自考英美文学选读必考重点第三讲美国文学

American literary history?)
The period ranging from 1865 to l914 has been referred to as
the Age of Realism in the 1iterary history of the United States, which is actually a movement or tendency that dominated the spirit of American literature, especially American fiction, from the 1850s onwards. Realism was a reaction against Romanticism or a move away from the bias towards romance and self-creating fictions, and it paved the way to Modernism. Instead of thinking about the irrational, the imaginative, realists touched upon social and political realities and pressures in the post-Civil war society. Three dominant figures are William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, and Henry James.
It started with the publication of ________ and ended with _______. It is also called _________.
A. The Romantic movement which had flourished earlier in the century both in England and Europe proved to be a decisive influence without which the upsurge of American Romanticism would hardly have been possible.
value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a
presumption that the natural world was a source of goodness and man’s societies a source of corruption.浪 漫主义之间大部分是相通的，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。
B) In their works, they introduced industrial workers and farmers, ambitious businessmen and vagrants, prostitutes and unheroic soldiers as major characters in fiction.
D) Realism entered American literature after the Civil War. William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, and Henry James were the pioneers of realism in the U.S.
B. Although foreign influences were strong, American romanticism, exhibited from the very outset distinct features of its own. American romanticism was in essence the expression of “a real new experience” and contained “an alien quality”.
C) They approached the harsh realities and pressures in the post-Civil War society either by a comprehensive picture of modern life in its various occupations, c1ass stratifications and manners, or by a psychological exploration of man's sub-consciousness.
Representatives: Irving:_______ Emerson:_________ Hawthorne:_______ Whitman:______ Melville:______
The Realistic Period
The Age of Realism (How to define the Realistic Period in
What is Realism?
A) Realism emerged as a literary movement in Europe in the 1850s.
B) In art and literature, Realism refers to an attempt to describe human behavior and surroundings or to represent figures exactly as they act or appear in life.
C) In reaction to Romanticism, realistic writers should set down their observations impartially and objectively. They insisted on accurate documentation, sociological insight, and avoidance of poetic diction and idealization. The subjects were to be taken from everyday life, preferably from lower-class life.
What is Transcendentalism?
a) as a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematized. It exalted feeling over reason, individual expression over the restraints of law and custom. 不讲逻辑，不 讲系统，只强调超越理性的感受，超越法律和世俗束缚的个人表达。
The literary characteristics of the Realistic Period
in American literature.
A) Guided by the principle of adhering to the truthful treatment of life, the realists touched upon various contemporary social and political issues.
d) it could exercise a healthy and restorative influence on the human mind. “Go back to nature, sink yourself back into its influence and you’ll become spiritually whole again.” The natural implication of all this was, of course, that things in nature tended to become symbolic, and the physical world was a symbol of the spiritual. This in turn added to the tradition of literary symbolism in American literature.
b) they spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society.呼吁文化复兴，反对美国社会的拜金主义。
C）they believed in the transcendence of “Oversoul,” an allpervading power for goodness from which all things come and of which all things are a part.相信精神上的超越，相信无所不能的善 的力量，强调善为万物之源。
美国文学特点:pluralistic多元化，manifestations表现 形式: Varied多样, Individualistic个人主义,Conflicting 矛盾
Romanticism的特点：frequently shared certain
general characteristics; moral enthusiasm, faith in the
第三讲
The Romantic Period
The Romantic Period, one of the most important periods in the history of American literature, stretches from the the end of the ____ to the outbreak of _____.