works(1) Nature(2) Two essays: The American Scholar, The Poet3. point of view(1) One major element of his philosophy哲学；哲理；人生is his firm belief in the transcendence of the “oversoul”超灵.(2) He regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moralinfluence on man, and advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual andimmanent God in nature.(3) If man depends upon himself, cultivates himself and brings out the divine in himself, he can hope to become betterand even perfect. This iswhat Emerson means by “the infinitude of man”.(4) Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself.aesthetic ideas 美的；美学的(1) He is a complete man, an eternal man.(2) True poetry and true art should ennoble授予爵位.(3) The poet should express his thought in symbols.(4) As to theme, Emerson called upon American authors to celebrate America which was to him a lone poem in itself.2. his influenceHenry David Thoreau亨利·大卫·梭罗（美国作家及自然主义者）1. life2. works(1) A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River(2) Walden 瓦尔登湖(3) A Plea for John Brown (an essay)3. point of view(1) He did not like the way a materialistic 唯物主义的；唯物论的America was developing and was vehemently 激烈地outspoken on the point.(2) He hated the human injustice as represented by the slavery system. ?(3) Like Emerson, but more than him, Thoreau saw nature as a genuine restorative, healthy influence on man’s spiritual well-being.(4) He has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man.(5) He was very critical of modern civilization.(6) “Simplicity…simplify!”(7) He was sorely disgusted with厌恶“the inundations of thedirty institutions of men’s odd-fe llow society”.(8) He has calm trust in the future and his ardent belief in a new generation of men.3 Late RomanticismI. Nathaniel Hawthorne纳撒尼尔·霍桑1. life2. works(1) Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales, Mosses from and Old Manse(2) The Scarlet Letter 红字，红色禁恋(3) The House of the Seven Gables(4) The Marble Faun3. point of view(1) Evil is at the core of human life, “that blackness in Hawthorne”(2) Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation (causality).(3) He is of the opinion that evil educates.(4) He has disgust in science.aesthetic ideas美的；美学的；审美的(1) He took a great interest in history and antiquity. To him these furnish the soil on which his mind grows to fruition.(2) He was convinced that romance was the predestined注定的form of American narrative. T o tell the truth说实话and satirize 写讽刺作品and yet not to offend冒犯: That was what Hawthorne had in mind to achieve.2. style – typical romantic writer(1) the use of symbols(2) revelation启示of characters’ psychology(3) the use of supernatural mixed with the actual(4) his stories are parable寓言 (parable inform) – to teach a lesson(5) use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty –multiple point of viewHerman Melville赫尔曼·麦尔维尔（美国作家1. life2. works(1) Typee(2) Omio(3) Mardi(4) Redburn(5) White Jacket(6) Moby Dick 白鲸记(7) Pierre(8) Billy Budd3. point of view(1) He never seems able to say an affirmative肯定的，积极的yes to life: His is the attitude of “Everlasting Nay不”(negative attitude towards life).(2) One of the major themes of his is alienation异化；疏远(far away from each other). Other themes: loneliness, suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death), rejection and quest, confrontation of innocence and evil, doubts over the comforting 19c idea of progress. 4 .h style(1) Like Hawthorne, Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives.(2) He tends to write periodic定期 chapters.(3) His rich rhythmical有韵律的prose and his poetic powerhave been profusely commented upon and praised.(4) His works are symbolic and metaphorical.(5) He includes many non-narrative chapters of factual background or description of what goes on board the ship or on the route (Moby Dick)Romantic PoetsI. Walt Whitman惠特曼1. life2. work: Leaves of Grass草叶集 (9 editions)(1) Song of Myself(2) There Was a Child Went Forth(3) Crossing Brooklyn Ferry(4) Democratic Vistas(5) Passage to India(6) Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking1. themes –“Catalogue of American and European thought”He had been influenced by many American and European thoughts: enlightenment启蒙运动, idealism唯心主义，理想主义, transcendentalism超越论, science, evolution ideas, western frontier spirits, Jefferson’s individualism, Civil War Unionism, Orientalism.Major themes in his poems (almost everything):equality of things and beingsdivinity of everythingimmanence of Goddemocracy民主evolution of cosmos 大波斯菊？multiplicity of natureself-reliant spirit自力更生death, beauty of deathexpansion of Americabrotherhood and social solidarity (unity of nations in the world)pursuit of love and happiness4 style: “free verse”(1) no fixed rhyme or scheme(2) parallelism, a rhythm节奏；韵律of thought(3) phonetic recurrence(4) the habit of using snapshots(5) the use of a certain pronoun “I”(6) a looser and more open-ended syntactic structure(7) use of conventional image(8) strong tendency to use oral English(9) vocabulary –powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign origins,some even wrong(10) sentences –catalogue technique: long list of names, long poem linesinfluence(1) His best work has become part of the common property of Western culture.(2) He took over Whitman’s vision of the poet-prophet and poet-teacher and recast it in a more sophisticated and Europeanized mood. 使具有欧洲风味(3) He has been compared to a mountain in American literary history.(4) Contemporary American poetry, whatever school or form, bears witness to his great influence.。

