美国文学史选读

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美国文学史及选读

美国文学史及选读美国文学史及其部分作品的阅读和分析对于了解美国文化和历史以及影响美国文学发展的诸多因素有着极为重要的意义。

美国文学史从17世纪开始，历经18世纪、19世纪和20世纪，大致可以划分为四个时期：17世纪美国早期文学时期、18世纪美国新古典主义时期、19世纪美国农村小说时期和20世纪美国现代文学时期。

17世纪美国早期文学时期，也被称为“美国文学的孕育期”，是自1620年英国殖民者到达北美以来，美国文学的萌芽阶段。

这一时期的文学内容以传统的英国教会文件和日记为主，它们多以英国殖民者的观点和主张为主线，描述了纯洁的“美国梦”。

17世纪的作家，包括英国殖民者Richard Mather、威尔士人Matthew Bradborne、英国殖民者William Bradford、Mary Rowlandson等，他们的作品是17世纪美国文学概览的重要组成部分。

18世纪美国新古典主义时期，是美国文学发展史上一个重要的转折点。

借鉴欧洲新古典主义的文学理论，18世纪的美国作家们把重点放在精神自由和私人财产的保护上，他们的文学作品提出了“美国价值观”，向西方文明、人文主义教育和向自由努力的信念致敬。

18世纪重要的作家包括清教徒作家威廉沃克、保守派作家伊丽莎白梨斯伯里和政治家约翰亚当斯，他们的主要作品包括《清教徒历史》、《阶级教育原理》、《自由宪章》等，它们既反映了当时美国社会的实际状况，又为未来的美国文学奠定了基础。

19世纪美国农村小说时期，是美国文学的重要发展阶段。

在这一时期，美国作家把故事的叙事形式从传统的宗教题材变为市井题材，以此表达自己的政治观点，阐释自由主义的价值观。

19世纪重要的作家包括约翰梅尔维尔、欧文梅西尔、温斯顿查尔斯等，他们的作品带来了一股美国游牧主义精神，许多作品以穷乡僻壤为背景，如《黑市交易》、《横行霸道》等，表现了新美国社会的分层现象，探讨了社会动荡及人性苦恼。

20世纪美国现代文学时期，是受到欧洲新派和美国当代艺术的影响，美国文学进入了一个新的阶段，这一时期以诗歌、小说、戏剧、散文等文学形式表现当时美国人的思想感情。

美国文学史及选读Herman Melville

3. Social Background
• Economic boom:
Industrialism Immigration Westward expansion
optimism and hope among people
4. Features
• American Romanticism was both imitative and independent.
下令攻打“叛乱”州。此战不但改变当时美国的
政经情势，导致奴隶制度在美国南方被最终废除，也对日后美国的民间社会产生巨大的影响。
2. Ideals:
• Ideals: Democracy and political equality became the ideals of the new nation.
Moby Dick
is hidden all the time
Mirrors（反映） its enviorment
unknown and
inscrutable,
unknowable truths mysterious
only the surface of the ocean is available for human observation and interpretation
Some events in this period
• American Civil War (1861-1865)
• 南北战争，又称美国内战（American Civil War），是美国历史上一场大规模的内战，参战双方为美利坚合众国（简称联邦）和美利坚联盟
国（简称邦联）。这场战争的起因为美国南部十一州以亚伯拉罕·林肯于1861年就任总统为由而陆续退出联邦，另成立以杰斐逊·戴维斯为“总统”的政府，并驱逐驻扎南方的联邦军，而林肯

美国文学史及选读

美国文学史及选读
美国文学史及选读，作为一个有数百年歷史的文学流派，有许多伟大的作家，他们的作品塑造了美国文学的发展；最具有代表性的作者是乔治·梭罗，他的作品集中反映了美国社会和人文的发展；詹姆斯·菲茨杰拉德则有其独特的写作风格，表现出美国南方独特的生活理念；现代作家斯蒂芬·金则反映了现代社会的变化，以及老百姓们的故事；另外，特洛伊·萨索洛也有许多优秀的作品，如《失落的一代》，这部作品讲述了美国父辈们如何在战争中战胜同时又被战争毁灭了的故事。

此外，美国20世纪文学也有许多精彩作品，如厄休拉·哈里斯的《百年孤独》就反映了拉美社会发展的全貌；乔纳森·艾默生的《小妇人》描述了美国南方小镇的现实生活；詹姆斯理查德森的《春风沉醉的晚上》赢得了普利策奖，描述了一系列发生在美国农村的故事；克莱尔·麦卡锡更是凭借其《麦田里的守望者》荣膺诺贝尔文学奖，这本书反映了美国童年的美好。

当然，美国文学史不仅体现在各种优秀作品上，它生动有趣的故事也吸引了很多读者，如詹妮弗·洛夫的《歿日的比萨店》等，这些作品彰显着美国文学史所流行的特点：思想作家们对美国文化、宗教、历史和社会的深刻观察，以及深入探讨人性、价值和价值观念。

