美国小说发展史
19世纪文学发展第一个高峰浪漫主义小说时期
华盛顿.欧文《纽约外史》第一本有美国人所著，引起世界好评的著作
《见闻札记》
詹姆斯.库珀擅长写站长历史小说，海洋冒险小说，边疆冒险小说
《最后一个莫西干人》《红海盗》《舵手》《猎鹿者》
爱伦.坡美国“怪才”，一生写作70余部小说
心理分析小说《泄密的心》《黑猫》
恐怖小说《厄舍府的倒塌》《红死病的假面具》
侦探小说毛格街血案》、《玛丽·罗杰疑案》、《窃信案》《金甲虫》（杜宾主人公）
霍桑《红字》美国浪漫主义代表作
梅尔维尔《白鲸——莫比迪克》（美国海洋小说）
南北战争时期的废奴文学：浪漫主义向现实主义过渡
斯托夫人《汤姆叔叔的小屋》
批判现实主义文学时期（19世纪中后期）
马克.吐温美国现实主义文学之父
《汤姆.索菲亚历险记》《王子与贫儿》《竞选州长》《百万英镑》
威廉.豪威尔斯《塞拉斯·拉帕姆的发迹》
亨利.詹姆斯《野姑娘》西方现代分析小说开拓者
欧.亨利世界三大短篇小说巨匠之一（欧亨利，莫泊桑，契诃夫）作品结尾往往出人意料
法兰克.诺里斯
此时的美国文学已经开始走向成熟
20世纪初期美国的现状
美国由自由资本主义走向了垄断资本主义，贫富差距逐渐增大。人们的思想复杂化，心里不平衡加剧，对社会的反抗心思日益强烈，对前途的期待和幻想破灭后的绝望
20世纪初年德莱塞的《嘉莉妹妹》为20世纪美国的现实主义文学发展铺平了道路
《嘉莉妹妹》讲述了一个普通打工妹的故事，怀揣美国梦，最终幻想破灭
打破美国浪漫主义文学传统，转向了现实主义文学创作。
杰克.伦敦“北方故事”系列之《热爱生命》（以美国北部荒凉的阿拉斯加为背景，写一批淘金者在严酷的自然环境下，与自然抗争奋力生存的故事。用粗犷质朴的笔
法，描写奇异荒凉的自然景色，塑造了一群不愿在城市里生活，诚挚的将
自己投入到自然之中的淘金者形象。）
“南方故事”系列之《野性的呼唤》（巴克原是南部法官家的一条狗，
多年的优裕生活造就了巴克的优雅温驯。巴克命运的转折点在于他被
法官家的工人偷偷以一百元的价格卖给了一个狗贩，并被辗转送往了
北部的阿拉斯加，被淘金者用作运输工具。巴克从温和舒适的南方来
到荒凉野蛮的北方，他亲眼目睹北部人与人，狗与狗之间的生存斗争，
领悟到了弱肉强食的生存道理。他开始变得只顾生存不求道义，变得
凶残，野蛮，狡猾。祖先的本性在巴克身上一点点的展现出来。后来，
他打败狗群原来的首领，成为新的首领。在一个月夜，远处的森林传
来狼的呼唤，巴克跑向森林深处，带领一群狼开始了荒原生活。）《马丁伊登》（讲述了一个美国艺术家追寻美国梦最后幻想破灭最终自杀结局的悲惨故事）
1902-1912十年间的揭丑派运动
以额普顿辛克莱的《屠场》的黑幕报导小说，深化了美国现实主义文学的发展。这些作家被称为
“MUCK-RACKERS”耙粪的人，又称为黑幕报导者。
20世纪20年代美国“第二次文艺复兴”美国小说史上最光辉灿烂的一章
1914-1918年的第一次世界大战，深刻的影响了美国社会，尤其是对青年人的冲击极为剧烈。一战后的十年，是美国青年历史上“爵士的一代”，他们对战争对社会怀有仇恨心理，对美好未来的幻灭感充斥内心。
（1）战争小说
多斯帕索斯《三个士兵》康明斯《巨大的房间》海明威《永别了，武器》
战争题材的小说拓宽了美国文学作品中的人物形象，不再局限于南部小镇上的
人们，而是塑造了一群士兵形象。
（2）反映战争对人的精神创伤，表现一代人悲观失望情绪的小说
菲茨杰拉德《了不起的盖茨比》
海明威《太阳照常升起》
福克纳《士兵的报酬》（战争给士兵带来的精神创伤）
这些小说反映了战争之后，人际关系的倾斜，传统价值观念的错误，其原因在
