美國文學簡史筆記常耀信

1、IV. 3. A Concise History of American Literature What is literature? Literature is language artistically used to achieve identifiable literary qualities and to convey meaningful messages. Chapter 1 Colonial Period I. Predestination: God decided everything before things occurred. Original sin: Human b

2、eings were born to be evil, and this original sin can be passed down from generation to generation. Total depravity Limited atonement: Only the A group of good qualities - hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety (serious and thoughtful) influenced American literature. It led to the everlasting myth. All

3、literature is based on a myth -garden of Eden. Symbolism: the American puritan s metaphoricaolfmpeordce eption was chiefly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American. With regard to their writing, the style is fresh, simple and direct; the rhetoric is plain

4、and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible. Overview of the literature types of writing diaries, histories, journals, letters, travel books, autobiographies/biographies, sermons writers of colonial period (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Jonathan Edwards

5、life works (1) The Freedom of the Will (2) The Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended (3) The Nature of True Virtue ideas -pioneer of transcendentalism (1) (2) (3) (4) Benjamin life works (1) Poor Richard Almsanac (2) Autobiography contribution (1) He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the

6、American Philosophical Society. (2) He was calledBackground: Puritanism features of Puritanism (1) (2) II. III. 1. 2. 1. 2. 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. (3) (4) Influence (1) Anne Bradstreet Edward Taylor Roger Williams John Woolman Thomas Paine Philip Freneau The spirit of revivalism Regeneration of man Gods pre

7、sence Puritan idealism Franklin elect ” can be saved. (2) (3) (4) the new Prometheus who had stolen fire (electricity in this case) 3. (1) (2) (5) from heaven ”. (3) Everything seems to meet in this one man - “ Jack of all trades thus deseribed him “master of eaeh and mastered by none Chapter 2 Amer

8、ican Romanticism Section 1 Early Romantic Period What is Romanticism? An approach from ancient Greek: Plato A literary trend: 18c in Britain (17981832) Schlegel Bros. Preview: Characteristics of romanticism subjectivity (1) (2) (3) ”. Herman Melville I. 1. 2. 3. II. 1. 2. feeling and emotions, findi

9、ng truth emphasis on imagination emp hasis on in dividualism -personal freedom, no hero worsh ip, n atural good ness of human beings back to medieval, esp medieval folk literature (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) back to nature nature is “breathing living thing American Romanticism Background (1) Political backg

10、round and economic development (2) Romantic movement in European countries Derivative -foreig n in flue nee features (1) unrestrained by classical rules full of imagination colloquial language freedom of imagination genuine in feelings: answer their call for classics ” (Rousseau) III. 1. 2. (2) (3)

11、(4) American romanticism was in essence the expression of “areal new experience and contained “an alien quality ” for the simple reason that “the spirit o was radically new and alien. There is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider. American romantic authors tended more to moralize.

12、Many American romantic writings intended to edify more than they entertained. The “ newness ”of Americans as a nation is in connection with American Romanticism. As a logical result of the foreign and native factors at work, American romanticism was both imitative and independent. Washington Irving

13、several names attached to Irving (1) first American writer (2) the messenger sent from the new world to the old world (3) father of American literature life works (3) (4) A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (

14、He won a measure of international recognition with the publication of this.) The History of the Life and V oyages of Christopher Columbus A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada The Alhambra (7) 2. 3. 4. 18091832 Subjects are either English or European Conservative love for the antique 18321859: back

15、 to US gentility, urbanity, pleasantness avoidi ng moraliz ing -amus ing and en terta ining enveloping stories in an atmosphere vivid and true characters humour -smiling while reading musical language IV. 1. 2. Precaution (1820, his first novel, imitating Austen Pride and Prejudices) The Spy (his se

16、cond novel and great success) Leatherstocking Tales (his masterpiece, a series of five novels) The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, The Prairie point of view the theme of wilderness vs. civilization, freedom vs. law, order vs. change, aristocrat vs. democrat, natura

17、l rights vs. legal rights style (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) literary achievements He created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the process of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward, th

18、en Cooper Leatherstocking sTales effectively approximates the American national experience of adventure into the West. He turned the west and frontier as a useable past and he helped to introduce western tradition to American literature. Section 2 Summit of Romanticism - American Transcendentalism I

19、. 1. Fatherhood of God Brotherhood of men Leadership of Jesus Salvation by character (perfection of one Continued progress of mankind Divinity of mankind Depravity of mankind Romantic Idealism Center of the world is spirit, absolute spirit (Kant) Oriental mysticism Center of the world is Puritanism

20、Eloquent expression in transcendentalismLiterary career: two parts (1) a. b. (2) style -beautiful (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) James Fenimore Cooper life works (1) (2) (3) 4. 5. 3. 4. highly imaginative good at inventing tales good at landscape description conservative characterization wooden and lacking

21、 in probability language and use of dialect not authentic Background: four sources Unitarianism (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 5. s character) a I ? oversoul ” 3. (1) (3) (4) Appearance 1836, “ Nature ” by Emerson Features spirit/oversoul importance of individualism n ature -symbol of sp irit/God garment o