可以说，美国文学史和各种优秀作品是美国历史发展和发展潮流的最初考验，也是美国文学君主制以及点明美国道路的象征。

总而言之，美国文学史及选读有助于人们更好地了解美国文学，了解美国社会历史、文化现象，增进现代人的文化觉悟。

美国文学史及选读

▪ Northeast.
• 13.The National Day for Americans is ……？
• July 4th 1775 • June 4th 1775 • July 4th 1776 • June 4th 1776
• July 4th 1776
▪ 14.An important document was announced on that day. It is ……？
▪ 11.How did “ Thanksgiving Day” come into being?
▪ To memorize the helps given by Indianans.
The Last of the Mohicans
▪ 12.New England were ……？
▪ In the Southeast. Northwest. Northeast. Southwest.
• 16.The spirit highlighted in the Declaration of Independence is ?
• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
▪ 21.The full name of MIT ? ▪ Massachusetts Institute of Technology

美国文学史及选读目录

PartⅠThe Literature of Colonial AmericaHistorical IntroductionThe First American WriterEarly New England LiteratureWilliam Bradford and John WinthropPuritan ThoughtsJohn Cotton and Roger WilliamsAnne Bradstreet and Edward TaylorPartⅡThe Literature of Reason and RevolutionHistorical IntroductionBenjamin Franklin [From The Autobiography]Thomas Paine [From The American Crisis]Thomas Jefferson [The Declaration of Independence]Philip Freneau [The Wild Honey Suckle; The Indian Burying Ground; To a Caty-Did] PartⅢThe Literature of RomanticismHistorical IntroductionWashington Irving [The Author’s Account of Himself; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow]James Fenimore Cooper [The Last of the Mohicans; From The Last of the Mohicans:Chapter12]William Cullen Bryant [Thanatopsis; To a Waterfowl]Edgar Allan Poe [To Helen; The Raven; Annabel Lee; The Fall of the House of Usher]Ralph Waldo Emerson [From Nature: ChapterⅠ; From Self-Reliance]Henry David Thoreau [From Walden]Nathaniel Hawthorne [The Scarlet Letter; From The Scarlet Letter: Ⅴ. Hester at HerNeedle]Herman Melville [Moby Dick; From Moby Dick Chapter54: The Town-Ho’s Story]Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [A Psalm of Life: What the Heart of the Young ManSaid to the Psalmist; The Slave’s Dream; My LostYouth; The Song of Hiawatha]PartⅣThe Literature of RealismHistorical IntroductionWalt Whitman [Song of Myself (1&10); I Sit and Look Out; Beat! Beat! Drums!]Emily Dickinson [I taste a liquor never brewed; I felt a Funeral, in my Brain; A Birdcame down the Walk—; I died for Beauty—but was scarce; I hearda Fly buzz—when I died—; Because I could not stop for Death]Harriet Beecher Stowe [Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Chap. Ⅶ) TheMother’s Struggle]Mark Twain [The Adventure of Tom Sawyer; The Adventure of Tom Sawyer (Chaps.ⅩⅩⅠ，ⅩⅩⅠⅠ)]O. Henry [The Cop and Anthem]Henry James [The Portrait of A Lady; The Portrait of A Lady (Chaps. Ⅵ，Ⅶ)]Jack London [The Sea Wolf; The Sea Wolf (Chap. ⅩⅩⅠ); Martin Eden; (Chap. Ⅰ)]Theodore Dreiser [Sister Carrie; Sister Carrie (Chap. Ⅰ)]PartⅤTwentieth-Century LiteratureHistorical IntroductionEzra Pound [A Virginal; Salutation the Second; A Pact; In a Station of the Metro; TheRiver-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter]Edwin Arlington Robinson [The House on the Hill; Richard Cory; Miniver Cheevy]Robert Frost [After Apple-Picking; The Road Not Taken; Stopping by Woods on aSnowy Evening; Departmental; Design; The Most of It]Carl Sandburg [Chicago; The Harbor; Fog; Cool Tombs; Flash Crimson; The People,Yes]Wallace Stevens [Peter Quince at the Clavier; Anecdote of the Jar; The Emperor ofIce-cream]Thomas Stearns Eliot [The Song of J. Alfred Prufrock; PreludesⅠ—Ⅳ; Journey of theMagi; The Hollow Men]F. Scott Fitzgerald [The Great Gatsby; The Great Gatsby (Chap. Ⅲ)]Ernest Hemingway [A Farewell to Arms; A Farewell to Arms (Chap. XLI)]John Steinbeck [The Grapes of Wrath; The Grapes of Wrath (XXIII)]William Faulkner [A Rose for Emily]。

美国文学史及选读

备课本教研室：文学教研室课程名称：美国文学史及选读任课教师：**德州学院外语系美国文学史及选读课程的教育目标：通过教学,使学生掌握美国文学的发展史及各阶段具有代表性的主要作家及其作品的主要特色，具备一定的分析鉴赏英语文学作品的能力,帮助培养学生的英语思维能力,提高英语整体水平。

