美国文学-1.-Romantic

第一章第一章 美国浪漫主义时期美国浪漫主义时期 一 美国浪漫主义时期概述一 美国浪漫主义时期概述 本章学习目的和要求 通 过本章学习 了解 世纪初期至中叶美国文学产生的历史 文化背景 认识该时期文学创作的基本待征 基本主张 及其对同时代和后期美国文学的 影响 了解该 时期主要作家的文学创作生涯 创作思想 艺术特色及其代表作 品的主题思想 人物刻画 语言风格等 同时结合注释 读懂所选作品并了解 其思想内容和艺术特 色 培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力 本章重点及难点 1 浪漫主义时期美国文学的特点 2 主要作家的创作思想 艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构 人物刻画 语言风格 思想意义 3 分析讨论选读作品 本章考核知识点和考核要求 1 美国浪漫主义时期概述 1 识记 内容 美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景 2 领会 内容 美国浪漫主义在文学上的表现 a 欧洲浪漫主义文学的影响 b 美国本土文学的崛起及其待证 3 应用 内容 清教主义 超验主义 象征主义 自由诗等名词的解释 2 美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家 华盛顿 华盛顿 欧文欧文 1 一般识记 欧文的生平及创作主涯 2 识记 纽约外史 见闻札记 3 领会 欧文的创作领域 创作思想 及其作品的艺术风格 4 应用 选读 瑞普 凡 温可尔 的主题及其艺术特色 拉尔夫 拉尔夫 华尔多华尔多 爱默生爱默生 1 一般识记 爱默生的生平及创作生涯 2 识记 爱默生的超验主义思想 3 领会 1 爱默生的散文 论自然 论自助 论美国学者 等 2 爱默生与梭罗 梭罗的超验主义思想和他的 沃尔登 4 应用 论自然 节选 爱默生的基本哲 学思想及自然观 纳撒尼尔 纳撒尼尔 霍桑霍桑 1 一般识记 霍桑的生平及创作主涯 2 识记 霍桑的长短篇小说 3 领会 1 红字 的主题 心理描写 象征手法和 小说结构 2 霍桑的清教主义思想及加尔文教条中的 原罪 对霍桑的影响 人性本 恶的观点 3 霍桑对浪漫主义小说的贡献 4 应用 选读 小伙子布朗 的主题结构 象征手法及语言特色 华尔特 华尔特 惠特曼惠特曼 1 一般识记 惠特曼的生平及其创作生涯 2 识记 惠特曼的民主思想 3 领会 1 惠特曼的 草叶集 的主创意图 思想感情及诗体形式 语言风格 2 惠特曼的个人主义 4 应用 选读 草叶集 诗选 一个孩子的成长 涉水的骑兵 自己 之歌 的主题结构 诗歌的艺术特色 语言风格 赫尔曼 赫尔曼 麦尔维尔麦尔维尔 1 一般识记 麦尔维尔的生平及创作生涯 2 识记 麦尔维尔的早期作品 玛地 雷得本 白外衣 后期作品 皮埃尔 骗子的化装表演 比利伯德 等 3 领会 白鲸 的 1 主题 表层及深层意义 2 小说结构 浪漫主义和现实主义的统一 3 象征手法和寓言的运用 4 语言特色 4 应用 选读 白鲸 最后一章的节选 主题思想 人物刻画 象征手法 语言特色 ChapterChapter l l TheThe RomanticRomantic PeriodPeriod 一一 识记识记 内容 内容 1 The1 The originorigin ofof RomanticRomantic AmericanAmerican literatureliterature The Romantic Period one of the most important periods in the history of American literature stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War It started with the publication of Washington Irving s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman s Leaves of Grass 2 The2 The AmericanAmerican RenaissanceRenaissance oror NewNew EnglandEngland RenaissanceRenaissance isis a period of the great flowering of American literature from the i830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War It came of age as an expression of a national spirit One of the most important influences in the period was that of the Transcendentalists including Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau The Transcendentalists contributed to the founding of a new national culture based on native elements Apart from the Transcendentalists there emerged during this period great imaginative writers Nathaniel Hawthorne Herman Melville and Walt Whitman whose novels and poetry left a permanent imprint on American literature 3 Its3 Its socialsocial historicalhistorical andand culturalcultural backgroundbackground The development of the American society nurtured the literature of a great nation America was flourishing into a politically economically and culturally independent country HistoricallyHistorically it was the time of westward expansion in America economicallyeconomically the whole nation was experiencing an industrial transformation Politically democracy and equa1ity became the ideal of the new nation and the two party system came into being Worthy of mention is thethe literaryliterary andand culturalcultural lifelife of the country With the founding of the American Independent Government the nation felt an urge to have its own literary expression to make known its new experience that other nations did not have the early Puritan settlement the confrontation with the Indians the frontiersmen s life and the wild west Besides the nation s literary milieu was ready for the Romantic movement as we11 Thus with a strong sense of optimism a spectacular outburst of romantic feeling was brought about in the first ha1f of the 19th century 4 Major4 Major writerswriters ofof thisthis periodperiod There emerged a great host of men of letters during this period among whom the better known are poets such as Philip Freneau William Cullen Bryant Henry Wordsworth Long Fellow James Russel Lowell John Greenleaf Whitter Edgar Ellen Poe and especially Walt Whitman whose Leaves Of Grass established him as the most popular American poet of the 19th century TheThe fictionfiction ofof thethe AmericanAmerican RomanticRomantic periodperiod isis anan originaloriginal andand diversediverse bodybody ofof work work ItIt rangesranges fromfrom thethe comiccomic fablesfables ofof WashingtonWashington IrvingIrving toto thethe TheThe GothicGothic talestales ofof EdgarEdgar AllenAllen Poe Poe fromfrom thethe frontierfrontier adventuresadventures ofof JamesJames FenimoreFenimore