5美国文学课件

American

RomanticismTranscendentalism

and

HenryD.

ThoreauTeaching

ProceduresTranscendentalismThoreau:

the

writer

and

Walden1.

Transcendentalism

It

was

transcendentalism

that

inspiredmany

Americanwriters

to

greatness.Even

writers

who

disagreed

with

certainrespects

of

Transcendentalism,

such

asHawthorne

and

Melville,

were

influencedby

many

of

its

concepts.

Literaryhistorians

now

refer

to

this

phenomenonas

American

Renaissance.1.1

Transcendental

Club1836,

Concord,

Massachusetts,theology,

philosophy

and

literature.

The

Symbosium

of

Hedge

Club/

theTranscendentalistsIts

membership:

clergymen

(Theodore

Parker,

GeorgeRipley,

James

F.

Clarke);

Learned

women

(Elizabeth

Peabody,Sophia

Peabody,

Margaret

Fuller);

writers

(Ralph

Waldo

Emerson,

HenryThoreau,

Bronson

Alcott,

and

NathanielHawthorne)1.2

Two

Major

Activities1.

16

issues

of

The

Dial(a

quarterly,

wMargaret

Fuller

as

the

first

editor,

theEmerson)

between

1840

and

1844;

2.

Brook

Farm,

(a

utopian

community

inwhich

individuals

were

supposed

to

bebetter

enabled

towards

self-realizatiofrom

1841

to

1847.1.3

Its

Philosophy

As

an

intensified

expression

ofRomanticism,

Transcendentalism

sharesthe

romantic

characteristics:

the

emphaon

intuition,

the

exaltation

of

the

indiover

society,

the

new

and

thrilling

deliin

nature,

fascination

with

the

Gothic

athe

“Oriental”,

and

the

desire

to

builnational

literature

and

culture.

In

addition,

it

assumed

a

specific

moraland

philosophical

tone.

The

moralimplications

came

from

the

environmentwhere

Puritan

idealism

persisted,

but

thphilosophical

tone

was

largely

defined

bEmerson.

Transcendentalphilosophywas

based

on

the

premise

that

truth

is

innate

in

acreation

and

that

knowledge

of

it

isintuitive

rather

than

rational.

TheTranscendentalists

found

support

for

tin

the

writings

of

German

philosopherKant

(1724-1804).

"I

call

all

knowledge

transcendentalwhich

isconcerned,

not

with

objects,

bwith

our

mode

of

knowing

objects

so

faras

this

is

possible

a

priori"

(that

is,independent

of

experience).

(Kant,Critique

of

Practical

Reason,

1788)

Therefore,

as

a

way

of

knowing,Transcendentalism

believes

thatindividuals

can

intuitively

receive

higtruths

otherwise

unavailable

throughcommon

methods

of

knowing,

thustranscending

the

limits

of

rationalism.More

specifically,

the

visible

world,

ifintuited

with

imagination,

offers

endleclues

about

the

invisible

world

whosetruths

stand

eternally

behind

the

factuaworld

perceived

by

the

senses.

In

its

moral

tone,

it

reminds

us

of

thePuritan

belief

in

the

“divine

andsupernatural

light”

or

the

“inner

ligAs

formulated

by

Emerson,

this

became

a

call

for

action

encouraged

the

youngnot

to

be

enslaved

by

customs

but

tofollow

the

God

within,

and

to

live

everymoment

with

a

strenuousness

such

asfound

in

the

Puritan

fathers.

However,

insofar

as

nature

is

believed

tbe

the

morally

good,

proving

God’spresence

everywhere

in

his

creation

andthat

human

nature

is

accordingly

all

gooTranscendentalism

was

the

reversed

form

of

Calvinism.

The

humanistic

focus

ofTranscendentalism

arose

partly

as

areaction

against

the

increasingdehumanization

and

materialismengendered

by

the

Industrial

Revolutionthe

early

19th

century.

It

was

also

aresponse

to

what

Emerson

and

hiseducated

contemporaries

felt

to

be

thespiritual

inadequacy

of

established

relPhilosophical

Sources

1).

Neo-Platonism

(spirit

prevails

overmatter

and

there

is

an

ascending

scale

ofspiritual

values

rising

to

absolute

Good

2).

German

Romanticism

as

transmittedthrough

the

writings

of

Coleridge

andCarlyle

(emphasis

on

intuition

as

a

meanof

piercing

to

the

real

essence

of

things

3).

An

Eastern

mysticism

as

gleaned

andinterpreted

from

ancient

Asian

scriptureincluding,

to

a

limited

extent,

those

byConfucius.1.4

Its

Significance

The

Transcendental

emphasis

on

theoneness

of

individual

souls

with

natureand

with

God

gave

dignity

andimportance

to

human

activity

and

madepossible

a

belief

in

the

power

to

effectsocial

change

in

harmony

with

God"spurposes.2.