课程的基本要求：要求学生有目的、较系统地了解和掌握美国文学的发展史及各阶段具有代表性的主要作家及其作品的主要特色。

课程的重点与难点：对具有代表性的作家的评价，对著名的美国小说和诗歌的分析、鉴赏及评价。

主要参考书目《美国文学简史》（第二版）常耀信南开大学出版社2004《美国文学选读》李宜燮南开大学出版社2000《牛津文学术语辞典》上海外语教育出版社2000《美国文学大纲》吴定柏上海外语教育出版社1998Introduction1.教学的目的和要求：简述美国文学史，包括美国文学史的5个主要阶段，每个阶段的起止时间，主要特点及代表作家，要求学生了解美国文学史概况2.教学重点：美国文学史的五个阶段及起止时间3.教学难点：各个阶段的主要特点4.教学内容Am literature is one lf the youngest national literature in the world. It became acolony of Britain in the early 17th century. And the American Independence War stretched from 1776 to 1783. The short history can be divided into several stages:• 1.the colonial period•It stretched roughly from the settlement of Am in the early 17th C through the endof the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607.(A group of people was sent by the English king James I to hunt for gold. They arrived at Virginia in 1607.They named the James River and build the James town.) Here the major topic will be about Am Puritanism .• 2.the Romantic Period•It covers the first half of the 19th C, which is a period following the national political independence. Around 1840s arose the culmination of the Romantic Period---New England Transcendentalism(1836-1855) .• 3.the Age of Realism•It was after the civil war (1861-1865) till the end of the 19th century, covering the latter half of the 19th C. The civil war brought the Romantic period to an end.4.Naturalism(the last decade of the 19th c)•In the last decade of the 19thc, the age of naturalism came into being. Naturalistssaw man’s life as governed by two forces---- heredity & environment.5.Modernism•In the decade of the 1920s,there came the age of modernism. (here are many eminent writers in this period, such as T.S Eliot, Earnest Hemingway, William Faulkner, etc.)6.思考题：简介美国文学史Chapter I Literature of Colonial America1.教学的目的和要求：介绍对美国文学及美国文化影响重大的清教主义，要求学生理解清教主义的教义，掌握清教主义对美国文学的影响，，殖民时代的主要作家及启蒙时代的特点2.教学重点：清教主义对美国文学的影响3.教学难点：清教主义的教义，爱德华兹和富兰克林各自的哲学思想4.教学内容•I American Puritanism1.origin of PuritanIn the mediaeval Europe, there was widespread religious revolution. In the 16th C, the English King Henry VIII(At that time ,the Catholics were not allowed to divorce unless they have the Pope’s permission. Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife because she couldn’t bear him a son. But the Pope didn’t allow him to divorce because his wife is the Pope’s niece. Henry VIII became very dissatisfied with the Pope, so he )broke away from the Roman Catholic Church & established the Church of England. But there was no radical difference between the doctrines of theChurch of England and the Catholic Church. A group of people thought the Church of England was too Catholic and wanted to purify the church. Then came the name Puritans…Of course they had different religious belief from that of the Catholic Church.2.Puritanism---based on Calvinism•1)predestination: God’s electPuritans believed they are predestined before they were born.Nothing or no good work can change their fate.They believed the success of one’s business is the sign to show he is the God’s elect. So the Puritans works very hard, spend very little and invest more for the future business. They lived a very frugal life. This is their ethics.•2)original sin and total depravityMan is born sinful. This determine some puritans pessimisitic attitude toward life. •3)limited atonement (the salvation of a selected few)•4)theocracyThey combined state with religion. Their government is at least not a liberal one. •(The Puritans established Am tradition---intolerant moralism. They strictly punished drunks, adultery & heretics.Puritans changed gradually due to the severity of frontier environment.Puritannism & ConfucianismConfucianism (修身齐家治国平天下) )3.Influence on Am literature•1)its optimismAmerican literature was from the outset conditioned by the Puritan heritage. It can be said American literature is bases on the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden.(Adam and Eve used to live a carefree life in the Garden of Eden. lured by the snake, they atethe Forbidden Fruit in the apple tree. A peice of apple choked in Adam’s throat , thencame Adam’s apple. After knowing the truth, God became very angry and drove them all out of the Garden of Eden. The snake used to walk like man but after that the Godforce him to crawl. Then man was forced to suffer the labor to keep the whole family and Woman was forced to suffer the agony of baby bearing.) After that, man have an illusion to restore the paradise. The puritans, after arriving at America, believeing that God must have sent them to this new land to restore the lost paradise , to build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. Fired with such a strong sense of mission, they treated life with a tremendous amount of optimism. The optimistic Puritans has exerted a great influence on American literature,•2)Puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception changed gradually into a literary symbolismII Colonial LiteratureAmerican colonial literature is neither real literature nor Americanwhy?1.Diaries,histories,journals,letters,etc. personal literature in various forms2.Colonial Literature is mainly English literature tradition imitated & transplanted. Anne BradstreetEdward TaylorThey can be called servants of God. Their writings served either God or colonial expansion.Some other colonial writers wrote for civil and religious freedom, and some wrote for America shaking off the fetters of the savage British colonial rule.Roger WilliamsJohn WoolmanThomas PaineOne of most important American prose writers of the 18th Century. He wrote a number of revolutionary works to attack British colonial rule. 1776, he wrote ―Common Sense‖, which greatly encouraged the painfully fighting people.After the war, he participated in the French Revolution and wrote―The Rights of Man‖ and ―The Age of Reason‖ to spread the ideals of the French revolution among the people.Philip FreneauHe is the most important poet of the 18th Century, a notable representative of dawning nationalism in American literature.―The Rising Gl ory of America‖ is a good example.He is the transitional role b/w the neoclassism of the 18th C and the Romanticism of the 19th C. This is clearly manifested in his ―The Indian burying Ground‖ and ―The Wild Honey Suckle‖III Edwards and Franklin—two representatives of the age of Enlightenment(of the 18th Century)•(The 18th C Am history witnessed two great revolutions: one was Am IndependenceWar, the other was Enlightenment. Enlightenment was several decades earlier than the Revolution, and it helped paved the path for the Independence war in people’s war. (P.28))i.Background: the age of Enlightenment•Toward the latter part of the 17th century, with Newton’s laws of motion and the idea of gravity, a completely new view of the universe came into being. In the minds of some thinking people, the universe became something mechanical subject to certain physical laws instead of to the supervision of God. This brought about a whole set of new ideas, among which was deism（自然神论）。