CooperCooper toto thethe narrativenarrative questsquests ofof HermanHerman Melville Melville fromfrom thethe psycho1ogicalpsycho1ogical romancesromances ofof NathanielNathaniel HawthorneHawthorne toto thethe socialsocial realismrealism ofof RebeccaRebecca HardingHarding Davis Davis 二二 领会内容 领会内容 1 The1 The impactimpact ofof EuropeanEuropean RomanticismRomanticism onon AmericanAmerican RomanticismRomanticism Foreign literary masters especially the English counterparts exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the new world Born of one common cultural heritage the American writers shared some common features with the English Romanticists They revolted against the literary forms and ideas of the period of classicism by developing some relatively new forms of fiction or poetry 1 They put emphasisemphasis uponupon thethe imaginativeimaginative andand emotionalemotional qualitiesqualities ofof literature literature which included a liking for the picturesque the exotic the sensuous the sensational and the supernatural 2 The Americans also placed an increasing emphasisemphasis onon thethe freefree expressionexpression ofof emotionsemotions andand disp1ayeddisp1ayed anan increasingincreasing attentionattention toto thethe psychicpsychic statesstates ofof theirtheir characters characters Heroes and heroines exhibited extremes of sensitivity and excitement 3 The strong tendency to exaltexalt thethe individualindividual andand thethe commoncommon manman was almost a national religion in America Writers like Freneau Bryant and Cooper showed a great interest in external nature in their respective works 4 The literary use of the more colorfu1 aspects of the past was also to be found in Irving s effort to exploit the legends of the Hudson River region and in Cooper s long series of historical tales 5 InIn short short AmericanAmerican RomanticismRomanticism is is inin a a certaincertain way way derivative derivative 2 The2 The uniqueunique characteristicscharacteristics ofof AmericanAmerican RomanticismRomanticism Although greatly influenced by their English counterparts the American romantic writers revealed uniqueunique characteristicscharacteristics ofof theirtheir ownown in their works and they grew on the native lands For examp1e 1 the American national experience of pioneering pioneering intointo thethe west west provedproved toto bebe a a richrich sourcesource ofof materialmaterial for American writers to draw upon They celebrated America s landscape with its virgin forests meadows groves endless prairies streams and vast oceans TheThe wildernesswilderness camecame toto functionfunction almostalmost asas a a dramaticdramatic charactercharacter thatthat symbolizedsymbolized moralmoral 1aw 1aw 2 The 2 The desiredesire forfor anan escapeescape fromfrom societysociety andand a a returnreturn toto naturenature becamebecame a a permanentpermanent conventionconvention ofof AmericanAmerican literature literature Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper s Leather Stocking Tales in Thoreau s Walden and later in Mark Twain s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 3 With the growth of American national consciousness AmericanAmerican charactercharacter typestypes speakingspeaking locallocal dialectsdialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency 4 ThenThen thethe AmericanAmerican PuritanismPuritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism One of the manifestations is the fact that AmericanAmerican romanticromantic writerswriters tendedtended moremore toto moralizemoralize than their English and European counterparts 5 Besides a preoccupation with thethe CalvinisticCalvinistic viewview ofof origina1origina1 sinsin andand thethe mysterymystery ofof evilevil marked the works of Hawthorne Melville and a host of lesser writers 三三 应用内容 应用内容 1 TheThe AmericanAmerican PuritanismPuritanism and its great influence over American moral values as is shown in American romantic writings 1 AmericanAmerican PuritanismPuritanism Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans The Puritans were originally members of a division of the Protestant Church who came into existence in the reigns Queen Elizabeth and King James The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans They came to America out of various reasons but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious religious people advocating highly religious and moral principles As the word itself hints Puritans wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices They felt that the Church of England was too close to the Church of Rome in doctrine form of worship and organization of authority The American Puritans like their brothers back in England were idealists believing that the church should be restored to complete purity TheyThey acceptedaccepted thethe doctrinedoctrine ofof predestination predestination originaloriginal sinsin andand totaltotal depravity depravity andand limitedlimited atonementatonement throughthrough a a specialspecial infusioninfusion ofof gracegrace fromfrom God God But in the grim struggle for survival that followed immediately after their arrival in America they became more and more practical as indeed they had to be Puritans were noted for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that determinated their whole way of life Puritans Puritans liveslives werewere extremelyextremely disciplineddisciplined andand hard hard They drove out of their settlements all those opinions that seemed dangerous to them and history has criticized their actions Yet in the persecution of what they considered error the Puritans were no worse than many other movements in history As a culture heritage Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind and American values American Puritanism also had a conspicuously noticeable and an enduring influence on American literature It had become to some extent so much a state of mind so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere rather than a set of tenets 2 One of the manifestations is the fact that AmericanAmerican romanticromantic writerswriters tendedtended moremore toto moralizemoralize than their English and European counterparts Besides a preoccupation with thethe CalvinisticCalvinistic viewview ofof origina1origina1 sinsin andand thethe mysterymystery ofof evilevil marked the works of Hawthorne Melville and a host of lesser writers 2 2 NewNew EnglandEngland TranscendentalismTranscendentalism NewNew EnglandEngland TranscendentalismTranscendentalism is the mot clearly defined Romantic literary movement in this period It was started in the area around Concord Mass by a group of intellectual and the literary men of the United States such as Emerson Emerson HenryHenry DavidDavid ThoreauThoreau who were members of an informal club i e thethe TranscendentalTranscendental ClubClub in New England in the l830s The transcendentalists reacted against the cold rigid rationalism of Unitarianism in Boston They adhered to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation the innate goodness of man and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths The writings of the transcendentalists prepared the ground of their contemporaries such as Walt Whitman Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne The main issues involved in the debate were generally philosophical concerning nature man and the universe Basically Basically TranscendentalismTranscendentalism hashas beenbeen defineddefined philosophical1yphilosophical1y asas the the recognitionrecognition inin manman ofof thethe capacitycapacity ofof knowingknowing truthtruth intuitively intuitively oror ofof attainingattaining knowledgeknowledge transcendingtranscending thethe reachreach ofof thethe senses senses Emerson once proclaimed in a speech Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism inc1ude the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and therefore self re1iant 3 3 AmericanAmerican RomanticistsRomanticists differeddiffered inin theirtheir understandingunderstanding ofof humanhuman nature nature To the transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau man is divine in nature and therefore forever perfectible but to Hawthorne and Melville everybody is potentially a sinner and great moral courage is therefore indispensab1e for the improvement of human nature as is shown in Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter 二二 美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家 WashingtonWashington Irving 1783 l859 Irving 1783 l859 Irving s position in American literature Washington Irving was one of the first American writers to earn an international reputation and regarded as an early Romantic writer in the merican literary history and FatherFather ofof thethe AmericanAmerican shortshort stories stories 一 一般识记一 一般识记 HisHis lifelife andand majormajor worksworks Washington Irving was born in New York City in a wealthy family From a very early age he began to read widely and write