Henry

David

Thoreau(1817-1862)

Emerson’s

disciple.

Friend

and

neighboat

Concord.

Thoreau

practiced

the

self-reflective

and

self-reliantTranscendentalism

that

Emersonpreached.2.1

Life

Give

a

brief

introduction

to

the

life

ofHenry

David

Thoreau.

Why

is

Thoreau

animportant

figure

inAmerican

literary

history?2.2

Works

A

Week

on

the

Concord

and

MerrimackRiver

(1849)

“On

the

Duty

of

Civil

Disobedience”(1849)Walden

(1854)Essays

concerning

slavery

issue:“Civil

Disobedience”(1849),

“Slavery

in

Massachusetts”(1854),a“A

Plea

for

Captain

John

Brown”(1859).2.3

Comments The

value

of

Thoreau

lies

in

the

socialcriticism

he

made

and

the

political

stanhetook;

his

value

also

lies

in

his

beliethe

gospel

Emerson

and

theTranscendentalists

preached

must

be

ableto

inspire

action.

It

is

these

values

thastill

continue

to

interpret

and

to

appre2.4

Walden

Thoreau’s

sojourn

at

Walden

Pondfrom

1845

to

1847

was

a

deliberate

andsustained

attempt

to

test

philosophicalidealism

in

the

concrete

world.

Walden

was

structured

on

the

fourseasons,

beginning

in

summer

andending

in

spring.

It

is

largely

a

narratiwith

reflective

digressions.

"Men

esteem

truth

remote,

in

theoutskirts

of

the

system,

behind

thefarthest

star

...

In

eternity

there

is

isomething

true

and

sublime.

But

all

thetimes

and

places

and

occasions

are

nowand

here.

God

himself

culminates

in

thepresent

moment

...

And

we

are

enabledto

apprehend

at

all

what

is

sublime

andnoble

only

by

the

perpetual

instillingdrenching

of

the

reality

that

surroundsus."

By

living

intimately

with

nature

aWalden,

Thoreau

attained

to

higher

trutQuestions

1.

Had

Thoreau

ever

bought

a

farm?

Whydid

heenjoy

the

act

of

buying?2.

What

did

he

actually

cherish

the

most?3.

What’s

the

purpose

of

writing

this

bo

4.

Is

it

significant

that

Thoreau

mentiothe

Fourth

of

July

as

the

day

on

which

hebegan

to

stay

in

the

woods?

Why?

5.

Where

did

Thoreau

live,

both

physicaland

spiritually?

Wherever

I

sat,

I

might

live,

and

the

lanradiated

from

me

accordingly…

I

discovemany

a

site

for

a

house

not

likely

to

be

simproved…

well,

there

I

might

live,

I

saand

there

I

did

live,

for

an

hour,

a

summea

winter

life;

saw

how

I

could

let

the

yeaoff,

buffet

the

winter

through,

and

see

tspring

come

in…

then

I

let

it

lie,

falloperchance,

for

a

man

is

rich

in

proportiothe

number

of

things

which

he

afford

to

lalone.

I

would

not

have

anyone

adopt

my

mode

ofliving,

each

should

find

out

his

own

way,his

neighbor’s

or

his

parents’.

If

a

man

does

not

keep

pace

with

hiscompanions,

perhaps

it

is

because

he

heardifferent

drummer.

Let

him

step

to

the

muswhich

he

hears,

however

measured

or

faraway.

I

frequently

tramped

eight

or

ten

milesthrough

the

deepest

snow

to

keep

anappointment

with

a

beech

tree

or

a

yellowbirch,

or

an

old

acquaintance

among

thepines.

I

left

the

woods

for

as

good

a

reason

as

Iwent

there.

Perhaps

it

seemed

to

me

that

Ihad

several

lives

to

live

and

could

not

spany

more

time

for

that

one.Implications

of

Walden

What

Thoreau

revolted

against

in

Waldenwas

the

materialism

of

his

day.

Heobjected

to

the

division

of

labor

that

themergingindustrialism

threatened

to

briabout.

The

experiment

Thoreau

designed

was

toprove

how

far

he

could

free

himself

fromthe

hypocrisies

and

unnecessarycomplexities

of

the

common

society.

It

is

not

simply

a

mirror

of

what

helitersees

but

a

reflection

of

his

readings,concerns

and

thinking,

thus

it

is

mixed

wihis

politics

and

philosophy.

His

sense

offreedom

and

wonder

on

the

natural

environimplies

his

sense

of

evil:

evil

is

the

extconstraints,

the

conventions

and

meanswith

which

society

keep

individuals

fromself-realization.

But

removing

these

baris

not

enough,

the

individual

must

trainhi