《美国文学史及选读》(吴伟仁)第二部分理性和革命时期文学历史背景(汉语翻译)

美国文学第二部分理性和革命时期文学历史背景众所周知，神学主宰了清教徒时期的美国文学，给当时人们思想影响也最深。

其次才是政治。

用书面或口头形式倡导的这些理念，鼓舞和指引了当时殖民地人们的行为。

其中大部分作者作为思想的引导者，理所当然地在美国独立战争中扮演了极其重要的角色。

托马斯·佩因声情并茂的《常识》和美国的《独立宣言》在取得战争胜利的过程中，同华盛顿、拉斐特的武装力量一样起到了同等重要的雄浑有力的作用。

如果没有托马斯·佩因的作品，很有可能就没有华盛顿领导的军队;没有托马斯·杰弗逊的作品，法国人就不可能帮助殖民地人民完成独立革命。

正在各州积极准备独立战争时，是政治家和文学家相互争论，才使得原来的十三州统一了认识。

他们必须联合起来，形成一个统一的联邦国家。

十八世纪的中期，殖民地的美国人不再是由一些分散的殖民者构成，他们的生活较之以前更为安稳。

随着殖民地的迅速扩大和发展，相邻的繁荣的各种殖民地逐渐形成，人们开始相互融合，逐渐呈现出一派欣欣向荣的景象。

这时人们习惯用“州”来取代以往的“殖民地”，“州”开始指代一个独立的政府，代表了当时的时代潮流，这也是人们政治思想转变的一个极其重要的信号。

这些州的人们生机勃勃，对生活充满了希望，自然资源丰富，本土工业开始迅速生根发芽。

同时文学活动也逐渐活跃起来。

波士顿仍是当时文化的中心，费城、纽约和弗吉尼亚州经过发展开始逐渐享有同波士顿同等重要的地位，这里政治家、文学家辈出，同波士顿比较起来也毫不逊色。

社会进步，尤其是工业的增长，直接加剧了殖民地与英国之间的矛盾。

英国政府不愿意让殖民地的工业迅速发展强大，以至同他们本土竞争。

他们希望这块土地在政治上、经济上永远隶属于英国。

他们采取一系列措施来防止殖民地独立，加强同英国本土联系。

在经济方面，英国要求殖民地出口原材料，然后从英国购回高成本的机器。

这无疑直接阻碍了殖民地的经济发展。

政治方面，他们要求这些殖民地由隔海相望的英国政府统一管理，殖民地必须交纳各种税收，但在议会中却并没有殖民地的代表。

《美国文学史及选读》考研吴伟仁版考研复习笔记和真题

《美国文学史及选读》考研吴伟仁版考研复习笔记和真题第一部分殖民地时期的美国文学第1章约翰·史密斯1.1 复习笔记I. Historical Introduction (历史背景)(1) At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the vast continental area that was to become the United States had been probed only slightly by English and European explorers. At last early in the seventeenth century, the English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts began the main stream of what we recognize as the American national history.(2) The colonies that became the first United States were for the most part sustained by English traditions, ruled by English laws, supported by English commerce, and named after English monarchs and English lands.(3) The first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of the settlements. They wrote about their voyage to the new land, about adapting to new life and dealing with Indians; they wrote letters, contracts, government charters, religious and political statements.(4) The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Among the members of the small band of Jamestown settlers was Captain John Smith, an English soldier of fortune.His reports of exploration, published in the early 1600s, have been described as the first distinctly American literature written in English. (1) 直到17世纪初，美国所在的广袤大陆才被英国及少数几个欧洲国家的探险家涉足。

美国文学史及作品选读

Henry James (1843-1916)
Born into a wealthy cultured family of New York City; great influence from his father and brother Father, Henry James, Sr.: an unorthodox theologian, one of the best-known intellectuals in mid-nineteenthcentury America; brother, William James, philosopher and psychologist Psychological realism
The closing frontier
The closing frontier: the development of railroads: mobile, Western settlement, settlement in the Great Plains and mountainous regions, awareness of regional characteristics; disillusionment and frustration, suffering and unhappiness
The International Theme The first and the third stages write about the “international theme”: innocent American confronting the sophisticated European cul and Europe, American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadence and the moral and psychological complications arising therefrom. For the American it was a process of progression from inexperience to experience, from innocence to knowledge and maturity.

