美国文学W2introduction

1、American literatureoIntroductiono1. the colonial period(1640-1781)o2. the post-revolutionary period(1781-1815)o3. the romantic age(1815-1865)o4. the rise of realism(1865-1900)o5. modern age(1900- present)oAmerican literature is the youngest of all national literatures. Although the continent of Nort

2、h America was discovered over hundreds of years, the writing of literature in the U.S did not begin until the end of the Revolutioary War. English literture in the United States is therefore only about 200 more years old. In spite of this fact the people of the U.S have produced some of the worlds b

3、est literature.oThere are four main reasons why there was very little written in English in North America before the Revolutionary War. First, Great Britain discouraged the printing of books in her colonies at that time. She wished the colonies to maintain farms, and to produde raw materials. She wi

4、shed manufacturing of all typesoto be done in England. Few printing presses were therefore brought into the colonies. Secondly, early colonists were too busy to read and write. They worked long hours and raised large families. Most of them were very poor. Thirdly, there were few schools in the colon

5、ies. Most education as given at home. Many people could not read or oWrite. Those who could read and write used these faculties for practical purposes. Fourthly, religious sentiment was strong in this early period. The Puritans felt that relious books were the only books that one should read. The Bi

6、ble, and a few religious works satisfied their needs.oIn spite of these facts there was some printed material during the colonial period. It may not be classed as real literature in the true sense of the word, but since it is a forerunner of the great literary movement that followed the Revolutionar

7、y War, it has some historical value. Generally speaking there are three main type of writings that belong to the colonial period:o1. writings of travellers and historians 2. religious writingo3. Newspapers.oAt the end of this period, there appeared some giants, who might have made great contribution

8、s to American literature. But they were too busy to write.oBenjamin Franklin is the representative writer in this period, whose works are still read today.oThe people of the U.S during the first twenty or thirty years after the Revolutionary War enjoyed a very fortunate existence. Seldom in the hist

9、ory of the world has there been a time of greater opportunity. It was a time of rough and rugged growth.oWhat was true of the country in general was also true in the field of literature. Books and periodicals could be printed without governmental restriction. It was a matter of great pride to these

10、people that they could print and say whatever they wished without fear. The number of newspapers alone increased from forty to over three hundred and fifty during the first 20years after the revolution.oWritings began to flourish on every side. A large number of writers sprang up in a short time. Th

11、ey began to write all kinds of material; poetry, essays, plays, fiction, history, works of travel, and biography. Very little of this work has any lasting literary value. It lacked real artistic genius. It lacked universality of oAppeal. A few features of the age are nontheless important. First of a

12、ll, American drama really began at this time. Secondly, works of travel improved in qulity as well as in quantity. Thirdly, the foundations of American poetry were laid by the writings of Philip Freneau.oRomanticism is a type of artistic expression which receives its inspiration from pure sentiment

13、and feeling. It is artistic expression that is not restrained by formal rules which define beauty. The romantic artist finds beauty in his own emotions. He expressed them freely and without restraint. Therefore the romanticistomust also be an individualist. The romanticist is also a great lover. He

14、may be a lover of nature, of deity, or of his fellow man.oIn literature the term romanticism was first applied to the writers of the eighteenth century in Europe who broke away from the formal rules of classical writing. The term is used in oAmerican literature to apply to the writers of the middle

15、of the nineteenth century who stimulated the sentimental emotions of their readers. They wrote of the mysteries of life, of love, birth, and death. Often the romantic writers were transcentalists and mystics. Sometimes they were lovers of nature.oThey used all forms of litereray expression, but poet

16、ry was of course the most natural medium of romantic thought. All the great poets of the middle of the nineteenth century in American literature were romanticists. Probably the best known were Longfellow, Whitman, Lowell and Whittier. These men expresed the romatic spirit in its most perfect form.oT

17、he temperament of nations changes like that of individual people. Nations, like persons, have moods and temperamental reactions. The people of the U.S began to tire of the sentimental feelings of Romanticism after the Civil War, just as they had turned away from Puritanism at the close of the eighte

18、enth century. A new inspiration came over them.oThis new attitude was characterized by a great interest in the realities of life. The development of the Far West, pioneering in the vast stretches of undeveloped country between the Mississippi and the Pacific, gave interest in and enthusiasm for the

19、advantages of present worldly existence. Instead of thinking about othe mysteries of life and death, peoples attention was now directed to the interesting features of everyday existence. Life itself held a challenge. A zest for living naturally, completely, and even boisterously became the vogue. oT

20、his new attitude soon found expression in literature. To be sure the great romantic writers were still read, and many of them continued to produce well down to the end of the century. A new type of writing however began to attract attention. Writer who could describe the charm of human character rea

21、cting under ovarious circumstances; writers who were interested in problems of daily life; authors who could picture the pioneers of the Far West, the new immigrants, and the struggles of the working classes; such writers now began to gain the favor of the reading public. This literary interest in the