juvenile poems essays and plays In l798 he conc1uded his education at private schools and entered a law office but he loved writing more His first successful work is A History Of New York from the Beginning Of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty which written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker won him wide popularity after it came out in 1809 With the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon Gent in serials between 1819 and 1820 Irving won a measure of international fame on both sides of the Atlantic The book contains familiar essays on the Eng1ish life and Americanized versions of European folk tales like Rip Rip VanVan WinkleWinkle and The The LegendLegend ofof SleepySleepy Hollow Hollow Geoffrey Crayon is a carefully contrived persona and behind Crayon stands Irving juxtaposing the Old World and the New and manipulating his own antiquarian interest with artistic perspectives TheThe majormajor workwork of his later years was The Life of George Washington 二 识记二 识记 1 Irving s1 Irving s greatgreat indebtednessindebtedness toto EuropeanEuropean literatureliterature Most of Irving s subject matter are borrowed heavily from European sources which are chiefly Germanic Irving sIrving s relationshiprelationship withwith thethe OldOld WorldWorld in terms of his literary imagination can hardly be ignored considering his success both abroad and at home A History of New York is a patchwork of references echoes and burlesques He parodies or imitates Homer Cervantes Fielding Swift and many other favorites of his He was also absorbed in German Literature and got ideas from German legends for two of his famous stories Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow The Alhambra is usually regarded as Irving s Spanish Sketch Book simply because it has a strong flavor of Spanish culture Most of the thirty three essays in The Sketch Book were written in England filled with English scenes and quotations from English authors and faithful to British orthography Washington Irving brought to the new nation what its peop1e desired most in a man of 1etters thethe respectrespect ofof thethe OldOld World World 2 Irving s2 Irving s uniqueunique contributioncontribution toto AmericanAmerican literatureliterature Irving s contribution to American literature is unique in more than one way He was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame Although greatly influenced by European literature Irving gave his works distinctive American flavor Rip Van Winkle or The Legend of Sleepy Hol1ow however exotic these stories are are among thethe treasurestreasures ofof thethe AmericanAmerican languagelanguage andand culture culture These two stories easily trigger off American imagination with their focus on American subjects American landscape and in Irving s case the legends of the Hudson River region of the fresh young 1and ItIt isis notnot thethe sketchessketches aboutabout thethe OldOld WorldWorld butbut thethe talestales aboutabout AmericaAmerica thatthat mademade WashingtonWashington IrvingIrving a a householdhousehold wordword andand hishis famefame enduring enduring He was father of American short stories And later in the hands of Hawthorne and Melville the short story attained a degree of perfection 三 领会三 领会 1 Irving s1 Irving s themetheme ofof conservatismconservatism asas isis revealedrevealed inin Rip Rip VanVan Winkle Winkle Irving sIrving s tastetaste waswas essentia1lyessentia1ly conservativeconservative andand alwaysalways exa1tedexa1ted a a disappearingdisappearing past past This socia1 conservatism and literary preference for the past is revea1ed to some extent in his famous story Rip Van Winkle The story is a tale remembered mostly for Rip s 20 year s1eep set against the background of the inevitably changing America Rip went to sleep before the War of Independence and woke up after it The change that had occurred in the 20 years he slept was to him not always for the better The revolution upset the natural order of things In the story Irving ski1lfu1ly presents to us paralleled juxtapositions of two totally different worlds before and after Rip s 20 years s1eep By moving Rip back and forth from a noisy world with his wife on the farm to a wild but peaceful natural world in the mountains and from a pre Revolution village to a George Washington era lrving describes Rip s response and reaction in a dramatic way so that we see clearly both the narrator and Irving agree on the preferabi1ity of the pas