美国文学史及选读2

爱默生Emerson = The chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism 超验主义He was a descendent of a long line of New England clergymen牧师【pastor】.American TranscendentalismAs a philosophical and literary movement, American Transcendentalism flourshed in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War. It is the high tide of American romanticism and its doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Emerson and Thoreau. Transcendentalists spoke for the cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society.Transcendentalism 超验主义(+ H. D. Thoreau; Nathaniel Hawthorne; )The major features of Transcendentalism:①The Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. 思想超灵宇宙②The Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. To them, the individual is the most important element of Society. 个体+社会③The Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was not purely matter. It was alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. 自然+上帝Emerson’s代表作：Nature；Self-Reliance；The American Scholar；The Over-soul；H. D. Thoreau 梭罗and his workWalden 瓦尔登湖not only fully demonstrates Emersonian ideas of self-reliance but also develops and tests Thoreau’s own transcendental philosophy.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 朗费罗William Faulkner(1897-1962 1949 Nobel price“Stream of Consciousness”意识流or “interior monologue”,内心独白is one of the modern literary techniques. It is the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images as the character experiences them. It was first used in 1922 by the Irish novelist James Joyce.The Sound and the Fury (1929) 人物??As I Lay Dying (1930)Light in the August ( 1932)Absalom, Absalom (1936)Go Down Moses (1942)Ernest HemingwayIceberg Principle (Theory):冰山法则The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.Code heroa noble but tragic hero; fighting with the overwhelming force; though he knows that he will be defeated at last, he decides to act like a hero. In one sense Hemingway wrote all his life about one theme, which is neatly summed up in the famous phrase “grace under pressure”Major Works:The Sun Also Rises 1926 (Jake Barnes)A Farewell to Arms 1928 (a tragic story about war and love) (Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley)For Whom the Bell Tolls 1940 (Spanish civil war) (Robert Jordan)The Old Man and the Sea 1952 (Santiago)Herman Melville代表作：白鲸Moby Dick Other Works are: Billy Budd,Typee, Omoo, Mardi.Symbolism in Moby Dick：It is regarded as the first American prose epic. 散文史诗？It turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth 寻找真理and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into man’s deep reality and psychology.Different people on board the ship are representations of different ideas and different social and ethnic groups; facts become symbols and incidents acquire universal meanings; the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becomes a search for truth. The white whale, Moby Dick, symbolizes nature for Melville, for it is complex, unfathomable难以理解的, malignant恶性的, and beautiful as well.Realism 浪漫主义之后，现代主义之前As a literary movement, the Age of Realism came into existence after Romanticism with the Civil War It was a reaction against “the lie”of Romanticism and sentimentalism, and paved the way to Modernism.This literary interest in the so-called “reality”of life started a new period in the American literary writing known as The Age of Realism.Psychological RealismIt is the realistic writing that probes deeply into the complexities of characters’thoughts and motivations. And Henry James is considered the founder of psychological realism. He believed that reality lies in the impressions made by life on the spectator, and not in any facts of which the spectator is unaware. Such realism is therefore merely the obligation that the artist assumes to represent life as he sees it.The three dominant figures of the period are William Dean Howells豪威尔斯, Mark Twain, and Henry James. Mark Twain and Howells seemed to have paid more attention to the “life”of the Americans, and Henry James had apparently laid greater emphasis on the “inner world”of man.William Dean Howells：The Rise of Silas LaphamHenry James：The Portrait of a Lady (Isabel Archer; Madam Merle; Gilbert Osmond)Daisy Miller (Daisy; Mr. Winterbourne; Mr. Giovanelli)Mark Twain = Samuel Langhorne Clemens Missouri Writing: humor and local colorism 地方特色The characteristics of local colorismTwain preferred to have his own region and people at the forefront of his stories. This particular concern about the local character of a region came about as “local colorism,”a unique variation of American literary realism. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,”brought him recognition from a wider public. His best works were produced when he was in the prime of his life：Life on the Mississippi & The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.Mark Twain’s most representative work：The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnHis humor, a kind of artistic style used to criticize the social injustice and satirize the decayed romanticism, is remarkable.Nathaniel Hawthorne effected by 超验主义One of the most ambivalent writers in the American literary history.The Scarlet Letter:红字Other works: Mosses from an Old Manse; Twice-Told Tales; The Marble Faun; The House of the Seven Gables He is a master of symbolism, which he took from the Puritan tradition 清教徒传统and bequeathed to American literature in a revivified form.In his masterpiece, by using Pearl as a thematic symbol, Hawthorne emphasizes the consequence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and people living in that community. With the scarlet A as the biggest symbol of all, which is ambiguous, he proves himself to be one of the best symbolists.American Naturalism 自然主义The impact of Darwin’s evolutionary theory达尔文进化论on the American thought and the 19th century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to another school of realism: American naturalism.The naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral与道德无关的, that men and women had no free will, that lives were controlled by heredity遗传and environment, that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion湮没in death. America’s literary naturalists dismissed the validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were determined by their environment and heredity.代表作家Stephen Crane；Frank Norris；Theodore Dreiser；Edwin Arlington Robinson；Upton Sinclair；Jack London；O’HenryStephen Crane：Maggie: A Girl of the Streets；The Red Badge of Courage；The Open Boat；The Black Riders and Other Lines；War Is KindEdwin Arlington Robinson：Richard CoryJack London：The Call of the Wild；The White Fang；The Sea Wolf；Martin EdenUpton Sinclair：The JungleO.Henry (William Sydney Porter)：The Gift of the Magi；The Cop and the anthemTheodore Dreiser：Trilogy of Desire:1.The Financier2. The Titan3. The Stoic；Sister Carrie；Jennie Gerhardt；An American TragedyThe 20th Century American Poets：Two characteristic strains：introspection自省&social criticismT.S.Eliot：The Waste LandImagism 意象派A poetic movement of England and the U.S. that flourished from 1909 to 1917. The movement insists on the creation of images in poetry by “the direct treatment of the thing”and the economy of wording. “poetic techniques to record exactly the momentary impressions”Three main principles of the Imagist Movement (1912) :[1] direct treatment of poetic subjects[2] elimination of merely ornamental or superfluous words, to use no word that does not contribute to the presentation.[3] rhythmical composition in the sequence of the musical phrase rather than in the sequence of a metronome.Ezra Pound：Idaho爱达荷洲worked for the Italian government in WW II, engaged in some radio broadcasts of anti-Semitism and pro-Fascism.代表作:Cantos; Hugh Selwyn Mauberley; In a Station of the Metro; CathayWilliam Carlos Williams: The Red WheelbarrowWallace Stevens: Anecdote of the JarThe 20th Century American Poets:Major Features1. The relationship of art and life; reality and imagination; fact and miracle; chaos and order.2. References to painting, music, and color.3. Abstract, philosophical, and difficult. He saw poetry as a personal transaction between self and reality.4. Meticulous language, though frequently exotic; coined words, and some are employed simply for sound effects. Robert Frost: Fire and Ice; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening; The Road Not TakenMajor Features:1. His verse was terrifying at first, showing the dark side of human life and society. Later, filled with sunshine.2.New England as the setting; The subjects come from daily life of ordinary life;Rural poetry in pastoral tradition. ( Wordsworth; Emerson)3.His themes include landscape and people of New England, loneliness and poverty of isolated farmers, beauty, terror and tragedy in nature.Simple language, a graceful style and traditional forms of poetry.诗歌鉴赏：In both "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and "The Road Not Taken," the speaker hesitates on route. Compare the hesitations. Do they derive from the same impulse and misgiving or are they distinct?Winners of Nobel Prize for Literature during this periodSinclair Lewis (1930); Eugene O’Neill (1936); Pearl S. Buck (1938); T.S. Eliot (1948); William Faulkner (1949); Ernest Hemingway (1954); John Steinbeck (1962)Walt WhitmanThe first edition of Leaves of Grass was published in 1855.In this giant work, openness, freedom, and above all, individualism are all that concerned him.What he prefers for his new subject and new poetic feelings is “free verse”自由诗体, that is , poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme.The poet’s essential purpose was to identify his ego with the world, and more specifically with the democratic “en-masse”同一地of America, which is established in the opening lines of “Song of Myself”.Writing features of Whitman1. A singer for the ideals of equality , democracy and human dignity.2. Songs for himself, for the labour of common American people, natural creation, the independence of the country, love and friendship, and for the memorizing of President Lincoln.3. Free verse, rhythmical unit, phonetic recurrence.Emily Dickinson：I Died for Beauty；Because I could not stop for DeathEmily was an energetic and outgoing woman while attending the Academy and Seminary.Most of her poems are about life and nature. They are short; many of them are based on a single image or symbol.。