于人们现实生活变得颓废。
（3）揭示战后资本主义经济繁荣过程中人们对“美国梦”的追求与失落后的绝望。
展现工业化洪流对小城镇的冲击，大城市的矛盾加剧，塑造了一批小资产者的
形象。
辛克莱路易斯《大街》（20世纪美国社会的缩影，物质生活的优裕与精神生活的
空虚，新兴小资产阶级的恶习）《巴比特》（展现美国社会风习的丑恶与资产阶
级的市侩）
德莱塞《天使望故乡》（描写青年一代人由幼稚走向成熟的过程）
吸收西方现代主义文学技巧的文学创作
福克纳《喧哗与骚动》（用典型的西方意识流创作手法，用跳跃式的情节结构来描写西方贵族阶级的崩溃）
美国文学历史
一、殖民时期以前
1.在两万多年前, 有一批来自亚洲的流浪者,经由北美到中南美洲,这些人就是印第安人的祖先。
2.大约1万年前, 又有另一批亚洲人, 移居到北美北部, 这是后来的爱斯基摩人。
3.最早到美洲的白种人大概是维京人, 他们是一群喜好冒险的捕渔人。
4.1492年10月12日哥伦布发现美洲大陆（十五世纪）。
?二、殖民地时期（1607～1753）
1.一个102人的殖民团体, 在乞沙比克海滩建立了詹姆士镇, 这是英国在北美所建的第一个永久性殖民地。（五月花号公约）
2.每逢11月第四个星期四，美国人民便迎来了自己最重要的传统民俗节日——感恩节。
3.18世纪中叶, 13个英国殖民地逐渐形成, 他们在英国的最高主权下有各自的政府和议会. 这13个殖民区因气候和地理环境的差异, 造成了各地经济形态、政治制度与观念上的差别。
?感恩节的由来要一直追溯到美国历史的发端。1620年，著名的“五月花号”船满
载不堪忍受英国国内宗教迫害的清教徒102人到达美洲。1620年和1621年之交的冬天，他们遇到了难以想像的困难，处在饥寒交迫之中，冬天过后，活下来的移民只剩50来人。基于“来者是客”的信念与习俗，印第安人给这些移民送来了生活必需品，并且教导他们狩猎、捕鱼和种植玉米、南瓜等等生存方法。
?在印第安人的帮助下，来自欧陆的新移民逐渐习惯了在当地的生存方式。在欢庆丰
收的日子，欧陆新移民邀请印第安人一同感谢上天的赐予。许多人认为，美国第一个感恩节就是印第安人与新移民第一次齐聚感谢上天赐予的那一天。
?今天，在美国人心目中，感恩节是比圣诞节还要重要的节日。首先，它是一个长达
4 天的假日，足以使人们尽情狂欢、庆祝。其次，它也是传统的家庭团聚的日子。
感恩节期间，散居在他乡外地的家人，都要赶回家过节，这已经成了全国性的习俗。
此外，美国人一年中最重视的一餐，就是感恩节的晚宴。在美国这个生活节奏很快，竞争激烈的国度里，平日的饮食极为简单。美国的快餐流行世界，就是一个很好的说明。但在感恩节的夜晚，家家户户都大办筵席，物品之丰盛，令人咋舌。在节日的餐桌上，上至总统，下至庶民，火鸡和南瓜饼都是必备的。这两味“珍品”体现了美国人民忆及先民开拓艰难、追思第一个感恩节的怀旧情绪。因此，感恩节也被称为“火鸡节”。
?三、独立运动（18世纪）
?1776年7月4日（美国国庆日），英国签署《独立宣言》（Declaration of Independence）。在美洲的殖民地与英国之间, 已有了裂痕. 殖民地的扩张, 使他们产生某种自觉, 自觉到英国的迫害, 而萌生独立的念头.
?1774年, 来自12州的代表, 聚集在费城, 召开所谓第一次大陆会议, 希望能寻出一
条合理的途径, 与英国和平解决问题, 然而英王却坚持殖民地必须无条件臣服于英王, 并接受处分.
?1775年, 在麻州（马萨诸塞州）点燃战火, 5月, 召开第二次大陆会议, 坚定了战争
与独立的决心, 并发表有名的独立宣言, 提出充分的理由来打这场仗, 这也是最后致胜的要素.
