Colonial American Literature

b. Symbolism
To the pious Puritan, the physical, phenomenal world is nothing but a symbol of God. Physical life was simultaneously spiritual; every passage of life, enmeshed in the vast context of God’s plan, possessed a delegated meaning. This metaphorical mode of perception was chiefly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American. Puritan doctrine and literary practice contributed to the development of an indigenous symbolism. To Hawthorne, Melville, Howells and many others, symbolism as a technique has become a common practice.
❖ Think about the uniqueness of different writers.
The literature of colonial America
Questions: 1. Why “colonial America”? Whose colony? 2. What is Puritanism?
The Reasons foபைடு நூலகம் English Settlement
❖ Three reasons ❖ 1. First, the rising merchant class, overseas
colonies offered vast economic opportunities. ❖ 2.The second reason was religious. ❖ 3.Thirdly, the Enclosure Movement of the
?在那亲切的回响里它们将造物主赞扬?可此时哑然的我难道还能向着前方宛转地唱出更高层次的绝响
History and Anthology of American Literature
《美国文学史 及作品选读》
Learning Methods
❖ Compare American literature with English literature, think about their connections, similarities and differences in different historical periods.
4. The influences of Puritanism on
American literature
a. Optimism
American literature is based on the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden. It is in good measure a literary expression of the pious idealism of the American puritan. The puritans dreamed of living under a perfect order and worked with indomitable courage and confident hope toward building a new Garden of Eden in America, where man could live the way he should. They looked even the worst of life in the face with a tremendous amount of optimism. All this went in due time into the making of American literature. The optimistic Puritan has exerted a great influence on American literature.
Literary Features
❖ Sporadic (from different sources)
❖ Practical (from practical consideration rather than
from literary ambition) ❖ Puritan influence
(religious themes)
c. Simplicity
Simplicity characterizes the Puritan style of writing. The style of their writing is fresh, simple and direct; the rhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible. All this has left an indelible imprint on American writing.
1500s also stimulated English colonization.
Puritanism清教,清教徒主义
❖ 1.The forefather of America: In 1620 the austere pilgrims, mostly humble country folks, stepped on the New England shore at Plymouth because they wanted to reform the Church of England. They fought for religious freedom and came almost totally because of such religious conviction. In 1630, the prosperous and worldly Puritans came to colonize Massachusetts Bay.
Seven Representatives
Captain John Smith
❖ William Bradford ❖ John Winthrop
John Cotton Roger Williams
Anne Bradstreet Edward Taylor
沉思 -- 安 不莱德斯觉特
❖ 我听见蚱蜢在欢快地歌唱。 ❖ 黑翼的蟋蟀也附和出接下来的乐章； ❖ 它们整齐列队，协调着彼此的曲调和唱腔， ❖ 在这小小的艺术天国，它们似乎光荣无上。 ❖ 其他生物都低声无语，因而它们的歌声显得分外的高昂。 ❖ 在那亲切的回响里，它们将造物主赞扬， ❖ 可此时，哑然的我难道还能向着前方，宛转地唱出更高层次的绝响
3.The mythology the Puritans built
The Puritans also built up a mythology for America itself. With these doctrines in their minds, Puritans left Europe for America in order to prove that they were God’s chosen people who would enjoy God’s blessings on earth and in Heaven. They felt that they were exiles under the special grace of God to establish a theocracy in the New World. Over the years in the new homeland they built a way of life that stressed hard work, thrift, piety, and sobriety.
❖ 2. Definition and religious doctrines
❖ The first settlers came to America out of various reasons. They were called “Puritans,” so named after those who wish to purify the religious practice in the church. They soon established their own religious and moral principles known as American Puritanism that became one of the enduring influences in the American thought and American literature.