美国文学史及选读

History And Anthology of American Literature (VolumeⅠ)美国文学史及选读1PartⅠThe Literature of Colonial America殖民主义时期的文学1.17世纪早期European explorers开始登陆美洲。

在他们之前100多年Caribbean Islands, Mexico and other Parts ofSouth America已被the Spanish占领。

2.17th早期English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts(弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞)开始了美国历史。

3.美国最早殖民者(earliest settlers)included Dutch ,Swedes ,Germans ,French ,Spaniards ,Italians and Portuguese (荷兰人，瑞典人，德国人，法国人，西班牙人，意大利人及葡萄牙人等)。

4.美国早期文学主要为the narratives and journals of these settlements采用in diaries and in journals(日记和日志)，他们写关于the land with dense forests and deep-blue lakes and rich soil.5.第一批美国永久居民：the first permanent English settlement in North America was established atJamestown,Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿)。

6.船长约翰·史密斯Captain John Smith他的作品(reports of exploration)17th早期出版，被认为是美国第一部真正意义上的文学作品in the early 1600s,have been described as the first distinctly American literature written in English.他讲述的内容filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, character and events,吸引了朝圣者和清教徒前往lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans.7.美国第一位作家：1608年Captain John Smith写了封信《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony”.8.他的第二本书1612年《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》“A Map of Virginia: with a Description of theCountry”.9.他一共出版了八本书，其中有关于新英格兰的历史及描述。

美国文学史及选读2复习笔记

History And Anthology of American Literature (VolumeⅡ)美国文学史及选读2PartⅣ The Literature Of Realism现实主义文学1.美国国内战争Civil War 1861-1865.美国现实主义文学：他们寻找描写美国人真实生活的方法，他们声称平凡的、就近的事件同重大的、遥运的事件一样都是艺术创作的源泉they sought to portray American life as it really was,, insisting that the ordinary and local were as suitable for artistic portrayal as the magnificent and the remote.2.现实主义一词来源于法语realism, 她是一种文学原则，她强调描写平凡的生活，强调其“真实性和现实性”。