?1781年, 美军赢得了决定性的胜利,
?1783年, 美英签定巴黎条约, 结束了独立战争。
?《独立宣言》由四部分组成：第一部分为前言，阐述了宣言的目的。第二部分高度
概括了当时资产阶级最激进的政治思想，即自然权利学说和主权在民思想。第三部分历数英国压迫北美殖民地人民的条条罪状，说明殖民地人民是在忍无可忍的情况下被迫拿起武器的。宣言的最后一部分庄严宣告独立。
?四、新政府成立（建国）
18世纪末
?美利坚合众国宪法(The Constitution of the
United States)，又称为美国宪法（U.S.
Constitution）。美国宪法是世界上第一部成文
宪法。1787年5月，美国各州（当时为13个）代表
在费城(Philadelphia)召开制宪会议，同年9月15
日制宪会议通过《美利坚合众国宪法》。1789年3
月4日，该宪法正式生效。后又附加了27条宪法修
正案。依据第一部宪法，乔治.华盛顿被选举为美
国第一任总统。
?美国宪法的序言只有一句话，由52个单词构成。
我们合众国人民，为建立更完善的联盟，树立正义，保障国内安宁，提供共同防务，促进公共福利，并使我们自己和后代得享自由的幸福，特为美利坚合众国制定本宪法。
?孟德斯鸠的均权政治学说
即政府中设置三个平等合作与制衡的部门, 即立法、行政、司法三种权力相互调和, 制衡而不使任何一权占控制地位。
?五、西进运动
（18世纪末-20世纪初）
?西进运动（Westward Movement）是美国人民由北美东部向西部地区开发、移居的
过程。它始自美国建国后，当初移民越过阿巴拉契亚山脉，进入密西西比河以东地区，从19世纪20年代起，移民开始越过密西西比河，进入美国新扩张的地区，40年代，加利福尼亚发现金矿，形成移民的“加利福尼亚热”。1857年第一次世界性经济危机发生，美国东部地区大批工人面临失业，大量饥民在全国流浪，许多人满怀对土地的渴望涌向西部。1862年，林肯政府颁布了《宅地法》，将西进运动推向新高潮。19世纪末20世纪初，西进运动结束。
运动本质：
?是一个不断向西部移民、扩张领土的过程
?是一个经济开发过程
?是美国工业革命所独具的特点
?是美国人民艰苦创业的过程
?也是驱杀土著居民印第安人的运动
?1852年一本震撼世界的巨著——美国女作家哈丽特·比彻·斯托的《汤姆叔叔的小
屋》出版了。刚出版即被迫加版再印，阅者边读边拭泪，旁听者边听也鼻酸。这本书的出版让北方的人民知道奴隶们的辛酸血泪，加速了“废奴令”的颁布。
?
六、南北战争（美国内战）
（1861～1865）
?南北战争（American Civil War）是美国历史上一场大规模的内战，参战双方为美
利坚合众国（简称联邦即北方）和美利坚联盟国（简称邦联即南方）。这场战争的起因为美国南部十一州以亚伯拉罕·林肯于1861年就任总统为由而陆续退出联邦，另成立以杰斐逊·戴维斯为“总统”的政府，并驱逐驻扎南方的联邦军，而林肯下令攻打“叛乱”州。此战不但改变当日美国的政经情势，导致奴隶制度在美国南方被最终废除，美国统一。
?美国独立后，南方和北方沿着两条不同的道路发展。在北方，资本主义经济发展迅
速，从19世纪20年代起，北部和中部各州开始了工业革命，到50年代完成。
?1860年，北方工业生产居世界第四位，总产值达18．8亿美元。而在南方，则实行
的是种植园黑人奴隶制度，南方1860年已有黑人奴隶400万人。南方奴隶制度是生长在美国社会的赘瘤，它严重窒息了北方工商业的发展。
?南北矛盾和斗争自19世纪起日趋激烈。斗争主要围绕西部土地展开。北方要求在西
部地区发展资本主义，限制甚至禁止奴隶制度的扩大；南方则力图在西部甚至全国扩展奴隶制度。双方矛盾到19世纪50年代在局部地区已酿成武装冲突。在奴隶主的进逼面前，北方人民发起了声势浩大的“废奴运动”，南方黑奴也不断展开暴动。
在人民斗争的推动下，北方资产阶级开始主张废除奴隶制度。
?1854年共和党成立，1860年，反对奴隶制的共和党人林肯当选为总统，这预示了奴
隶制度的末日。于是，南方7州退出联邦，1861年2月建立了一个新“国家”——“美利坚诸州联盟”，定都里士满。4月12日，南方军队炮击并于14日占领了联邦军的萨姆特要塞，挑起了内战（又称“南北战争”）。
?美国南北战争是美国历史上第二次资产阶级革命，它粉碎了美国政治和社会发展中
的最大障碍——奴隶制度，从而使美国在最短的时间内繁荣起来，成为最大的资本主义国家。
?参战方
美利坚合众国（联邦即北方）美利坚联盟国（邦联即南方）
?指挥官
亚伯拉罕·林肯杰佛逊·戴维斯
尤里西斯·格兰特罗伯特·李
?兵力
2,200,000人1,064,000人
?伤亡
总死亡人数360,000人总死亡人258,000人，
110,000人阵亡(作战死亡) 93,000人阵亡(作战死亡)，
275,200人受伤137,000人受伤
?讨论问题：
?为什么在中国不能形成三权分立的政治格局？
?与南北战争相关的电影
?《爱国者》《头号潜艇》
?《冷山》《美国往事》
?《乱世佳人》
?《荒野之战》
?《与魔鬼共骑》
?《盖茨堡之役/美国战火》
?《众神与将军》
?影片在美国独立战争中的一些真实历史事件的基础上进行了艺术加工，其中男主人
公本杰明·马丁以及他的儿子等人物都在历史上却有其人。梅尔·吉卜森在片中饰演男主角本杰明·马丁，一个美国独立战争期间的英雄，早期曾经为殖民扩张而战，后来对战争产生了厌恶，直到轰轰烈烈的美国独立战争的战火烧到了家门口，才逼他又投身到了美国人民追求自由和民主的斗争中。梅尔·吉卜森自己透露，原来他父亲早年也是个反战份子，因打过仗深知战争的惨烈，所以为了避免梅尔吉勃逊卷入越战，才举家迁往澳大利亚，因此在诠释这一角色时自然有切身的体会。
?历史背景
?自从17世纪起，英国步西班牙的后尘，开始在北美大陆上建立自己的殖民地，到
1733年为止，他们总共在这里建立了13个殖民地。这些殖民地的人民大多数是来自英国的移民。其中除了少数是地主贵族和特权商人之外，大部分人是下层劳动人民。他们来到这里有的的是为了逃避本国的政治迫害或天灾人祸，有的则是为了追求信仰的自由和美好的生活。还有不少人则是怀着淘金梦来到这块处女地的。由汤姆·克鲁斯夫妇主演的影片《大地雄心》就是反映了当时的这段历史，如果想对此有更多的了解，可以从看看这部影片开始。
?英国统治者在北美经营大片的殖民地，其目的是为了将殖民地变为他们榨取和掠
夺的对象，因此他们采取了一系列的措施保证英国的经济利益，这样对于殖民地的人民来说，尽管同是欧洲白人，但在经济利益上不免会产生对立。各个殖民地上都产生了议会，在制度上不断完善，用以和英国殖民统治当局作斗争。
Ezra Pound (埃兹拉?庞德) In a Station of the Metro The apparition of these faces in the crowd;人群中这些面孔幽灵般闪现Petals on a wet,black bough.湿漉漉的黑色枝条上的众多花瓣 1. Why does the poet call the faces of pedestrians "apparition"? These pedestrians are all walking in a hurry amidst the drizzling rain. 2.What do "petals" and "bough" stand for? Petals refer to the faces while the bough stands for the floating crowd. Robert Frost (1)Fire and Ice Some say the world will end in fire,有人说世界将终结于火, Some say in ice.有人说是冰。 From what I’ve tasted of desire，从我尝过的欲望之果 I hold with those who favor fire.我赞同倾向于火之说。 But if it had to perish twice,但若它非得两度沉沦 I think I know enough of hate.我想我对仇恨了解也够多 To know that for destruction ice可以说要是去毁灭,
一．The Literature of Colonial America(Puritanism) 1.The first English colony: Jamestown in Virginia in 1607 2.The first American writer: John Smith 3.Anne Bradstreet: first American woman poet; a Puritan poet; once called “Tenth Muse”; 二．Literature of Reason and Revolution War of Independence (1775-1783);The French and Indian War / the Seven Y ears’War(1756-1763) 1..Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography; Richard’s Almanac Maxims from Poor Richard’s Almanac (proverbs that give practical wisdom) 2..Thomas Paine (1737-1809): Common Sense: a strong push for the Revolution W ar; four parts (British enslavement of the colonies; praising democratic election; America’s economic and military potential to protect the rights of people) 3..Philip Freneau (1752-1832) The first American-born poet;“Poet of the American Revolution”, “Father of American Poetry”, the most significant poet of 18th century America W orks:The Wild Honey Suckle《野忍冬花》on mortality, The Indian Burying Ground 《印第安人殡葬地》on the imagined afterlife, The British Prison Ship《英国囚船》about his imprisoned experience. 