美国浪漫主义文学.ppt

1、American Literature The Romantic Period (1790-1865),The Romantic Period,The Romantic Period,one of the most important periods in the history of American literature, stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irvings The

2、Sketch Book and ended with Whitmans Leaves of Grass.It is a great flowering of American literature; It is also called “the American Renaissance”.,The Romantic Period,Background of American Romanticism General Characteristics of American Romanticism Major Writers of the period,Backgrounds of American

3、 Romanticism,The development of the America society nurturedthe literature of a great nation.America was flourishing into a politically,economically and culturally independent country. I.National influences II.International influences,I.National influences,In politics: Democracy and political equali

4、ty became the ideals of the new nation. Radical changes came about in the political life of the country. Parties began to squabble and scramble for power, and new system was in the making. In economics: The spread of industrialism, the sudden influx of immigration, and the pioneers pushing the front

5、ier further west, all these produced something of an economic boon and with it, a tremendous sense of optimism and hope among the people.,In culture: the publication of Websters Dictionary marked the beginning of the American English; the appearance of many magazines and newspapers.,华盛顿 欧文 （Washingt

6、on Irving, 1783-1859） Father of America Literature,II.International influences,Romantic Movement in England and Europe proved to be a decisive influence; Many English and European masters of poetry and prose made stimulating impact on American Romanticism. 1.Walter Scott: Waverly novels, The Lady of

7、 the Lake 2.Byron: Oriental romances 3.Gothic tradition, the cult of solitude and gloom,General Characteristics of American Romanticism,American Romanticism,1.It was a rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism. For romantics, the feelings, intuitions and emotions were more important than reas

8、on and common sense; 2.Theyputemphasisupontheimaginativeandemotional qualitiesofliterature,whichincludedalikingforthe picturesque,theexotic,thesensuous,thesensational,and thesupernatural. 3.TheAmericansalsoplacedanincreasingemphasison thefreeexpressionofemotionsanddisp1ayedan increasingattentiontoth

9、epsychicstatesoftheircharacters.Heroesandheroinesexhibitedextremesofsensitivityandexcitement.,American Romanticism,4.ThestrongtendencytoexalttheindividualandthecommonmanwasalmostanationalreligioninAmerica.WriterslikeFreneau,Bryant,and Coopershowedagreatinterest inexternalnature intheirrespectivework

10、s. 5.Inshort,AmericanRomanticismis,inacertainway,derivative.,Characteristics of American Romanticism,I.The American national experience of pioneering into the west proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated Americas landscape with its virgin forests, me

11、adows, groves, endless prairies, streams, and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral law.,Characteristics of American Romanticism,II.American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American Romanticism: 1.American ro

12、mantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. 2.Besides a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of original sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers.,Characteristics of American Romanticism,3.With the gr

13、owth of American national consciousness, American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. 4.New England Transcendentalism is the most clearly defined Romantic literary movement in this period.,Distinct Feature of American Romanticism,1.It was

14、 the expression of “a real new experience”; 2.It tended to be didactic because of Puritan influence; 3.It was both imitative and independent,Major writers in The Romantic Period,Washington Irving(1783-l859)(华盛顿欧文 ),Washington Irving was born in New York City in a wealthy family. From a very early ag

15、e he began to read widely and write juvenile poems, essays, and plays.,A History of New York(纽约外史),1809 The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.(见闻札记) ,1820 Rip Van Winkle (瑞普凡温克尔) Bracebridge Hall,1822 (布雷斯布里奇田庄) Tales of a Traveller,1824 (旅客谈) The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus,1828 (哥伦

16、布传) The Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada,1829 (攻克格拉纳达) Tales of the Alhambra,1832 (阿尔罕伯拉) Astoria,1836 (阿斯托里亚) The Life of Oliver Goldsmith,1840 (revised 1849) (哥尔德斯密斯传) Mahomet and His Successors,1850 (穆罕默德及其继承者) The Life of George Washington (5 volumes),1855-1859 (华盛顿传),Ralph Waldo Emerson (拉

17、尔夫华尔多爱默生 ),Ralph Waldo Emerson is the chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism, which is unanimously agreed to be the summit of the Romantic period in the history of American literature,Nature, 1836 (论自然) The American Scholar, 1837 (论美国学者) Divinity School Address, 1838 (神学院演讲) The Oversoul,

18、1841 (论超灵) Self Reliance, 1841(论自立),Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-l864)(纳撒尼尔霍桑 ),He was born on the Fourth of July, l804 in Salem,Massachusetts, into a prominent Puritan family. His thematic concerns : human sin and evil,1837重讲一遍的故事， Old Manse ,1846(古宅青苔) The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales ,1851(

19、雪像和其他故事新编 ) The Scarlet Letter ,1850(红字) The House of the Seven Gables ,1851 (带有七个尖角阁的房子 ) The Blithedale Romance ,l852(福谷传奇 ) The Marble Faun ,1860(玉石雕像 ),Walt Whitman (1819 -)(华尔特惠特曼 ),Whitman was born in 1819 into a working-class family and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Democratic ideas govern h

20、is poetry-writing. His poetry is filled with optimistic expectation and enthusiasm about new things and new epoch.,Leaves of Grass (草叶集) It is significant that Whitman entitled his book Leaves of Grass . He said that where there is earth, where there is water, there is grass. Grass, the most common thing with the greatest vitality, is an image of the poet himself, a symbol of the then rising American nation and an embodiment of his ideals about democracy and fr