Realism had originated in France asrealism, a literary doctrine that called for “reality and truth” in the depiction of ordinary life. “现实主义要求创作素材绝对真实，即不能夸张，也不能缩小”,William Dean Howells(豪厄斯) defined realism as “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material”.他反对那些表现失意和绝望类苍白无力的小说，他强调现实主义作品要发掘出生活中微笑的一方面，因为美国人都坚信自己的国家是一个充满希望，什么奇迹都有可能发生的一个国家，作为文学也应该把这些特征表现出来he spoke out against the writing of a bleak fiction of failure and despair. He called for the treatment of the “Smiling aspects of life” as being the more “American”, insisting that Americ an was truly a land of hope and of possibility that should be reflected in its literature.3.美国现实主义文学总体说来对生活的表面现象进行了乐观的处理，这是其局限，然而最伟大的现实伟大的现实主义大师亨利·詹姆斯、马克·吐温则摆脱了对十九世纪美国进行肤浅描写的局限，詹姆斯对他作品中的人物个性心理进行了深度探讨，他运用深厚的和复杂的写作方式对复杂的个人经历进行了揣摩。

美国文学史概述及选读复习资料

美国文学史American Literature in the colonical and Revolutionary:1.Benjamin Franklin(本杰明.富兰克林)2.hilip Freneau 菲利普·费瑞诺Benjamin Franklin(本杰明.富兰克林)1)"Poor Richard's Almanac" 穷人查理德的年鉴(以笔名Richard Sunders)2)“annual collection of proverbs “流行谚语集(It soon became the most popular bookof its kind, largely because of Franklin's shrewd humor, and first spread his reputation) 3)The Way to Wealth (Father Abraham’s Sermon)致富之道(as the “perface to Poor RichardImproved)4)The Autobiography自传(18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传)5)Founded the Junto, a club for informal discussion of scientific, economic and politicalideas. 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.6)established America's first circulating library, founded the college--University ofPennsylvania. 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.7)first applied the terms "positive" and "negative" to electrical charges.8)Writer,printer,publisher,scientist,philanthropist,and diplomat,he was the most famousand respected private figure of his time.The Rising Glory of America蒸蒸日上的美洲；The British Prison Ship英国囚船；To the Memory of the Brave Americans纪念美国勇士-----同类诗中最佳；The Wild Honeysuckle野生的金银花；The Indian Burying Ground印第安人殡葬地(1)poet and political journalist 诗人和政治方面的新闻记者(2)perhaps the most outstanding writer of the post-revolutionary period.(3)has been called the "Father of American Poetry" 美国诗歌之父(4)Imaginative and melancholy treatment of nature and human life,and sharp satire against the British tyranny19th Century American LiteratureWashington Irving(华盛顿.欧文)1．James Fenimore Cooper(詹姆斯.芬尼莫.库珀)2．Nathaniel Hawthorne(纳萨尼尔.霍桑)3．Edgar Allan Poe （埃德加.阿伦.坡）4．Henry Daived Thoreau(亨利.戴维.梭罗)5．Herman Melville(赫尔曼.麦尔维尔)6．Walt Whiteman(沃尔特.惠特曼)The Rise of American Romanticism• One of the most important periods in the history of American literature, stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War(1861-65).• It started with the publication of Washington Irving's e T he h Sketch Book(1820) and ended with Whitman's s Leaves f of Grass(1855)..Romanticism的特点：frequently shared certain general characteristics, moral enthusiam,faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception, and apresumption 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。

美国文学史选读整理第一部分殖民地时期的文学

第一部分殖民地时期的文学17世纪历史文化背景1.17世纪早期，英国人最终在弗吉尼亚Virginia和马萨诸塞Massachusetts定居，奠定了人们熟知的美国主流文化的基础2.The first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of these settlements.3.The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.4.New England: 美国东北部地区，范围包括缅因州，新罕布什尔，佛蒙特，马萨诸塞，罗得岛和康涅狄格。

1614年由英国人John Smith命名。

5.Jamestown: 北美洲英国第一个永久性殖民地，建于1607.5.14.这里最先种植烟草，建立了大陆上第一个代议制政府（1619），运进第一批非洲奴隶，建立了美洲第一个圣公会教堂。

6.John SmithWilliam Byrd II:文学巨匠，《分界线的历史》Thomas Jefferson: 政治型学者，美国第三任总统，《独立宣言》的主要起草人，《英属美洲权利概述》（1774）：英国国会无权为殖民地制定法律；《弗吉尼亚笔记》：种族问题。