三．Romanticism The American Romantic period is considered one of the most important periods, the first literary Renaissance, in the history of American literature. It stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil W ar. It started with the publication of W ashington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. 1.Washington Irving (1783-1859) Literary status: the first American to earn an international reputation; Father of the American short stories The Sketch Book: winning him international popularity，the first modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature. Major works: A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty under the name of “Diedrich Knickerbocker
美国文学史常耀信版 很有用的哦！ 2008-08-10 22:02 阅读206 评论0 字号：大中小 美国文学史常耀信版 美国文学 Part 1. Colonial America浪漫主义American Romanticism(1815-1865) 早期浪漫主义early romanticism——Irving欧文, Cooper库柏, Bryant布莱恩特 先验主义transcendentalism and symbolic representation——Emerson 爱默森，Margaret Fuller玛格丽特福勒，Thoreau 梭罗 三位重要的小说家——Hawthorne 霍桑，Melville 梅尔维尔，Poe 坡 二位重要的诗人——Whitman 惠特曼，Dickinson 狄更生 现实主义American Realism（1865-1914） 带有地方色彩的写作local color writing——Mark Twain马克吐温 现实主义literary realism——James 詹姆士，Howells 豪斯尔斯 自然主义literary naturalism——Garland 加兰特，Grane 格雷恩，Frank Norris 弗兰克诺里斯，Jack London 杰克伦敦，Theodore Dreiser 西奥多德莱塞 现代主义American Modernism(1914-1945) 现代主义在欧洲American modernism in Europe——Gerturde Stein 格特鲁德斯坦因，Ezra Pound 艾兹拉庞德，Amy Lowell 艾米洛威尔，H.D.(Hilda Doolittle) 杜丽埃尔 战时的现代派小说modern fiction between the wars——William Faulkner 威廉福克纳，Hemingway 海明威，Fitzgerald 费兹杰罗，Passos 帕索斯，Steinbeck 斯坦贝克 现代派诗歌modern American poetry——T.S. Eliot 艾略特，Wallace Stevens 史蒂文斯，William Carols Williams 威廉姆斯，卡明斯 Thomas Paine托马斯?潘恩1737-1809 The Case of the Officers of Excise税务员问题；Common Sense常识；American Crisis美国危机；Rights of Man人的权利：Downfall of Despotism专制体制的崩溃；The Age of Reason理性时代 Philip Freneau菲利普?弗伦诺1752-1832 The Rising Glory of America蒸蒸日上的美洲；The British Prison Ship英国囚船；To the Memory of the Brave Americans 纪念美国勇士-----同类诗中最佳；The Wild Honeysuckle野生的金银花；The Indian Burying Ground印第安人殡葬地 Jonathan Edwards The Freedom of the Will The Great Doctrine of Original Sin defended The Nature of True Virtue Benjamin Franklin本杰明?富兰克林1706-1790 A Modest Inquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Moneyoor Richard’s Almanack穷查理历书；The Way to Wealth致富之道；The Autobiography自传 Part 2. American Romanticism Washington Irving华盛顿?欧文1783-1859 A History of New York纽约的历史-----美国人写的第一部诙谐文学杰作；The Sketch Book见闻札记The Legend of Sleepy Hollow睡谷的传说-----使之成为美国第一个获得国际声誉的作家；
一 I heard the merry grasshopper then sing, The black-clad cricket bear a second part, They kept one tune, and played on the same string, Seeming to glory in their little art. Shall creatures abject thus their voices raise? And in their kind resound their maker’s praise, Whilst I, as mute, can warble forth no higher lays? “Under the cooling shadow of a stately Elm, Close state I by a goodly River’s side, Where gliding streams the Rocks did overwhelm; A lonely place with pleasures dignifi’d. I once that lov’d the shady woods so well, Now thought the rivers did the trees excel, And if the sun would ever shine there would I dwell. “While musing thus with contemplation fed, And thousand fancies buzzing in my brain, The sweet tongu’d Philomel percht o’er my head, And chanted forth a most melodious strain, Which rapt me so with wonder and delight, I judg’d my hearing better than my sight. 题目：the 9th of Contemplations 作者：Anne Bradstreet 赏析： 1. Rhyme royal: sevenline iambic petametre 七行五步抑扬格 2. Rhyme: ababccc 3. Theme: religion 4. 象征：black-clad=death; abject=admitting defeat; maker= god 5. A genuine expression of poetic feeling in the presence of nature. The poem offers the reader an insight into the mentality of the early Puritan pioneering in a new world. The poet heard the grasshopper and the cricket sing, and she searched for her own soul accordingly. 6. She saw sth metaphysical inhering in the physical, a mode of perception which was singularly Puritan 二 It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my care was employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous was not sufficient to prevent our slipping and that the contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct. For this purpose I therefore contrived the following method. In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had met with in my reading, I found the catalog more or less numerous, as different writers included more or fewer ideas under the same name. Temperance, for example, was by some confined to eating and drinking, while by others it was extended to mean the moderating every other pleasure, appetite, inclination, or
