《美国文学》教学课件 American Literature

1、American LiteratureA brief introduction to the course & Literature of Colonial America Great Literary WorksHamlet 哈姆莱特Jane Eyre 简爱Sense and Sensibility 理智与情感Pride and Prejudice 傲慢与偏见Great Literary WorksOliver Twist 雾都孤儿 The Scarlet Letter红字The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn哈克贝里芬历险记The Old Man and th

2、e Sea老人与海WHEN YOU ARE OLD - William Butler Yeats When you are old and grey and full of sleep,And nodding by the fire, take down this book,And slowly read, and dream of the soft lookYour eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;当你老了（袁可嘉 译）当你老了，头发白了，睡意昏沉，炉火旁打盹，请取下这部诗歌，慢慢读，回想你过去眼神的柔和，回想它们昔日浓重的阴影；WHEN Y

3、OU ARE OLD - William Butler Yeats How many loved your moments of glad grace,And loved your beauty with love false or true,But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,And loved the sorrows of your changing face;多少人爱你青春欢畅的时辰，爱慕你的美丽，假意或真心，只有一个人爱你那朝圣者的灵魂，爱你衰老了的脸上痛苦的皱纹；WHEN YOU ARE OLD - William Butler Yea

4、ts And bending down beside the glowing bars,Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fledAnd paced upon the mountains overheadAnd hid his face amid a crowd of stars. 垂下头来，在红光闪耀的炉子旁，凄然地轻轻诉说那爱情的消逝，在头顶的山上它缓缓踱着步子，在一群星星中间隐藏着脸庞。IntroductionI.Whats literature?Whats literatureRobert Frost: Literature is a performan

5、ce in words. It is the work of men who are specially sensitive to the language of their time and who use the skill of language to make permanent their vision of life.Whats literatureLiterature is language. -The medium of literature, whether oral or written is language.Tagores Stray Bird Let life be

6、beautiful like Summer flowers and death Like autumn leaves “使生如夏花之绚烂，死如秋叶之静美” - 泰戈尔 飞鸟集 Whats literature Literature is true. Directly stated ideas Indirectly stated ideas- Ideas are presented by means of literary conventions such as plot, metaphor, symbol, irony, musical language etc. All the detail

7、s of a work make up an imaginary “world” that is based on the authors ideas about the real world.authorworkreaderWhats literatureLiterature is fictional. -In a story or a play, words are used to create imaginary persons and events .E.g. Harry Potter II. How to Define American LiteratureAmerican lite

8、rature: the literature produced in American English by American citizen. (From An Outline of American Literature by 吴定柏)III. Basic Qualities of American WritersIndependentIndividualistic CriticalInnovativeHumorousIV. The Forms of Literature2.The forms of literature Literature: Fiction & Non-fiction

9、Fiction: novels, short stories plays poemsfiction: creative or figurative expression of life,non-fiction: a literal expression of life or discursive writing V. Why Do People Read LiteratureFor FunFor emotional satisfactionFor excitement and entertainmentFor relaxationFor meaningFor artistic apprecia

10、tionTo confront experience To acquire knowledgeVI. How to study literatureTo know its elementsTo know how the component parts are put togetherCareful reading & rereading & thinking about ones responsesBy using helpful approaches(analytical approach, thematic approach, historical approach)VII. Course

11、 Objectives To help the learners to know the historical development of American literature, major trends and major authors. To help the learners to understand the American society and its culture as reflected in the literary works. To help the learners to appreciate literary language and to consolid

12、ate their fluency in English by reading a variety of literary texts. VIII. The Outline of American literature1. The literature of colonial America2. The literature of Reason and Revolution 3. The literature of Romanticism 4. The literature of RealismRecommended Readings BenjaminFranklinTheAutobiogra

13、phyWashingtonIrvingTheLegendofSleepyHollow睡谷的传说NathanielHawthorne TheScarletLetter 红字WaltWhitmanLeavesofGrass草叶集HermanMelvilleMobyDick白鲸HarrietBeecherStoweUncleTomsCabin汤姆叔叔的小屋EmilyDickinsonThePoemsofEmilyDickinsonRecommended Readings TheodoreDreiserSisterCarrie 嘉莉妹妹 AnAmericanTragedy 美国悲剧JackLondon