22、f the oversoul focus in intuition (irrationalism and subconsciousness) Influence It served as an ethical guide to life for a young nation and brought about the idea that human can be perfected by nature. It stressed religious tolerance, called to throw off shackles of customs and traditions and go f

23、orward to the development of a new and distinctly American culture. It advocated idealism that was great needed in a rapidly expanded economy where opportunity often became opportunism, and the desire to “get omn or”al obscured th necessity for rising to spiritual height. It helped to create the fir

24、st American renaissance -one of the most prolific period in American literature. Ralph Waldo Emerson life works (1) Nature (2) Two essays: The American Scholar, The Poet point of view (1) aesthetic ideas (1) (2) (3) (4) Henry David Thoreau life works (1) A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River (2)

25、 Walden (3) A Plea for John Brown (an essay) point of viewII. III. 1. 2. 3. 4. IV. 1. 2. 3. V. 1. 2. 3. One major element of his philosophy is his firm belief in the transcendence of the “ oversoul ”. He regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man, and advocated a d

26、irect intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature. If man depends upon himself, cultivates himself and brings out the divine in himself, he can hope to become better and even perfect. This is what Emerson means by “the infinitude of man ”. Everyone should understand that he makes himself by

27、making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself. (2) (3) (4) 4. 5. VI. 1. 2. He is a complete man, an eternal man. True poetry and true art should ennoble. The poet should express his thought in symbols. As to theme, Emerson called upon American authors to celebrate America which was

28、 to him a lone poem in itself. his influence He did not like the way a materialistic America was developing and was vehemently outspoken on the point. He hated the human injustice as represented by the slavery system. Like Emerson, but more than him, Thoreau saw nature as a genuine restorative, heal

29、thy influence on man s spiri-tubaelinwge. ll He has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man. (2) 4. He was very critical of modern civilization. “ Simplicity simplify! ” He was sorely disgusted with “ theinundations of the dirty institutions of men s odd-fellow society ”. He has

30、 calm trust in the future and his ardent belief in a new generation of men. Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales, Mosses from and Old Manse The Scarlet Letter The House of the Seven Gables The Marble Faun point of view (1) (2) (3) (4) aesthetic ideas (1) He took a great interest in his

31、tory and antiquity. To him these furnish the soil on which his mind grows to fruition. (2) He was convinced that romance was the predestined form of American narrative. To tell the truth and satirize and yet not to offend: That was what Hawthorne had in mind to achieve. style -typical romantic write

32、r (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Herman Melville life works (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (3) point of view (1) He never seems able to say an affirmative yes to life: His is the attitude of “ Everlasting Nay ” (negative attitude towards life). (2) One of the major themes of his is alienation (far away from each

33、other). Other themes: loneliness, suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death), rejection and quest, confrontation of innocence and evil, doubts over the comforting 19c idea of progress style (1) Like Hawthorne, Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employi

34、ng the technique of multiple view of his narratives.(5) (6) (7) (8) Section 3 Late Romanticism I. Nathaniel Hawthorne life works (1) (2) (3) (4) II. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1. 2. 3. Evil is at the core of human life, “that blackness in Hawthorne Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be

35、passed from generation to generation (causality). He is of the opinion that evil educates. He has disgust in science. the use of symbols revelation of characters psychology the use of supernatural mixed with the actual his stories are parable (parable inform) - to teach a lesson use of ambiguity to

36、keep the reader in the world of uncertainty -multiple point of view Typee Omio Mardi Redburn White Jacket Moby Dick Pierre Billy Budd (4) II. 1. (2) (3) (4) (5) He tends to write periodic chapters. His rich rhythmical prose and his poetic power have been profusely commented upon and praised. His wor

37、ks are symbolic and metaphorical. He includes many non-narrative chapters of factual background or description of what goes on board the ship or on the route (Moby Dick) Romantic Poets I. 1. 2. Walt Whitman life work: Leaves of Grass (9 editions) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Song of Myself There Was a Ch

38、ild Went Forth Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Democratic Vistas Passage to India Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking 3. 4. 5. themes - “ Catalogue of American and Europeanthought ” He had been influenced by many American and European thoughts: enlightenment, idealism, transcendentalism, science, evolution

39、ideas, western frontier spirits, Jefferson s individualism, Civil War Unionism, Orientalism. Major themes in his poems (almost everything): equality of things and beings divinity of everything immanence of God democracy evolution of cosmos multiplicity of nature self-reliant spirit death, beauty of

40、death expansion of America brotherhood and social solidarity (unity of nations in the world) pursuit of love and happiness “ free verse ” no fixed rhyme or scheme parallelism, a rhythm of thought phonetic recurrence the habit of using snapshots the use of a certain pronoun “I ” a looser and more ope

41、n-ended syntactic structure use of conventional image strong tendency to use oral English vocabulary -powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign origins, some even wrong (10) sentences -catalogue technique: long list of names, long poem lines influence (1) (2) style: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (

42、7) (8) (9) (3) His best work has become part of the common property of Western culture. He took over Whitman s vision of the p-poreotphet and poet-teacher and recast it in a more sophisticated and Europeanized mood. He has been compared to a mountain in American literary history. Contemporary Americ

43、an poetry, whatever school or form, bears witness to his great influence. Emily Dickenson life III. 1. works (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) themes: based on her own experiences/joys/sorrows (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) style (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Comparison: Whitman vs. Dickinson Similarities: (1) Thematicall

44、y, they both extolled, in their different ways, an emergent America, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness, their poetry being part of “American Renaissance ”. (2) Technically, they both added to the literary independence of the new nation by breaking free of the convention of the ia

45、mbic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before: they were pioneers in American poetry. differences: (1) ratiocinative stories Ms Found in a Bottle The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Purloined Letter Revenge, death and rebirth The Fall of the House of Usher Ligeia The Masque of the Re

46、d Death Literary theory The Philosophy of Composition The Poetic Principle Review of Hawthorne Twicse-told Tales 2. My Life Closed Twice before Its Close Because I Can t Stop for Death I Heard a Fly Buzz -When I died Mine -by the Right of the White Election Wild Nights -Wild Nights 3. religion -doub

47、t and belief about religious subjects death and immortality love -suffering and frustration caused by love physical aspect of desire nature -kind and cruel free will and human responsibility 4. poems without titles severe economy of expression directness, brevity musical device to create cadence (rh

48、ythm) capital letters -emphasis short poems, mainly two stanzas rhetoric techniques: personification -make some of abstract ideas vivid III. 1. 2. Whitman seems to keep his eye on society at large; Dickinson explores the inner life of the individual. Whereas Whitman is “national ” in his outlook, Di

49、ckinson is “regional Dickinson has the “cataloguetechnique (”direct, simple style) which Whitman doesn t have. Edgar Allen Poe I. II. 1. (2) (3) Life Works short stories (1) a. b. c. (2) a. b. c. (3) a. b. c. IV. 1. Themes death -predominant theme in Poes writing (2) “Poe is not interested in anythi

50、ng alive. Everything in Poe disintegration (separation) of life horror negative thoughts of science Aesthetic ideas The short stories should be of brevity, totality, single effect, compression and finality. The poems should be short, and the aim should be beauty, the tone melancholy. Poems should no

51、t be of moralizing. He calls for pure poetry and stresses rhythm. Style -traditi on al, but not easy to read Reputation: “the jingle man ” (Emerson) His influences Background: From Romanticism to Realism the three conflicts that reached breaking point in this period (1) industrialism vs. agrarian (2

52、) culturely-measured east vs. newly-developed west (3) plantation gentility vs. commercial gentility 1880 s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalism the closing of American frontier Characteristics truthful description of life typical character under typical circumstance objective

53、rather than idealized, close observation and investigation of life “Realistic writers are like scientists. ” open-ending: Life is complex and cannot be fully understood. It leaves much room for readers to concerned with social and psychological problems, revealing the frustrations of characters in a

54、n environment of sordidness and depravity Three Giants in Realistic Period William Dean Howells (1) a. b. c. He condemns novels of sentimentality and morbid self-sacrifice, and avoids such themes as illicit love. Authors should minimize plot and the artificial ordering of the sense of something “des

55、ultory, unfinished, imperfect ”. Characters should have solidity of specification and be real. Interpreting sympathetically the “commonfeelings of commonplace people ”was best suited as a technique to express the spirit of America. He urged writers to winnow tradition and write in keeping with curre

56、nt humanitarian ideals. Truth is the highest beauty, but it includes the view that morality penetrates all things. With regard to literary criticism, Howells felt that the literary critic should not try to impose arbitrary or subjective evaluations on books but should follow the detached scientist i

57、n accurate description, interpretation, and classification. Works2. 3. 4. s writings is dead. IV. 1. 2. V. VI. VII. Chapter 3 The Age of Realism I. 1. 2. 3. II. 1. 2. 3. 4. think by themselves. 5. III. 1. -“ Dean of American Realism ” Realistic principles Realism is “fidelity to experience and proba

58、bility of motive The aim is “talk of some ordinary traits of American life Man in his natural and unaffected dullness was the object of Howells representation. Realism is by no means mere photographic pictures of externals but central concern with “motives ” and psychological conflicts. fisctional d

59、. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. includes a III. The Rise of Silas Lapham A Chance Acquaintance A Modern Instance Features of His Works Optimistic tone Moral development/ethics Lacking of psychological depth Life Literary career: three stages 18651882: international theme The American Daisy Miller The Portrai

60、t of a Lady 18821895: inter-personal relationships and some plays Daisy Miller (play) 18951900: novellas and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence, then back to international theme The Turn of the Screw When Maisie Knew The Ambassadors The Wings of the Dove The Golden Bowl Aesthetic ideas The