美国文学期末考试复习必备（精） 1. What’s Puritanism? A religious and political movement which appeals to the right of the individual to political & religious independence. It includes three parts: a code of values, a point of view & a philosophy of life 2. What are the basic Puritan beliefs? 1). Total Depravity 2). Unconditional Election 3). Limited Atonement 4). Irresistible Grace 5). Perseverance of the "saints" 3. What are American Puritan values? Sobriety thrift, Self-reliance Diligence, Struggle, simple tastes 4. What are the features of American literature in the Colonial Period? A. Humble origins: diaries, journals, histories, letters. Its various forms, occupy a major position in the literature of the early colonial period. B. in content: serving either god or colonial expansion or both C. in form: imitating English literary traditions. D. in style: tight and logic structure, precise and compact expression, avoidance of rhetorical decoration, adoption of homely imagery and simplicity of diction. E. Symbolism formed in this period ------To the pious Puritan, the physical, phenomenal world was nothing but a symbol of God. F. Simple, fresh and direct style
仅作参考，最主要还是要自己消化，整理 Chapter 1 Colonial Period 1. Puritanism: American puritans accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. 2. Influence (1) A group of good qualities – hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety (serious and thoughtful) influenced American literature. (2) It led to the everlasting myth. All literature is based on a myth – garden of Eden. (3) Symbolism: the American puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception was chi efly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American. (4) With regard to their writing, the style 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. II. Overview of the literature 1. types of writing diaries, histories, journals, letters, travel books, autobiographies/biographies, sermons 2. writers of colonial period (1) Anne Bradstreet (2) Edward Taylor III. Benjamin Franklin 1. life 2. works (1) Poor Richard’s Almanac (2) Autobiography 3. contribution (1) He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the American Philosophical Society. (2) He was called “the new Prometheus who had stolen fire (electricity in this case) from heaven”. (3) Everything seems to meet in this one man –“Jack of all trades”. Herman Melville thus described him “master of each and mastered by none”. Chapter 2 American Romanticism Section 1 Early Romantic Period I. American Romanticism 1. Background (1) Political background and economic development (2) Romantic movement in European countries Derivative – foreign influence 2. features (1) American romanticism was in essence the expression of “a real new experience and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that “the spirit of the place” was radically new and alien. (2) There is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider. American romantic authors tended more to moralize. Many American romantic writings intended to edify more than they entertained. (3) The “newness” of Americans as a nation is in connection with Am erican Romanticism. (4) As a logical result of the foreign and native factors at work, American romanticism was both imitative and independent. II. Washington Irving: Father of American Literature 1. 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 2. life 3. works (1) A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty (2) The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (He won a measure of international recognition with the publication of this.) (3) The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (4) A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada (5) The Alhambra 4. Literary career: two parts (1) 1809~1832
