美国文学第二章浪漫主义

Unit2TheAgeofRomanticism pre romanticism 浪漫主义文学 theendofthe18thC thefirsthalfofthe19thC 1HistoricalIntroduction 1776 1783 1861 1865 TheIndependenceWarTheCivilWar Wewilllearn whathistoricalorsocialsituationtheU S A wasin whatinfluencethissituationhadonthepeople smind whatthedirectresultofthisinfluencewas Afast risingAmerica Atremendoussenseofoptimismandhope Aburstingcryforliteraryexpression arouse whichevoked LiteraryIntroduction 文学背景介绍 1 TheoriginsofAmericanRomanticism FirstinGermany France Englandfromthemiddleof18thC againstneoclassicismagainstrationalism the Americanized combination theirNewWorldenvironment theromantictraditionsofEurope TheAmericanromanticism 2 TheGeneralCharacteristicsofRomanticism Moralenthusiasm Faithinthevalueofindividualismandintuitiveperception Apresumptionthatthenaturalworldwasasourceofgoodnessandman ssocietiesasourceofcorruption 3 ThecharacteristicsofAmericanromanticism opposedneoclassicism rejectedrationalism appreciatedcamp meetingrevivalism NewEnglandtranscendentalism NEW Itisastyleofwritingdevelopedinthe17thand18thcenturiesthatrigidlyadheredtocanonsofformderivedfromclassicalantiquity Neoclassicismwasnotableforemotionalrestraint eleganceandexactnessofdiction strictobservanceofthethreeunities commonsense rationalism andlogic The modern writerscitedundertheentryclassicismareneoclassicists Neoclassicism dominatedbyculturalnationalism whichstimulatedagreaterliteraryinterestinAmerica slanguageanditscommonpeople America sprincipalliteraryforms Novels shortstories poemssermonsandmanifestosX NEW Imaginativeliteraturebecameintense personal andsymbolicasmorewriterscametoperceivethemselvesnotasmereliterarycraftsmenbutasprophetsandseers ThedesireforanescapefromsocietyandareturntonaturebecameapermanentconventionofAmericanliterature NEW Romanticwritersplacedincreasingvalueonthefreeexpressionofemotionanddisplayedincreasingattentiontothepsychicstatesoftheircharacters NEW Atmid centuryaculturalreawakeningbroughta floweringofNewEngland PuritanismwasaculturalheritageoftheAmericans ItsinfluenceoverAmericanromanticismwasconspicuouslynoticeable OneofitspalpablemanifestationsisthefactthatAmericanromanticauthorstendedmoretomoralizethantheirEnglishandEuropeanbrothers Certainly AmericanmoralvalueswereessentiallyPuritan NEW Tosumup Asalogicalresultoftheforeignandnativefactorsatwork Americanromanticismwasbothimitativeandindependent However itwasinessencetheexpressionof arealnewexperience andcontained analienquality forthesimplereasonthat thespiritoftheplace wasradicallynewandalien NEW WashingtonIrving 1783 1859 Twoprominentfigures 1LiteraryStatus 1 HewasthefirstAmericanwriterofimaginativeliteraturetogaininternationalfame 2 HewastheauthorofthefirstAmericanshortstories 3 HecreatedthefirstgreatAmericanjuvenileliterature 4 Hewasamongthefirstofthemodernstowritegoodhistoryandbiographyasliteraryentertainment 5 TosaythathewasfatherofAmericanliteratureisnotmuchexaggeration 2literaryworks styleofwriting 1 Masterpiece TheSketchBookofGeoffreyCrayon Gent 见闻札记 RipVanWinkle TheLegendofSleepyHollow Briefcommentsonthemasterpieces RipVanWinkle and TheLegendofSleepyHollow or TheSketches markedthebeginningofAmericanRomanticism In SketchBook appearedthefirstmodernshortstoriesandthefirstgreatAmericanjuvenileliterature 2 Irving swritingstyle Beautiful Strikingfeatures HeworksaimedtoentertainandamusenottomoralizeVividandtruecharactersFinishedandmusicallanguageStrongsenseofhumorNevershockingbutabitsentimentalattimes Hismannerseemsmoreimportantthanthematter 3Therelationshipbetweenthehistorical socialbackgroundsandhiswriting Hislife Thestyleistheman appliestonooneelsesowell Thehistoricalbackground TheAmericanPre romanticism Thefirsthalfofthe19thcentury 4Masterpieces RipVanWinkle Thestoryline RipVanWinkle sextraordinary20 year longsleepandhislivesbeforeandafterthat Masterpieces TheLegendofSleepyHollow Thestoryline Itisoneofthemostfamousshortstoriesin TheSketchBook ItwasrecreatedfromanEuropeanfolktale tellingastoryabouttheunsuccessfulloveaffairofIchabodCrane acountryteacher whichwascombinedwiththelegendofaheadlesshorseman Irving sWritingstyle Vivid memorablecharacters Detailed insightfuldescriptionofAmericanscenery traditionsandcultures Humorousandlucidstyle narrativemethodJusttoamuseandentertain ExtractfromTheLegendofSleepyHollow ThecognomenofCranewasnotinapplicabletohisperson Hewastall butexceedinglylank withnarrowshoulders longarmsandlegs handsthatdangledamileoutofhissleeves feetthatmighthaveservedforshovels andhiswholeframemostlooselyhungtogether Hisheadwassmall andflatattop withhugeears largegreenglassyeyes andalongsnipenose sothatitlookedlikeaweather cock percheduponhisspindleneck totellwhichwaythewindblew Toseehimstridingalongtheprofileofahillonawindyday withhisclothesbaggingandflutteringabouthim onemighthavemistakenhimforthegeniusoffaminedescendingupontheearth orsomescarecrowelopedfromacornfield JamesFenimoreCooper 1789 1851 LiteraryStatus CooperwasthefirstimportantAmericannovelistwholaunchedtwokindsofimmenselypopularstories theseaadventuretale andthefrontiersaga Masterpiece LeatherstockingTalesTheDearslayerTheLastoftheMohicansThePathfinderThePioneersThePrairie RecordsoftheformationoftheUSA Briefcommentsonthemasterpiece IfthehistoryoftheUnitedStatesis inasense theprocessoftheAmericansettlersexploringandpushingtheAmericanfrontierforeverwestward thenCooper sworksjustmirroredmythicallyandinsightfullytheformativeperiodoftheAmericannation Twoopposingforces Intheseries Coopermainlydiscussedtwoopposingforcesperformedintheperiodofmoderncivilizationadvancingontherecedingwilderness natureandcivilization orfreedomandlaw Onewasmorallyrightandtheotherwaspracticallyinevitable Thetheme Contrastandcomparisonofthetwowriters Biggestdifferences Irving smannersee