美国文学Chapter 1 概述

Don’t be confused
• Pilgrim: 朝圣者Person who travels to a holy place as an act of religious devotion.
• Puritan: 清教徒Member of the party of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who wanted simpler forms of church ceremony.
Literature1960-
The Literature of
Colonial America
Part Ⅰ The Literature of Colonial America
• 1. Historical Introduction • 2. The First American Writer • 3. Early New England Literature • 4. Authors and their works
1. Historical Introduction
1.1 Early Settlements
1492: Columbus reached the Americas
The early 1600s: the beginning of a great tide
of emigration from Europe to North America The earliest settlers: Dutch, Swedes, Germans,
5.3 Named by Captain John Smith
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• He portrayed English North America as a land of endless bounty.
• His vision helped lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans.
“Here nature and liberty afford us that freely which in England we want, or it costs us dearly. What pleasure can be more than…to recreate themselves before their own doors, in their own boats upon the sea…(to) take divers sorts of excellent fish at their pleasures? …If a man work but three days in seven he may get more than he can spend…here by their labor [they] may live exceeding well…. The masters by this may quickly grow rich; these [apprentices] may learn [by] their trades themselves to do the like, to a general and an incredible benefit for king and country, master and servant.”
• His reports of exploration: the first distinctly American Literature written in English
2.2. Captain John Smith’s Works
A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That
(Pocahontas) 《弗吉 尼亚，新英格兰及夏日 群岛通史》
➢ Transformed into a legend of the colonists.
2.3. The Features of His Works
• Smith’s descriptions of America were filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, characters, and events that were a foundation for the nation’s literature.
In New England, Harvard College was founded as early as 1636.
3.2. Religious writing
• Religious writing: heavily weighted, in subject and style,因为宗教因素主题风格沉重 by religious considerations.
life Practical and realistic
A Map of Virginia: with a Description of
the Country(1612)《海湾及河流地图，附关于当 地情况及居民的叙述》
2.2. Captain John Smith’s Works
General History of Virginia (1624)
November, 1620:
The puritans dropped anchor at Cape Cod （科德角） and established their colony at Plymouth
1.4. Why the British Emigrated to America
• Economic Reason: In the 1620s severe economic depression in England (enclosure movement) Virginia was founded by London Compony in 1607.
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1. Historical Introduction
1.2. Jamestown • The first permanent English
settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.
1.3. May Flower
2. The first American writer
2.1. Reputation • One of the leaders of
Jamestown (not pilgrim)
Captain John Smith (1580-1631)
• An English soldier of fortune (mercenary)
• Political Reason: In the 1630s, arbitrary rule by England's Charles I gave impetus to the migration. Most European emigrants left their homelands to escape political oppression.
The Literature of Colonial America
3. Early New England Literature
3.1. Some Features : The puritans had come to New
England for the sake of religious freedom. The Puritans are supposed to “write” their own new “Bible”( their history) America is their new Canaan.
• Religious Reason: The ascension of Charles I to the throne-who was known to be sympathetic to Roman Catholicism and impatient with Puritan reformers was taken as an ominous sign for Puritans. Massachusetts was founded by Puritans in 1620.
History and Anthology of American literature
----By Winnie Zhang
Major Periods of American Literary Development
Part Ⅰ The Literature of Colonial America Part Ⅱ The Literature of Reason and Revolution Part Ⅲ American Romanticism 1820-1865 Part Ⅳ American Realism 1865-1910 Part Ⅴ American Modernism 1910-1960 Part Ⅵ Post-Modernism or Pluralism in American
French, Spaniards, Italians, and Portuguese All contributed to the forming of the American
civilization, but the colonies that became the first United States were for the most part English
1.5. New England
5.1 In the north-east of America
5.2 Consisting of Maine(缅因）, New Hampshire（新罕尔布什尔）, Vermont（佛蒙特）, Massachusetts（马萨诸塞）, Rhode Island（罗得岛）, Connecticut（康涅狄格）.
Colony (1608)《关于弗吉尼亚的真实叙述》
The First Book in American history
The immigrants’ surprise and excitement
The bitter life full of dangers The author’s confidence in the future