名词解释： Imagism: It’s a poetic movement of England and the U.S. flourished from 1909 to 1917.The movement insists on the creation of images in poetry by “the direct treatment of the thing” and the economy of wording. The leaders of this movement were Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell. Beat generation: The term was coined by Jack Kerouac in 1948 to refer to a group of disillusioned writers following World War Two. Later, this literary and cultural movement continued into the 1960s. The Beat Generation must not be confused with the Lost Generation of writers. Spokesmen and representatives of the Beat Generation were Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and others. They revolted against an America that was materialistic, belligerent and frustrating. Social, intellectual and sexual freedom was advocated. Traditional culture and normal social behavior were attacked and violated. Many of them were drug addicts wearing long hair and dirty clothes. They were fond of slangs and jazz. Masterpieces created by writers of this g roup include Kerouac’s On the Road and Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems, which were regarded as pocket Bibles of that generation. Other prominent Beats include William S. Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Michael McClure, and Neal Cassady. The Beat Generation, had greatly influenced the countercultural movements of the 1960s and the adolescents and adults in other countries. In England, the “angry young men” made an echo and imitated the American “beatnik.” 二、1. Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nature: it is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism. The American Scholar:it has been regarded as “America’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence”. 2. Henry David Thoreau: Walden 3. Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter: 主题：Hawthorne focuses his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects or consequences of the sin on the people in general and those main characters in particular, so as to show us the tension between society and individuals. To Hawthorne, everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is therefore indispensable for the improvement of human nature. 4. Herman Melville: Moby Dick A. 作品分析： （1）Moby Dick represents the sum total of Melville’s bleak view of the world in which he lived. It is at once godless and purposeless. The loss of faith and the sense of futility and meaningless which characterize modern life of the West were expresse d in Melville’s work so well that the twentieth century has found it both fascinating and great. (2) One of the major themes of this novel is alienation, which exists in the life of Melville on different levels, between man and man, man and society, and man and nature. Melville also criticizes New England Transcendentalism of its emphasis on individualism and Oversoul. Another theme of this novel is “rejection and quest.” (3) The novel is highly symbolic. The voyage itself is a metaphor for “search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experience.” Moby Dick is the most conspicuous symbol in the book and it is capable of many interpretations. It is a symbol of evil to some, one of goodness to others, and both to still others. Its whiteness is a paradoxical color, signifying as it does death and corruption as well as purity, innocence, and youth. It represents the final mystery of the universe which man will do well to desist from pursuing. (4) Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple views of his narratives. He tends to write periodic sentences. His rich rhythmical prose and his poetic power have been profusely commented upon and praised. B. what does the white whale in Moby Dick symbolize? Why do you think so? For Captain Ahab, the white whale represents evil. After the loss of his leg in his encounter with the white whale, Ahab begins to hate Moby Dick and tries his best to kill the whale. It seems that he embodies all of the evil he once consigned to the white whale. For other members on the whaling ship, the white whale symbolizes the unknown, mysterious natural force of the universe. For the readers, the white whale is capable of many interpretations, for it is “paradoxically benign an d malevolent, nourishing and destructive,” “massive, brutal, monolithic, but at the same time protean, erotically beautiful, infinitely variable.” C. Major themes: obsession, religion, and idealism versus pragmatism, revenge, racism, sanity, hierarchical relationships, and politics. D. the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becomes a search for truth. Moby Dick is a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe, and the voyage of the mind will forever remain a search, not a discovery, of the truth. The whole story turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into man’s deep reality and psychology. 5. Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass.It has been praised as “Democ ratic Bible”, and as American Epic. 主题：(1)he shows concern for the whole hard-working people and the burgeoning life of cities. (2) realization of the individual value. (3) pursuit of love and happiness. (4) Before and during the Civil War, Whitman expressed much mourning for the sufferings of the young lives in the battlefield and showed a determination to carry on the fighting dauntlessly until the final victory. 写作风格：(1) Whitman wrote “free verse”, that is, poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme. (2) There is a strong sense of the poems being rhythmical. Parallelism and phonetic recurrence at the beginning of the lines contribute to the musicality of his poems. (3) Most of the pictures he painted with words are honest, undistorted images of different aspects of America of the day. (4) Whitman’s language is relatively simple and even rather crude. Another characteristic in Whitman’s language is his strong tendency to use oral English. Whitman’s vocabulary is amazing. He would use powerful, colorful, as well as rarely-used words. Leaves of Grass的分析： (1). Grass, the most common thing with the greatest vitality, is an image of the poet himself, a symbol of the then rising American nation and an embodiment of his ideals about democracy and freedom. (2). In this giant work, openness, freedom, and above all, individualism are all that concerned him. (3). In this book he also praises nature, democracy, labor and creation, and sings of man’s dignity and equality, and of th e brightest future of mankind. Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass sing of the “en-masse” and self as well. 6. Emily Dickinson: 诗歌的主要内容：love, nature, death and immortality. 7. Edgar Allen Poe: 短篇小说家和诗人。 Poe is the father of psychoanalytic criticism and the father of detective story. 主题：death of one’s beloved lover of great intelligence and beauty. He also writes about horror (Gothic) stories, murder, and insanity. 8. Henry James: The turn of the screw The founder of psychological realism. He was the first American writer to conceive his artistic work in international themes. 9. Mark Twain:The adventures of Huckleberry Finn Hemingway described it as the book from which “all modern American literature comes”. The style of this book is quite simple. The book is written in the colloquial style. Though a local book, it touches upon the human situation in a general, indeed universal way: humanitarianism ultimately triumphs. It tells a story about the United States before the Civil War, around 1850, when the great Mississippi Valley was still being settled. Here lies an America, wit its great national faults, full of violence and even cruelty, yet still retaining the virtues of “some simplicity, some innocence, some peace.” 10. Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser: 自然主义的代表人物。 11. F. Scott Fitzgerald:The Great Gatsby 迷惘一代的代表人物 12. Ernest Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms; For Whom the Bell Tolls; The Old Man and the Sea The title of For Whom the Bell Tolls comes from John Donne’s Meditation. 13. William Faulkner: stream of consciousness的写作手法 14. Ezra Pound: 意象派代表人物。 意象派基本主张： (1) Direct treatment of the “thing”, whether subjective or objective. (2) To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation (3) As regarding rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of a metronome. 15. Robert Frost: natural poet. 16. Eugene Glastone O’Neill: Desire Under the Elms Long Days Journey into Night: Mark Twain H. L. Mencken considered "the true father of our national literatu re” Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(1884) and Life on the Mississippi(1883) Twain shaped the world's view of American and made a more extensive combination of American folk humor and serious literature than previous writers had ever done. Mark Twain’s sty le 1) Twain is also known as a local colorist, who preferred to present social life through portraits of the local characters of his regions 2) Another fact that made Twain unique is his magic power with language, his use of vernacular. His words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect, and his sentence structures are simple, even ungrammatical, which is typical of the spoken language 3) Mark Twain's humor is remarkable, too. Most of his works tend to be funny, containing some practical jokes, comic details, witty remarks. 