美国文学选读名词解释

美国文学选读复习资料II1.WhatisTranscendentalism?InNewEngland,anintellectualmovementknownastranscendentalismdevelopedasanAmericanversionofRomanticism.ThemovementbeganamonganinfluentialsetofauthorsbasedinConcord,Massachusetts,andwasledbyRalphWaldoEmerson.LikeRomanticism,Transcendentalismrejectedboth18th-centuryrationalismandestablishedreligion,whichforthetranscendentalistsmeantthePuritantraditioninparticular.Instead,thetranscendentalistscelebratedthepowerofthehumanimaginationtocommunewiththeuniverseandtranscendthelimitationsofthematerialworld.Thetranscendentalistsfoundtheirchiefsourceofinspirationinnature.Emerson’sessayNature(1836)wasthefirstmajordocumentofthetranscendentalschoolandstatedtheideasthatweretoremaincentraltoit.HisotherkeytranscendentalistworksincludeTheAmericanScholar(1837),avolumeinwhichheaddressedtheintellectual’sdutytoculture,andSelf-Reliance(1841),anessayinwhichheassertedtheimportanceofbeingtruetoone’snature.2.WhatisLocalColorism?Post-CivilWarAmericawaslargeanddiverse(variousenoughtosenseitsownlocaldifference.RegionalvoiceshademergedfromnewlysettledterritoriesintheSouthandtothewestoftheAppalachan.LocalcolorismisauniquevariationoftheAmericanliteraryrealism.Generally,theworksbylocalcoloristsareconcernedwiththelifeofasmall,well-definedregion.Thiskindoffictiondepictsthecharactersfromaspecifiedsettingorofanera,whicharemarkedbyitscustoms,dialects,landscape,orotherpeculiaritiesthathaveescapedstandardizingculturalinfluence.3.Whatisnaturalism?Inliterature,thetermreferstothetheorythatliterarycompositionshouldaimatadetached,scientificobjectivityinthetreatmentofnaturalman.Themovementisanoutgrowthof19th-centuryscientificthought,followingingeneralthebiologicaldeterminismofDarwin’stheory,ortheeconomicdeterminismofKarlMarx.Artistically,naturalisticwritingsareusuallyunpolishedinlanguage,lackinginacademicskillsandunwieldyinstructure.Philosophically,thenaturalistsbelievethattherealandtrueisalwayspartiallyhiddenfromtheindividual,orbeyondhiscontrolandthatmenarecontrolledandconditionedbyheredity,instinct,chanceandaboveallenvironment.NotablewritersofnaturalisticfictionwereStephenCrane,FrankNorris,SherwoodAndersonandTheodoreDreiser.4.Whatis“stream-of-consciousness”?StreamofconsciousnessisatermcoinedbyWilliamJamesinhisThePrinciplesofPsychologytodescribetheflowofthoughtsofthewakingmind.Nowitiswidelyusedinaliterarycontexttodescribetheunspokenthoughtsandfeelingsofthecharacters,withoutresorting(jiezhu)toobjectivedescriptionorconventionaldialogue.ItwasadaptedanddevelopedbyJoyce,V.Woolf,andothers.Theabilitytorepresentthefluxofacharacter’sthought,impressions,emotions,orreminiscences,oftenwithoutlogicalsequenceorsyntax,markedarevolutionintheformofnovelatthattime.5.WhatistheLostGeneration?TheLostGenerationreferstothedisillusioned(awaken)intellectualsandartistsoftheyearsfollowingtheFirstWorldWar,whorebelledagainstformeridealsandvaluesbutcouldreplacethemonlybydespairofacynicalbedonism.TheremarkofGertrudeStein,“Youarealostgeneration,”addressedtoHemingway,wasusedasaprefacetothelatter’snovelTheSunalsoRises,whichbrilliantlydescribesthoseexpatriates(yimin)whohadcutthemselvesofffromtheirpastinAmericainordertocreatenewtypesofwriting.6.WhatisBlackHumor?Blackhumorisatypeofmodernhumorthatiscausedbyanger.Itoftendescribesgruesomeevents,whicharenormallyassociatedwithpleasantoccasions,thusproducingthecongruouseffectforhumor.Blackhumorattacksonsocialmoresthroughshockinglanguageandoffensiveimagery.Blackhumorisakindofdesperatehumor.Itisthelaughterattragicthings.Inthismeaninglessworld,accordingtoBlackHumorists,man’sfateisdecidedbyincomprehensivepowers.Wecan’tdoanythingaboutit;thereforewemayaswelllaugh.Sardonicandimaginative20th-centuryAmericanwritersoftenusedthenoveltoridiculesociety.SuchnovelistsasThomasPynchon,JohnBarth,andKurtVonnegut,cametobeknownastheblackhumorists,becauseoftheirdarklycomicwritings.7.WhatistheBeatGeneration?BeatGenerationisagroupofAmericanwritersofthe1950swhosewritingexpressedprofounddissatisfactionwithcontemporaryAmericansocietyandendorsedanalternativesetofvalues.Theyrejectedtraditionalformsandsoughtexpressioninthebeatificillumination.Thetermsometimesisusedtorefertothosewhoembracedtheideasofthesewriters.TheBeatGeneration’sbest-knownfigureswerewritersAllenGinsberg,LawrenceFerlinghettiandJackKerouac.8.WhatarethethematicconcernsandtheartisticcharacteristicsofEmilyDickinson’spoetry?EmilyDickinsonisAmerica’sbest-knownfemalepoet.Herpoetrycoverstheissuesvitaltohumanity,whichincludereligion,death,immortality,love,andnature.Herpoemshavenotitles,hencearealwaysquotedbytheirfirstlines.Inherpoetry,thereisaparticularstresspattern,inwhichdashesareusedasamusicaldevicetocreatecadenceandcapitallettersasameansofemphasis.Amasterofimagerythatmakesthespiritualmaterializeinsurprisingways,Dickinsonmanagedmanifoldvariationswithinhersimpleform.Duetoherdeliberateseclusion,herpoemstendtobeverypersonalandmeditative.Dickinson’spoetry,despiteitsostensibleobviousformalsimplicity,isremarkableforitsvariety,subtletyandrichness;andherlimitedprivateworldhaveneverconfin