美国文学史浪漫主义时期文学摘要：浪漫主义时期是美国文学史上最重要的时期之一。

当美国人在大刀阔斧地建设自己的国家时，也开始逐渐意识到逐渐与欧洲的不同。

随着不断增强的民族主义意识及民族自豪感，美国人开始希望见到自己的不同与欧洲模式，能表达他们字的美国风情的文学。

这个时代伟大的作家充满热情地记录下这个伟大时代的乐观主义精神。

随后美国文学进入了超验主义时代。

超验主义十分强调个人主义、自立、拒绝传统权威思想。

它实际上是对浪漫主义的发展。

然后，美国的国家自信心受到了内战的动摇。

内战过后，美国处在迷茫中。

在1900年前后这段时期的文学由于美国国内环境的变化而由浪漫主义和超验主义乐观精神转向对社会和人类本质更直接的探讨。

从某种角度，现实主义反对浪漫主义的理想主义和怀旧情绪。

它主要关注中下层人民的日常生活，而在这种情况下人物性格是社会因素作用的结果，环境是整个事件发展不可分割的部分。

关键词：美国文学史；浪漫主义；文学特点The Romantic Period Literature in the history of AmericanLiteratureAbstract: Romantic Period is one of the most important periods in the history of American literature. When Americans were constructing their country, they also began to realize their differences from their European counterparts. They began to hope to see an entirely different literature model which expressed American cultures. Great writers of that period captured on their pages the enthusiasm and the optimism of that dream. Later，American literature came to Transcendentalism Period which emphasized individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of tradition authority. It was actually greatly influenced by romanticism. However, the country’s confidence was waved by the Civil War. After the war, Americans got lost. At about 1900s, American literature came to another entirely different age—the age of Realism. Realists searched for the social and human nature more directly. In part, Realism was a reaction against the Romantic emphasis on the strange, idealistic, and long-ago and far-away. It has been chiefly concerned with the commonplaces of everyday life among the middle and lower classes where character is a product of social factors and environment is the integral element in the dramatic complications.Keywords: American Literature History; Romanticism; Literary characteristics1、American RomanticismRomanticism refers to an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual’s experience of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. The romantic period of American literature stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It was an age of westward expansion, of the increasing gravity of the slavery question, of an intensification of the spirit of embattled sectionalism in the South, and of a powerful impulse to reform in the North. In literature it was America’s first great creative period, a full flowering of the romantic impulse on American soil.1.1The unique characteristics of American RomanticismAlthough greatly influenced by their English counterparts, the American romantic writers revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. For examp1e，(1) the American national experience of "pioneering into the west" proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America's landscape with its virgin forests, meadows, groves, endless prairies, streams.and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw. (2) The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature. Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper’s Leather Stocking Tales, in Thoreau's Walden and，later, in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (3) With the growth of American national consciousness, American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. (4)Then the American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism. One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. (5) Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesserwriters.historical reasonsWith the independence of the United States of America, political autonomy, the rise of the economy, and cultural independence, the largest land expansion in American history began during the Romantic period of the United States. As of 1860, the Civil War began, the territory of the United States extended to the western coast of the Pacific Ocean. No one could have predicted the middle of 19th century. The United States expanded from just 13 states in her early days to 21, with a nearly eightfold increase in the number of citizens from 4 million in 1790 to 1860. The total population of the country reached 30 million. At that time, the European bourgeois revolution and technological revolutionThe influence of life, this young country has experienced the rapid industrialization of baptism, the affected area in addition to the United States at each city area, including the vast rural areas. Whether industrial or agricultural development are the extensive use of the steam engine, in the vast continent of the United States, many factories such as a large number of factories set up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, the establishment of the inevitable with the demand for labor force increase, at the same time, when the United States appeared a lot of new inventions, these results quickly applied to the life, the production efficiency is greatly improved. In the romantic period, along with the rapid development of American politics, economy, culture, more and more around the worldImmigrants come to the United States, provide good human resources the arrival of immigrants to the industrial and agricultural development.epilogueThe peak period of Romanticism in American literature was the transcendentalism which appeared later.The concept of transcendentalism was first put forward by the New England Transcendentalism Club in 1830s.For the people of the New World,the idea was gradually accepted by American culture,the two most important writers were Emerson and Thoreau.They are regarded as the archetypal figures of American transcendentalism.Their works play an important role in thespiritual independence of American literature.Transcendentalism emphasizes the help of heaven to help the self-help.Strive to achieve the goal of self-improvement.Two other important writers,Hawthorne and Melvil,insisted on the original sin in the period of the moralism.They believed that only through moral constraints could human nature be promoted.reference documentation[1]Leslie A Fiedler. Love and Death in the merican Novel [M]. Harmondswort: Penguin Books, 1984.[2]Zhang Deming . Huckleberry. Adventures > and adult ceremony [J]. Journal of Zhejiang University, 1999. (4):91-97.[3]Jung .C.G.Conception of Collective unconsciousness [A] .trans by Wang Ai, selected by Ye Shuxian. Myth-archetypal criticism [C] .Xi 'an: Shaanxi normal University Press, 1987.101.[4]Bakhtin. Theory of novels [M] .translated by Bai Chunren, Xiao he .Shijiazhuang: Hebei Education Press, 1998.。