14、TheCalloftheWild 野性的呼唤 MartinEden 马丁伊登TennesseeWilliamsTheGlassMenagerie玻璃动物园ArthurMillerDeathofaSalesman推销员之死Recommended Readings J.D.SalingerTheCatcherintheRye麦田里的守望者FlanneryOConnorAGoodManIsHardtoFind好人难寻JosephHellerCatch-22第22条军规ToniMorrisonTheBluestEye 最蓝的眼睛 SongofSolomon 所罗门之歌Recommended Readi

15、ngs AliceWalkerTheColorPurple紫色 RalphEllisonInvisibleMan看不见的人JackKerouacOntheRoad在路上MaxineHongKingson（汤亭亭） TheWomanWarrior女勇士 The Literature of Colonial America1607-1765Content Historical IntroductionEarly American LiteraturePuritan and PuritanismMain Features of the PeriodI.Historical Background1.E

16、arly history:1) In 1542, Christopher Columbus found the new continent called America.2) In 1607, Captain John Smith led some Englishmen across the ocean and set up Jamestown- the first enduring settlement.3) In 1620, 102 passengers sailed on the ship Mayflower across the sea and settled on the new c

17、ontinent “New England” (Plymouth).16201607I. Historical Background2. People:native inhabitants: Indians/Native Americans Immigrants mostly from Europe: Spanish; Dutch; FrenchEnglish immigrants, Jamestown, Virginia, II. Early American Literature1. The forms of Native American Literature oral literatu

18、re forms: songs, prayers, spells, riddles, stories (Origin stories , Trickster Tales ,Historical Narratives) II. Early American Literature2.European Exploration Writings 1).Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) 2). Captain John Smith-the first American Writer III. Puritan and Puritanism3.1 Puritans: One

19、division of English Protestant.The term “Puritan” was first applied to those Protestant reformers who wished to escape religious persecution and tried to “purify” their religion. PuritanThey regarded the reformation of the church under Elizabeth as incomplete, and called for further purification and

20、 simplicity to church services and the authority of the Bible. 3.2 Puritanism: Simply speaking, American Puritanism just refers to the spirit and ideal of puritans who settled in the North American continent in the early part of the seventeenth century because of religious persecutions. In content i

21、t means scrupulous moral rigor, especially hostility to social pleasures and indulgences, that is strictness , sternness and austerity in conduct and religion.Puritanism & Calvinism. Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans . It is one of the enduring influences in American thought an

22、d American literature. Calvinism is a specific and rather rigid brand of Puritanism. CalvinismCalvinists are those who follow the teachings of John Calvin, a religious reformer who believed that man is born to be unable to excise his free will, God possesses the wisdom to elect those to be saved .Hu

23、man were basically evil and could do nothing about it. 3.3 Doctrines of Puritanstaking religion as the most important thing; living for glorifying God; believing predestination（命运天定）, original sin(原罪，人生下来就是有罪的，因为人类的祖先亚当和夏娃是有罪的), total depravity(人类是完全堕落的，所以人要处处小心自己的行为，要尽可能做到最好以取悦上帝), limited atonemen

24、t (有限救赎，只有被上帝选中的人才能得到上帝的拯救) They regarded themselves as chosen people of God.They embraced hardships, industry and frugality. They favored a disciplined, hard, somber, ascetic and harsh life. They opposed arts and pleasure. They suspect joy and laughter as symptoms of sin.3.4 Enduring shaping influe

25、nce on literatureBasis of American literaturewent into the making of American literaturedreamed of living under a perfect order worked with courage hoped to build an Eden of Garden on earth faced the worst of life with optimismAll literature is based on a myth garden of Eden.Enduring shaping influen

26、ce on literatureContributing to the development of Symbolism（象征主义）: a technique, widely usedPuritans thought that all the simple objects existing in the world connoted deep meaning.Symbolism means using symbols in literary works. The symbol means something that represents or stands for abstract deep

27、 meaning.Enduring shaping influence on literature Influencing the style of literature: simple, fresh and direct (just as the style of the Authorized Version of Holy Bible)Without understanding of Puritanism, there can be no good understanding of American culture and literature.(Just like the influen