4) Paid more attention to the "life" of the Americans, Concerned with the life of a small, well-defined region and the lower-class people 5) Nostalgic in a vanishing way of life and recorders of a present that faded before their eyes Adventures of Huckleberry Fin The character analysis and social meaning of Huck Finn Huck is a typical American boy with “a sound heart and a deformed conscience”. He appears to be vulgar in language and in manner, but he is honest and decent in es sence. His remarkable raft’s journey down on the Mississippi river can be regarded as his process of education and his way to grow up. Huck is the son of nature and a symbol for freedom and earthly pragmatism. Through the eye of Huck, the innocent and reluctant rebel, we see the pre-Civil War American society fully exposed. Twain contrasts the life on the river and the life on the banks, the innocence and the experience, the nature and the culture, the wilderness and the civilization. Ernest Hemingway A Nobel Prize winner for literature His style, the particular type of hero in his novels, and his life attitudes have been widely recognized, not only in English-speaking countries but all over the world Hemingway shot himself with a hunting gun In Our Time (1925)is the first book to present a Hemingway hero--Nick Adams The Sun Also Rises(1926) is Hemingway's first true novel. A vivid portrait of "The Lost Generation," -- a group of young Americans who left their native land and fought in the war and later engaged themselves in writing in a new way about their own experiences. Hemingway's second big success is A Farewell to Arms, telling us a story about the tragic love affair of a wounded American soldier with a British nurse -- emphasizes his belief that man is trapped both physically and mentally, but goes to some lengths to refute the idea of nature, man is doomed to be entrapped For Whom the Bell Tolls clearly represents a new beginning in Hemingway's career as a writer, which concerns a volunteer American guerrilla Robert Jordan fighting in the Spanish Civil War, this work Caps his career and leads to his receipt of the Nobel Prize The Old Man and the Sea, Men Without Women(1927), Death in the Afternoon(1932), The Snows of Kilimanjaro, To Have and Have Not (1937) Hemingway develops the style of colloquialism initiated by Mark Twain Hemingway was highly praised by the Nobel Prize Committee for "his powerful style-forming mastery of the art" of creating modern fiction. Indian Camp The title indicates that the material is contemporary and to some extent, representative of the early twentieth-century experience A reference to the well-know phrase from the Book of Common Prayer:" Give us peace in our time, O Lord," the title is very ironic because there is no peace at all in the stories In a chronological order, introduces Nick Adams to readers from his childhood to adolescence and manhood Nick watches his father deliver an Indian woman of a baby by Caesarian section, with a Jack-knife and without anesthesia. This incident brings the boy into contact with something that is perplexing and unpleasant, and is actually Nick's initiation into the pain and violence of birth and death. Most of Hemingway's later works are merely variations of the Nick Adams stories in In Our Time The Hemingway code heroes and grace under pressure They have seen the cold world, and for one cause, they boldly and courageously face the reality. They have an indestructible spirit for his optimistic view of life. Whatever the result is, they are ready to live with grace under pressure. No matter how tragic the ending is, they will never be defeated. Finally, they will be prevailing because of their indestructible spirit and courage. The iceberg technique Hemingway believes that a good writer does not need to reveal every detail of a character or action. The one-eighth is presented will suggest all other meaningful dimensions of the story. Thus, Hemingway’s language is symbolic and suggestive.