美国文学历史简析【摘要】浪漫主义时期是美国文学历史上最重要的时期，当美国人建设他们的国家，他们也从欧洲同行们开始意识到他们之间的分歧。

他们希望看到一个完全不同的文学模型，表达了那个时代的美国文化。

之后，美国文学来到先验论的时期，强调个人主义，自力更生，拒绝传统权威。

它实际上是受到浪漫主义的影响。

然而，美国的信心被内战打乱。

战争结束后，美国人陷入了迷茫。

在20世纪90年代，美国文学的时代来到了另一个完全不同的时代——现实主义时代。

在某种程度上，现实主义是一种反对浪漫主义的论调。

它主要关心的是日常生活中的小角色，角色是社会因素和环境的产物。

1910年和1930年之间的时期被称为现代主义的时代，现代机械改变了日常生活。

在20世纪初，很多艺术家和作家，改造传统的艺术形式，并试图找到全新的审美。

在此期间，大量的艺术家和文学运动完全不同于19世纪的，风格、形式和内容。

【关键词】美国文学浪漫主义新英格兰先验论现实主义现代主义一、美国浪漫主义浪漫主义指的是一种艺术和文化运动，起源于欧洲的18世纪晚期，以提高对自然的兴趣，强调个人的情感和想象力，远离形式的古典主义，反抗社会规则和约定。

浪漫主义时期的美国文学从18世纪末延伸至内战爆发，这是一个向西扩张的时代，越来越多的人关注奴隶制问题，南北方产生了巨大的分歧。

在文学上，它是美国第一个伟大的创造性的时期，全面开花的浪漫主义浮现在美国本土之上。

（一）美国浪漫主义的特点虽然受到英国的极大影响，美国浪漫主义作家说他们在作品方面却有自己的特点。

例如：渴望逃离社会，回归自然成为美国文学的一个永久的主题。

这种欲望在库珀的皮袜子故事集尤其明显，在梭罗的《瓦尔登湖》，马克·吐温的《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》都有表现。

与美国民族意识的增长，美国的地方语言出现在诗歌和小说越来越频繁。

（二）代表作家和他们的作品华盛顿·欧文（1783 - 1859）是美国第一个讲故事的人，是世界公认的美国浪漫主义的第一个伟大的散文大师，他的风格注定会成为一个未来的主流叙事散文的典范。

