美国文学课件(大学版本)NO.1

Definition:LiteratureproducedinAmericanEnglishbyAmericancitizens.BasicqualityofAmericanwriters:IndependentIndividualisticCriticalInnovativehumorousIndependentAcountryofmerelyover200years’historyWritershavebeenabletoremainfreefromthecontrol.Theythinkandactwithindependence.Theyarenotraisedbythegovernmentaswriters.Theymakealivingbywriting.IndividualisticTheyviewwritingasameansofself-expression,awayofexpressingtheirpersonalviewsaboutlifeandsociety,awayofadvocatingliberty,democracyandindependentactionoftheindividual.CriticalMostoftheAmericanwritersarenotsatisfiedwiththecontemporarysociety.TheyoftencriticizeAmericansociety.Intheirwork,theyexploresocialproblemskeenlyandseverely.Theycanlaughatthemselvesandtheircountry.AliterarytraditioninAmerica.InnovativeItisalwaysthenewideas,newattitudes,andnewculturalfacesthanurgethemtopursue“newness”inlifeandliterature.Theyoftenmakeexperimentsinwriting.Byinnovatingstylesandtechnique,theytrytobedifferentfromothersandstartanewtrendalmosteverytenyears.humorousNationalcharacteristicItispartoftheirlife,theircharacter,andtheirstyleincreativewriting.Humorofallkinds:exaggeration,ironicsatire,blackhumor,surprise…这是最好的时世，这是最坏的时世；这是智慧的年代，这是愚昧的年代；这是信仰的时代，这是怀疑的时代；这是光明的时节，这是黑暗的时节；这是希望之春，这是失望之冬；我们面前什么都有，我们面前什么都无，我们都在直登天堂，我们都在直下地狱……Itwasthebestoftimes,itwastheworstoftimes,itwastheageofwisdom,itwastheageoffoolishness,itwastheepochofbelief,itwastheepochofincredulity,itwastheseasonofLight,itwastheseasonofDarkness,itwasthespringofhope,itwasthewinterofdespair,wehadeverythingbeforeus,wehadnothingbeforeus,wewereallgoingdirecttoHeaven,wewereallgoingdirecttheotherway…(ATaleofTwoCities,CharlesDickens)Britishliterature4.OutlineofAmericanLiteraturePartITheAnglo-SaxonPeriod(449-1066)PartIITheAnglo-NormanPeriod(1066-1350)PartIIIGeoffreyChaucer(1340-1400)TheoldandMiddleEnglishPeriod(449-1485)PartIVTheRenaissance(1485-1660)PartVThe17thCentury(EnglishRevolution&Restoration)(1603-1700)PartVIThe18thCentury(TheAgeofEnlightenment)(1700-1798)PartVIITheRomanicPeriod(Romanticism)(1798-1832)PartVIIITheVictorianAge(CriticalRealism)(1832-1901)PartIXTwentiethCenturyLiterature(1900-1970)OutlineofAmericanLiteraturePart1TheLiteratureofColonialAmericaPuritanism(清教主义)(early17thC)Part2TheLiteratureofReasonandRevolutionEarlyAmericanLiterature(1620-early19thC)BenjaminFranklinPart3TheLiteratureofRomanticismAmericanRomanticism(early19thC-1865/CivilWar)EarlyRomanticism;Transcendentalism;Poe,Emerson,Thoreau,Hawthorne,Melville,Whitman,etc.Part4TheModernRealism现实主义AmericanRealism(1865-1914)=(CivilWar－WWI)Localcolorism(earlyrealism):MarkTwain,HenryJamesNaturalism:StephenCrane;TheodoreDreiserPart5Twentieth-centuryLiteratureAmericanModernism现代主义(1914-1945)=(WWI－WWII)Poetry:Imagism-Pound,T.S.Eliot,e.e.cummingsNovel:Fitzgerald;Hemingway;Faulkner,etc.The1930sDosPassos,JohnSteinbeckDrama:EugeneO’NeillPostModernism(1945-)SaulBellow,ArthurMiller,J.D.Salinger,etc.20thcenturyAmericanliterature第一章现实主义文学realisticliterature第二章现代派文学modernistliterature第三章南方文学southernliterature第四章犹太文学jewishliterature第五章黑人文学blackliterature第六章“垮掉派”文学beatliterature第七章黑色幽默blackhumor第八章后现代派小说与“先锋派俗文艺”postmodernistfictionand“avant-pop”第九章20世纪美国诗歌第十章20世纪美国戏剧AboutAmericanLiterature…ColonialAmericaAmericanromanticismTranscendentalismRealismLocalcolorfictionNaturalismImagismBeatgenerationBlackliteratureSouthernliteratureModerndramaIrving,CooperEmerson,ThoreauHenryJamesMarkTwainDreiserPoundHemingwayWright,RalphEllisonFaulknerArthurMiller,EugeneO’NeilPartITheLiteratureofColonialAmericaPuritanism1.Areligiousandpoliticalmovement.Throughit,oneseesemergingtherightoftheindividualtopoliticalandreligiousindependence.2.Theirreligiousdoctrines:originalsin,totaldepravity,predestination,limitedatonement.3.Theirattitudestowardentertainment:joyandlaughteraresymptomsofsin.4.Theirattitudestowardwork:workitselfisagoodinadditiontowhatitachieves,thattimesavedbyefficiencyorgoodfortuneshouldbespentindoingfurtherwork.Puritanism’sinfluenceonAmericanliteratureAmericanPuritanismwasoneofthemostenduringshapinginfluencesinAmericanthoughtandAmericanliterature.Americanliteratureisbasedonamyth,i.e.theBiblicalmythoftheGardenofEden.1.Purpose:pragmatic(实用主义的)2.Contents:practicalmatter-of-factaccountsoflifeinthenewworld;highlytheoreticaldiscussionsofreligiousquestions.3.Form:diary,autobiography,sermon(训诫,布道),letter4.Style:simple,freshanddirect1.4EarlyAmericanWritersandPoetsTheFirstAmericanWriter:CaptainJohnSmith8worksHiscontributions?HisdescriptionofAmericawerefilledwiththemes,myths,images,scenes,charactersandeventsthatwereafoundationforthenation’sliterature.HeluredthePilgrimsandthePuritanstofleetheOldWorldandcreateaNewPromisedland.WilliamBradford（布雷德福德）&JohnWinthrop（温斯罗普）(1590-1657)WilliamBradford:firstgovernorofPlymouth,TheHistoryofPlymouthPlantationJohnWinthrop:firstgovernorofBoston,TheHistoryofNewEnglandJohnCotton（科顿）&RogerWilliams(罗杰·威廉姆斯)JohnCotton:wroteseveralbooksofPuritanargument.RogerWilliams:moredemocraticinhisviewofc