美国文学史笔记

文学史笔记：

一、Early American and colonial period (1607-1765)

(religious conflicts Catholism vs.Puritanism)

1.Puritanism:

1.) Simply speaking , American Puritanism just refers to the spirit and ideal of puritans,who settled in the North American continent in the early part of the seventeenth century because of religious persecutions.In content it means scrupulous ,moral rigor ,especially hostility to social pleasures and indulgences,that is strictness,sternness and austerity in conduct and religion.

2.)with time passing it became a dominant factor in American life , one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and literature .To some extent it is a state of mind , a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the American breathes ,rather than a set of tenets.

3.）Actually it is a code of values , a philosophy of life and a point of view in American minds , also a two-faceted tradition of religious idealism and level -headed in common sense .

2.The main features of this period

1).American literature grew out of humble origins. Diaries, histories, journals, letters, commonplace books, travel books, sermons, in short, personal literature in its various forms, occupy a major position in the literature of the early colonial period.

2)In content these early writings served either God or colonial expansion or both. In form, if there was any form at all, English literary traditions were faithfully imitated and transplanted.

3)The Puritanism formed in this period was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature.

注：the first work published in the puritan colonials was the Bay Psalm Book(1640)

The best of the puritan poets is Edward Taylor.

二、The period of enlightenment and the independence war

1.American enlightenment movement(in the 18th century)

①Marked by an emphasis on rationality,scientific inquiry and representative government.

②The representative writers:Benjamin Franklin(Poor Richard’s Almanac,The Autobiography) ,Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson

③Influence:it accelerated the social progress ;freed people from limitations set by prevailing puritanism;make spiritual preparation for following American civilization.

④Effects on literature:a.in form:these American writers imitated English classical writers;b.these American writers have utilitarian tendency/inclination.

2.Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790)

①He was born in Boston in 1706. ②