美国文学浪漫主义时期美国文学浪漫主义时期浪漫主义时期开始于十八世纪末,到内战爆发为止,是美国文学史上最重要的时期。

华盛顿·欧文出版的《见闻札记》标志着美国文学的开端,惠特曼的《草叶集》是浪漫主义时期文学的压卷之作。

浪漫主义时期的文学是美国文学的繁荣时期,所以也称为"美国的文艺复兴。

"美国社会的发展哺育了"一个伟大民族的文学"。

年轻的美国没有历史的沉重包袱,很快在政治、经济和文化方面成长为一个独立的国家。

这一时期也是美国历史上西部扩张时期,到1860年领土已开拓到太平洋西岸。

到十九世纪中叶,美国已由原来的十三个州扩大到二十一个州,人口从1790年的四百万增至1860年的三千万。

在经济上,年轻的美国经历向工业的转化,影响所及不仅仅是城市,而且也包括农村。

蒸汽动力在工、农业生产上的运用、工厂的建立、劳动力的大量需求以及科技上的发明创造使经济生活得到了重组。

另外,大量移民促进了工业更加蓬勃的发展。

政治上,民主与平等成为这个年轻国家的理想,产生了两党制。

值得一提的是这个国家的文学和文化生活。

随着独立的美国政府的成立,美国人民已感到需要有美国文学,表达美国人民所特有的经历:早期清教徒的殖民,与印第安人的遭遇,边疆开发者的生活以及西部荒原等。

这个年轻国家的文学富有想象,已产生了一种文学环境。

报刊杂志如雨后春笋,出现了一大批文学读者,形成了十九世纪上半叶蓬勃的浪漫主义的文学思潮。

外国的,尤其是英国的文学大师对美国作家产生了重大影响。

美国作家由于秉承了与英国一样的文化传统,形成了同英国一样的浪漫主义风格。

欧文(Irving)、库柏(Cooper),坡(Poe),弗伦诺(Freneau)和布雷恩特(Bryant)一一反古典主义时期的文学样式和文学思潮,开创了较新的小说和诗歌形式。

这一时期大多数美国文学作品中,普遍强调文学的想象力和情感因素,注重生动的描写、异国情调的表达、感官的体会和对超自然力的描述。

概述美国浪漫主义文学经历了独立战争、南北战争的美国，到19世纪末，已完成了向帝国主义的过渡。

1．浪漫主义文学19世纪初，美国希望通过浪漫主义文学的努力建立民族文学，开始了约半个多世纪的浪漫主义运动，一般以1829年为界分为前后两期。

（1）前期浪漫主义①欧文有“美国文学之父”之称，他的代表作是一部包括散文、随感、故事等在内的《见闻札记》，其中最著名的是《隔普·凡·温克尔》、《睡谷的传说》等短篇小说。

②詹姆斯·费尼莫·库珀因创作了一批“纯粹美国式”的长篇小说而在文学史上占据重要地位。

他开创了美国文学史上三种不同的小说形式，即以《间谍》为代表的革命历史小说，以《开拓者》为代表的边疆题材小说和以《水手》为代表的航海生活小说。

（2）后期浪漫主义①以超验主义为思想基础的后期浪漫主义文学的出现，标志着美国文学逐步进入了成熟阶段。

宣扬人的本性、人的智慧和创造力、人的个人意志和绝对自由，是后期浪漫主义的基本内容。

②后期浪漫主义在理论和创作上的最早代表是拉尔夫·华尔多·爱默生，影响最大的浪漫主义小说家是纳撒尼尔·霍桑。

霍桑的思想偏于保守，常以抽象的善恶观点来观察分析社会现象，长篇小说《红字》被认为是他的代表作。

③朗费罗，是浪漫主义诗歌的代表。

19世纪最杰出的民主诗人惠特曼的诗作的出现，代表着浪漫主义文学的最高成就，也使美国文学真正获得了世界性的声誉。

2．现实主义文学现实主义文学在反对南方蓄奴制的斗争中形成的废奴文学，对残酷反动的蓄奴制进行了深刻的揭露和批判，表现了强烈的民主倾向，这方面的重要作品有理查·希尔德烈斯的《白奴》和哈里叶特·比彻·斯托夫人的《汤姆大伯的小屋》。

3．象征主义文学（1）南方作家艾德加·爱伦·坡是象征主义文学的鼻祖。

（2）他把创作视为脱离现实和超感觉的纯粹主观思维的过程，提倡“纯艺术”、“纯诗歌”。