英语专业爱默生论文.doc

。AbstractRalph Waldo Emerson (18031882) is an outstanding thinker, writer, lecturer in the United States during the 19th century. His Transcendentalist Individualism was called the most important mundane religion and he was called the representative of the American transcendentalist movement. Emersons Individualism was formed under a certain economic, political and religious background. The thoughts about spirits, personal characters, and self-reliance had much influenced the religion, the culture, the society of America. The core of his thinking is “self-reliance” or “independence”that is cultural national independence for the United States, literarily individual independence for writers and religious independence from the church. As far as literature is concerned, in a broad sense, Emerson places his emphasis on nationalism rather than colonialism, advocating the American literature: typical American content and American style. In a narrow sense, Emerson puts his stress on the individual instead of the group. He asserts that there is a greatness in everybody that needs only to be set free, so every American writer should trust himself, respect himself and write according to his own principles and in his own peculiar way.This thesis is divided into three parts. Chapter one is talking about the general introduction of Emerson. Chapter two explains the main idea of Emerson. Chapter three explains Emersons four steps of Self-Reliance: step one, to disengage oneself from the influence of others opinions; step two, to trust instinct more and reasoned judgment less; step three, to activate some kind of selecting principle within the newly liberated person; and step four, self-reliant action. Emersons idea of self-reliance, leads to the final formation of national literature of America. The profound influence of it could be found in the themes and forms employed by the succeeding American writers such as Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Ralph Elision and so on.Key words: Ralph Waldo Emerson, transcendentalism, self-reliance摘 要拉尔夫沃尔多爱默生(1803-1882)是19世纪美国著名的思想家、演说家和诗人,超验主义的代表人物,其超验个人主义观点被誉为美国世俗宗教,林肯总统称其为“美国精神的先知”。他的超验个人主义思想,是在特定经济、政治和宗教环境下形成的,重视精神、张扬个性、相信人的潜力、主张自助,这些思想对美国的宗教、文化、民主社会都有着深远的影响。他的思想核心就是“自立”,即文化上的民族自立,文学上的个性自强和宗教上“精神至上”。就文学而言,从广义上讲,爱默生强调的是民族的独立,发展具有鲜明民族特色的美国文学,显示地地道道的美国风格。从狭义上讲,爱默生强调的是个性自强,即每一个人,每一个作家,每一位诗人都应该相信自己,尊重自己,有自己的创作法则,有自己独特的写作和鉴赏风格。本文主要分为三部分。第一部分着重介绍爱默生以及他的成就。第二部分主要分析爱默生的主要观点。第三部分主要介绍爱默生提出的人走向“自立”的四个步骤。第一个步骤是要让自己摆脱别人的意见的影响。第二个步骤是要多相信本能直觉，少信任推理判断。第三个步骤是从陈规中解放出来后，要有选择性的激活内心的某种原则。最后一步就是要采取自立的行动。爱默生强调自由的思想促使美国民族意识高涨，使美国文人开始正视自己，正视自己的民族，催化了美国民族文学的最终形成，并且对后世作家的创作主题和形式产生了深远的影响。关键词: 拉尔夫沃尔多爱默生,超验主义,自立CONTENTSI. A Concise Introduction to Emerson11.1 Ralph Waldo Emerson1II. Self-Reliance52.1 General Introduction52.2 Other Viewpoints in Self-Reliance122.3 Influences on American Literature15III. Four Steps toward Self-Reliance173.1 To Disengage Oneself from the Influence of Others Opinions173.2 To Trust Instinct More and Reasoned Judgment Less173.3 To Activate Some Kind of Selecting Principle within the Newly Liberated Person183.4 Self-reliant Action19IV. Conclusion22Bibliography24Acknowledgements26-可编辑修改-I. A Concise Introduction to Emerson 1.1 Ralph Waldo Emerson1.1.1 Biographical Introduction Emerson was the most outstanding American essayist in the 19th century. In 1803, he was born in a clergymans family in Boston and raised by his mother and aunt. At the time when he was born, America was lively but disordered. Some people were aware of the appearance of new power, but nobody could express it clearly and directly. America, from the early 1800s to the Civil War, was a land of paradoxes, a land stirred by spiritual dreams and shaped by the reality of a growing materialism. Materialists demand facts and evidence and insist on the “animal demand of man”; Materialists judge objects by appearance, size, and number: “larger” or “more” means “better” (Abrams, 1986).The age had rejected the ruined promise and stale wisdom it saw in the 18th century rationalism. Americans had sought new liberty and new thoughts in life and art, but the excesses and conflicts of their society had culminated in the bloody Civil War.Emerson entered Harvard University when he was 14 years old. During this period, he read a large number of books about Britain romanticism which enriched his thoughts. Three years later, he graduated from Harvard University and became a teacher for two years. In 1826, he entered seminary of Harvard and formally appointed as a priest in 1829. However, he resigned 3 years later because of two reasons. The first reason was that he was unsatisfied with the dogma. And the other reason was that his wife was died of illness. Then he traveled in Europe and got to know some outstanding writers. He was deeply attracted by romanticism and gradually formed his own transcendentalism. In 1834, he returned to his country and then met his second wife in Concord. In the following time, he published Nature that includes almost all his important thoughts. From that time on, he made addresses everywhere publicly and gradually became a famous scholar in America (Allen, 1981). Emerson liked to hold a small party with his friends and made discussion about theology, philosophy and sociology. At that time, such kind of party was called transcendentalism club. Naturally, Emerson became the leader of transcendentalism and of course he was responsible for bringing transcendentalism to England.1.1.2 Major AchievementsThe attitudes of Emerson were shaped by the New World environment and an array of ideas inherited from the romantic traditions of Europe. A new romanticism had appeared in England in the last years of the 18th century. It spread to continental Europe and then came to America early in the 19th century. It was pluralistic; its manifestations were as