《美国文学》教学课件 American Romanticism

1、 American RomanticismRomanticismI. Background of RomanticismII.Characteristics of Romanticism1. Romanticism was a rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism. For romantics, the feelings, intuitions and emotions were more important than reason and common sense.II. Characteristics of Romanticism

2、2.Romantics thought of the world as a living ,breathing thing instead of a ticking clock made by God. They stressed the close relationship between man and nature.II. Characteristics of Romanticism3. They emphasized individualism, placing the individualism against the group and authority.4. They beli

3、eved everybodys inner self was meaningful .II. Characteristics of Romanticism5.They were attracted by the wild, the irregular, the indefinitive, the remote, the mysterious and the strange.III. American RomanticismAmerican romanticism stretched from the end of the 18th century to the Civil War. 1. Hi

4、storical Background The first half of the 19th century Radical changes in all aspects of American life: burgeoning industrialism (filled people with optimism) great immigration (increasing population) westward expansion (pushing frontier)The largest group of forty-niners in 1849 were AmericansFORTY-

5、NINERS IN THE GOLD RUSHa variety of foreign influencesplayground for romantics: magazines ( Wide distribution of periodicals, more and more native American writers) Ideology: Nationalism Patriotism Optimism PuritanismForeign influencesSir Walter Scott, with his border tales, helped toward the develo

6、pment of AmericanIndian romance and the romantic description of landscape inAmerica literature. ( Cooper )The Gothic tradition & the graveyard tradition came to America and found their way into the works of Poe. Burns, Byron, Wordsworth, with their lyric poems oflove and passion and their concern fo

7、r nature, added to the nations singing strength. My Love Is Like a Red Red RoseO, my love is like a red, red rose,That is newly sprung in June.O, my love is like the melody.Thats sweetly played in tune. - Robert BurnsI wandered lonely as a cloudI wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high oer val

8、es and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of golden daffodils;Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. -William Wordsworth2. The Characteristics of American Romanticism. 1) .Early American romantics often modeled their writing on Europe works.2). The subject

9、s of American Romantic authors were often national ideals of individualism ,democracy ,history and frontier life of the new nation.The Characteristics of American Romanticism.3) .Puritanism over American Romanticism as a cultural heritage was conspicuously noticeable. American romantic authors tende

10、d more to moralize than to entertain.The Characteristics of American Romanticism.4.) There was a rapid and immense increase in the number of the literary genres such as blank verse, the sonnet, the ode, the lyric and metrical romance etc.The Characteristics of American Romanticism.5.Literary man exh

11、ibited a growing interest in nature.6. The majority of the American writers of this period showed a strong interest in the imagery.Literary terms- Genre Genre is the term for a category of literature such as fiction, poetry, and drama. Each type has subdivisions. eg.Fiction: short story , novel, nov

12、ella Poetry: lyric, sonnet, ode, elegy, ballad, Drama: tragedy, comedyGothic novelGothic novel emphasizes the grotesque mysterious and desolate. It is an ancestor of the modern mystery story , fantasy, and science fiction.e.g. Jane EyreSummit of Romanticism-Transcendentalism 超验主义Ralph Waldo EmersonFillip Thoreau我愿意深深地