28、ce of Confucian doctrine upon the ideology of Chinese people)IV. Characteristics of the Colonial American literature1). The first American literature was neither American nor really literature.the work mainly of immigrants an interesting mixture of travel accounts and religious writingsa kind of wri

29、ting of discovery IV. Characteristics of the Colonial American literatureIn content these early writings served either God or colonial expansion or both. In form, if there was any form at all, English literary traditions were faithfully imitated and transplanted. IV. Characteristics of the Colonial

30、American literature2). Literature of the New England settlements is mainly a literary expression of the Puritan idealism. much of the literature was produced by Puritan and Pilgrim writersThe Puritan believes helped to shape the colonial life The Puritan optimism has exerted enormous impact on Ameri

31、can literature. WritersAmong the colonists could be found poets and essayists, but no novelists. John Smith - the first American WriterWilliam Bradford John Winthrop John Cotton Roger Williams Anne Bradstreet Edward Taylor Early American WritersSouth, Jamestown, Virginia: Captain John Smith: his des

32、cription of America were filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, characters and events that were a foundation for the nations literature. He lured the Pilgrims into fleeing here and creating a New land. True Relation of Virginia (1608)Description of New England (1616) General History of Virginia,

33、 New England, and the Summer Isles (1624)Captain John Smith (15801631)A real adventurer, he had fought the Turks in Hungary, where he was wounded and taken prisoner. He was sold as a slave and escaped by killing his master. In 1607, he helped to set up Jamestown, the first English colony in America.

34、Smith sent a letter to the Virginia Company in London, defending the handling of the settlement and proclaiming the merits of the new land. In 1608, most part of his letter was published, Thus, Captain John Smith became the first American writer.ForwardNorth, New England, Puritan WritersWilliam Brad

35、ford: first governor of Plymouth, The History of Plymouth Plantation, simplicity, earnestness, direct reporting, readable, moving.John Winthrop: first governor of Boston, The History of New England, candid simplicity, honestyJohn Winthrop (1588-1649)John Winthrop was the first governor of Massachuse

36、tts Bay Colony and, like most of the Puritan writers, was a minister all his life. He began to keep a journal on the Bay Colonists voyage to Massachusetts aboard the ship Arbella in 1630. Parts of his Journal were first published in 1790. The complete work was at last printed in 1826 under the title

37、 The History of New England. Other Winthrop papers exist, but the Journal remains his chief work. Like Bradfords books, Winthrops is notable for its candid simplicity and honesty, though the Plymouth governor is the better writer. Each book is the most valuable kind of historical source-an account o

38、f events by a man who has been a major figure of his time. Both accounts were written, not from literary ambition, but from a sense of the need to record important events in permanent form. Yet, through a direct and vigorous prose style, each account attained literary excellence.Two Poets: Anne Brad

39、street, Edward TaylorPuritan poetry was offered uniformly to the service of God. Anne Bradstreets poems, issued as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650), were reflective of her own piety. The best of the Puritan poets, Edward Taylor, whose work was not published until two centuries after

40、 his death, wrote metaphysical verse.Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)Born in 1612 into a prosperous English family, Anne Dudley was given a wide education uncommon for girls at that time. In 1628 she married Simon Bradstreet, and two years later the couple migrated to North America along with others of t

41、he Puritan outlook. The Bradstreets were an influential family in Massachusetts Bay; Simon became judge, legislator, and eventually governor of the colony. Meanwhile Anne Bradstreet cared for her husband and growing family, and wrote poetry. Her extensive literary production was managed along with t

42、he task of being a wilderness wife and the mother of eight children.Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)Her first publish work appeared in London. The title of this collection of poems complimented her, in classical allusion, as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America. (In Greek mythology the Muses were n

43、ine daughters of Zeus. Each was the patron of a particular art such as poetry, dance, music, etc.) Some of Anne Bradstreets poetic ventures were over ambitious, but she wrote well when she dealt with the simple events of her daily life. She preferred her long, religious poems on conventional subject

44、s such as the seasons, but contemporary readers most enjoy the witty poems on subjects from daily life and her warm and loving poems to her husband and children.Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)Youth is the time of getting, middle age of improving, and old age of spending.Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge: fitter to bruise than polish.I am obnoxious to each carping tongueWho says my hand a needle better fits,A poets pen all scorn I should thus wrongFor such despite they cast on female wits. . . .If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. If we did not som