varied, as an individualistic, and as conflicting as the cultures and the intellects from which it sprang. Yet romantics frequently shared certain general characteristics: moral enthusiasm, faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception.Emerson collects his speech materials and writes a book called Essays, including Self-reliance, Love, and Friendship and so on. Emersons Essays speaks highly of the man who should trust their own ideas. He advocates that a man should develop the national pride and oppose to follow the others saying. Almost all his speeches have a deep effect on Americas national civilization. In 1837, he published a famous speech which declared that the American literature was distinguished from Britain literature. He is certainly the spokesman of transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered on Ralph Waldo Emerson. Transcendentalists are critics of their contemporary society for its unthinking conformity, and urge that each person find, in Emersons words, “an original relation to the universe” (1903:35).Buell, a minister and Transcendentalist, notes Emersons ability to influence and inspire others:“the brilliant genius of Emerson rose in the winter nights, and hung over Boston, drawing the eyes of ingenuous young people to look up to that great new start, a beauty and a mystery, which charmed for the moment, while gave also perennial inspiration, as it led them forward along new paths, and towards new hopes” (2003:66).Emerson abandons the idea which takes god as the centre. He brings the thought that the man can know the truth by instinct. Then he cries out “Believe Yourself”. His thoughts reflect the advancing spirit of capitalism society. This positive spirit is called as American religion and then it is regarded as the development of national spirit of America (Perkins, 1999). He is the clairvoyant of the American spirit and belongs to America, Emersons ideas and works largely promote the establishment and advancement of American national spirit.Emerson believes that man is a part of absolute good. To later generations, scared by the horrors of the Civil War, his thoughts persuade that humanity is godlike and that evil is nonexistent appeared to be an optimistic folly. Yet Emersons thoughts are powerful expression of the intellectual mood of the age, and the ideas it has represented have remained a strong influence on American spirit. II. Self-Reliance2.1 General IntroductionEmersons works deeply influence readers, especially Self-Reliance, which is from Essays. This prose is written according to a series of speech materials between 1836 and 1837. Self-Reliance is his important work which expresses his idea of transcendentalism. “Believe Yourself” is the centre point of Self-Reliance. Emerson opposes various forms of imitation in the works. He thinks the man should firmly believe that he is excellent at any time. If a man is afraid of public thought, he will possibly lose the innovative ability which is bad for his success.If a person doesnt want to let him or the society down, he must obey the principles in his inner heart, while the people who comply with the tradition, authority or current system means break this principle. The opinions which Emerson expresses in his prose are completely different. At that time, they agree with the American peoples optimistic spirit. Above all, he believes in self-reliance. He reconstructs the common literature images in writing skill and endows the works with new opinions. Self-reliance brings confidence and energy, but not necessarily comfort or joy. Its music is played on an “iron string”. The imagination of selves becoming reliant is played out against the reservation that “we remain acrostics, puzzles to ourselves” (Christy, 1932:16). And the price of the enlightenment must be emotional isolation: making it clear to father, mother, wife, brother, friend, that “I cannot break myself any longer for you”; even “if you are true, but not in the same truth with me, cleave to your companions; I will seek my own” (Spiller, 1971:84). So the Self-Reliance is restrained from aggressive or passive excess partly by its emotional austerity.Self-Reliance, then, rests on a moral philosophy obverse to Kants. Rather than demanding that we act from the self-consciously principled resolve to make universal law, Emerson demands that we act according to how the moral law of our being directs us. “That which I call right or goodness, is the choice of my constitution” (Ibid., 82). This is perhaps the most important difference between Self-Reliance and liberal-capitalist “possessive” individualism, with which George Kate rightly contrasts.Sociologist Richardson Without usefully places Emersons thought in a tradition of “expressive moralist” that opposed “conventional economic assumptions about life” with “a deeper vision of the human spirit” (1995:5). Without further claims that latter-day moral relativism has by no means extinguished this way of thinking: that 90 percent of contemporary Americans identify “trying to do what is morally right” as a major consideration when people make an ethical choice. Even 90 percent of those who define ethics as feeling good agree that “certain values must be regarded as absolutes” (Ibid., 10). Therefore, the moral exactingness of Emerson Self-Reliance may be closer to todays ethics. To the charge that Self-Reliance supports either de-individuation or megalomania, then, Emerson might reply that the case is precisely opposite. It denies both. As a journal passage explains, “The height of Culture, highest behavior, consists in the identification of the Ego with the universe,” yet such a person “shall be able continually to keep sight of his biographical ego,” conquering it “as rhetoric, fun, or footman, to his grand and public ego, without impertinence or ever confounding