美国第一位作家：Captain John Smith1.<A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the FirstPlanting of That Colony>16082.<A Map of Virginia>1612（第二本书，共出版了8本书,部分记载了关于新英格兰的事）3.<General History of Virginia>1624有关于酋长之女波卡洪特斯Pocahontas的故事早期新英格兰文学：1.勤劳hard work、节俭thrift、虔诚piety、节制sobriety2.The Puritans had come to New England for the sake of religious freedom, while Virginia had been plantedmainly as a commercial venture.3.清教传教士：John Cotton约翰·科登，Cotton Mather科登·马瑟William Bradford and John Winthrop1.Plymouth: 普利茅斯，北美第二个英国殖民地，1620五月花号抵达地2.威廉·布拉德福德（1590-1657）：<The History of Plymouth Plantation>(普利茅斯开发史)From my years young in days of youth那时我青春年少懵懂无知God did make known to me His Truth上帝眷顾教我真理And call’d me from my native place蒙他召唤我离开家乡For to enjoy the Means of Grace矢志追寻他的荣光In wilderness He did me guide苍茫大地他给我指引And in strange lands for me provide陌生土地终归我统领……As Pilgrim passed I to and fro.我作为清教徒而来，我作为清教徒而去3.约翰·温思罗普（1588-1649）：<The History of New England>(新英格兰史)清教徒的思想1.As the word itself hints, Puritans wanted to make pure their religious beliefs and practices. The Puritan wasa “would-be purified.”2.The Puritans wished to restore simplicity to church services and the authority of the Bible to theology.3.Separatists—they wished to break free from the Church of England.4.Emphasize the image of a wrathful God and to forget his mercy.Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor清教徒诗人1.安妮·布雷兹特里特（1612-72）：<The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America>(在美洲诞生的第十个缪斯); <Upon the Burning of Our House>; 《沉思录》；《疲乏的朝圣者》2.爱德华·泰勒（1642-1729）：清教徒诗人中最杰出的一位。

美国文学史及选读henry james

College of Foreign Languages, CTGU
HISTORY AND ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
Psychological Realism
Henry James is considered the founder of psychological realism. He believed that reality lies in the impressions made by life on the spectator.Such realism is therefore only the obligation that the artist assumes to represent life as he sees it,which may not be the same life as it “really” is. “The Ambassadors” is considered to be a masterpiece of psychological realism.
College of Foreign Languages, CTGU
HISTORY AND ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
Stage Three
The Wings of the Dove (鸽翼) The Ambassadors (专
使)
The Golden Bowl (金碗)

College of Foreign Languages, CTGU
HISTORY AND ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
3. Intellectualized and Highly Sensitive Female Protagonists Most protagonists are females, such as Daisy in Daisy Miller, Isabel in The Portrait of a Lady, Milly in The wings of the Dove, and Maggie in The Golden Bowl. They are often wealthy enough to have wide freedom of choice in their personal lives, leisure for minute self scrutiny, and usually with enough intelligence to express subtle feelings and moral hesitation.

美国文学史及选读(上册)

C. His Major Writings:
Poor Richard’s Almanac 1. Time: almost a quarter of century 2. Content: Literary pieces such as poems and essays, a good many adages（格言）, common sense witticisms（妙语、俏皮话） 3. Sources: he borrowed them from famous writers such as, Defoe, Swift and Pope and tried to simplify these quotations 4. Examples: Famous sayings such as “Lost time is never found again”, “God help them that help themselves”, “Fish and visitors stink in three days”（客人和鱼一样做久了就臭了）, etc.. 5. Function: practical, instructive, and amusing
6. He founded the Pennsylvania Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania, the American Philosophical Society（美国哲学学会）, a subscription library（订阅图书馆）. 7. He invented a musical instrument called glass harmonica, the effective street lighting, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses（双光眼镜）, efficient heating system, and lightning-rod（避雷针） for which he was praised as “the new Prometheus who had stolen fire from heaven”.

美国文学选读复习

History And Anthology of American Literature (VolumeⅠⅡ)美国文学史及选读1、2PartⅠThe Literature of Colonial America殖民主义时期的文学(at the beginning of 17th century)Part Ⅱ The Literature of Reason And Revolution理性和革命时期文学(by the mid-18th century)1．Thomas Jefferson: Declaration of Independence 独立宣言(1776年18世纪中后期)（仔细阅读知道意思）Benjamin Franklin: The AutobiographyThomas Paine: The American Crisis*一、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林1706-1790Symbol of America in the Age of Enlightenment殖民地时期作家。

独立战争前惟一的杰出的美国作家in the colonial period, the only good American author before the Revolutionary War.1．其还是美国第一位主要作家the first major writer非凡表达能力，简洁明了，有点幽默，还是一位讽刺天才as an author he had power of expression, simplicity, a subtle humor. He was also sarcastic.2．他最好作品收录在《自传》“Autobiography”。

“对这个年青的国家来说，他的损失比其它任何人的都要大“his shadow lies heavier than any other man’s on this young nation.二、Thomas Jefferson托马斯·杰弗逊（1743-1826）1．美国历史上最为广泛影响人物his thought and personality have influenced his countryman more deeply and remained more effectively alive.同富兰克林一样具人道主义精神vigorous humanitarian sympathies.启蒙运动的产物a product of the Enlightenment.2．1776年同约翰·亚当斯、本杰明·富兰克林、罗杰·谢尔曼、罗伯特·R·利文斯顿一起起草《独立宣言》with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R Livingston, he drafted the Declaration of Independence.3．1790-1793任华盛顿内阁中第一任国务卿，as the first American secretary of state. 1800起担任两届美国总统。