them” (William, 1960:365).To sum up, self-reliance is a trend of thought or it intends to retrieve a person from the state in which adult people usually act and think according to what is expected of one rather than according to what one most deeply believe. It requires not only impulsive opinion of personal will but also attending to what the “whole man” tells people.It is better to remain at odds with oneself over what choice is right according to the laws of ones nature than to fret about satisfying the peers. The discipline of non-choice protects the individual, at least theoretically, against impetuousness and conformity. The emotional price of loneliness and alienation that self-reliance is compensated for not just by lonely rectitude but also by the trust. Herein lies the promise that self-reliant behavior may make a public contribution beyond whatever it does for you personally. It means to defend individuals against social pressure, but it presupposes that they should not sequester themselves in hermitages or communes. It prescribes not insular withdrawal but more robust coexistence.Self-Reliance obviously presupposes a society open enough to tolerate people bold enough to defy public opinion. He insists that revolution in all the offices and “relations of men” can work “a self-reliant man becomes ashamed of his property, out of now respect for his nature” (Edward, 1903:35). But he does not account on that campaign for collectivization of private property. The later essay on “Politics” suggests that Emerson believes in principle that “the state should wither away with the full moral development of man”; but when he turns his thought to political reform he generally thinks in terms of improving the democratic institutions whose continuation he generally takes for granted. At heart Emerson is not an anarchist, much less a socialist. Self-Reliance theory is toothless or irrelevant as a political critique. It impels one to think thoughts like “Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey the laws too well” (Spiller, 1971:80). Sometimes this could push Emerson toward civil disobedience, especially during the 1850s.2.1.1 SelfEmerson begins his major work on individualism by asserting the importance of thinking for oneself rather than directly accepting other peoples ideas. As in almost all of his work, he promotes individual experience over the knowledge gained from books: “To believe that what is true in your private heart is true for all men that is genius” (1883:1). The person who scorns personal intuition and chooses to rely on others opinions lacks the creative power necessary for the robust and bold individualism. The absence of conviction results not only in different ideas, as this person expects, but also in the acceptance of the same ideas now secondhand thoughts this person initially intuited.Although we might question his characterizing the self-esteemed individual as childlike, Emerson maintains that children provide models of self-reliant behavior because they are too young to be cynical, hesitant, or hypocritical. Emerson once says,“What pretty oracles nature yields us on this text, in the face and behavior of children, babes, and even brutes! That divided and rebel mind, that distrust of a sentiment because our arithmetic has computed the strength and means opposed to our purpose, these have not. Their mind being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered, and when we look in their faces, we are disconcerted. Infancy conforms to nobody; all conform to it, so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of the adults who prattle and play to it. So God has armed youth and puberty and manhood no less with its own piquancy and charm, and made it enviable and gracious and its claims not to be put by, if it will stand by itself.” (1883:3) He draws an analogy between boys and the idealized individual: both are masters of self-reliance because they apply their own standards to all they see, and because their loyalties cannot be coerced. This rebellious individualism contrasts with the attitude of cautious adults, who, because they are overly concerned with reputation, respect, and the opinion of others, are always hesitant or unsure; consequently, adults have great difficulty acting spontaneously or genuinely.2.1.2 Reliance“Trust thyself,” a motto that ties together the essay. To rely on others judgments is cowardly, without inspiration or hope. A person with self-esteem, on the other hand, exhibits originality and is childlike unspoiled by selfish needs. It is to this adventure of self-trust that Emerson invites us: people are to be guides and adventurers, destined to participate in an act of creation modeled on the classical myth of bringing order out of chaos. People should be laborious and rely on themselves. Emerson begins with a directive: “Let a man then know his worth, and keep things under his feet” (1883:16). Material objects, especially those that are imposing Emerson cites magnificent buildings and heroic works of art, including costly books often intimidate people by making them feel of lesser worth. This feeling of inferiority is a mistake: Humans determine the values, not vice versa. Emerson illustrates this point by relating a fable of a drunkard who is brought in off the street and treated like a royal personage; the unthinking individual is like the drunkard, living only half awake, until he comes to his senses by exercising reason and discovers that he is actually a prince.2.1.3 Non-conformismIn his Self-Reliance, Emerson calls for forming our own opinions and standing up for our own beliefs. Emerson ever says, “It is easy in the world to live after the worlds opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is one who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (1883:8). It is important to be a non-c