同济大学英语系美国文学史-American-Romanticism-Transcendentalis

NewEnglandTranscendentalismImportance:thesummitofAmericanRomanticism.Representatives:AgroupofNewEnglanders,RalphWaldoEmerson,HenryDavidThoreauandMargaretFuller,about30people,mostlyteachersandclergymen,formedaTranscendentalistClubandmetregularlytodiscussmattersofinterestandpublishedajournal,TheDial（《日晷》）toexpresstheiropinions.TranscendentalismThetermisderivedfromtheLatinverb“transcendere”meaning,toriseabove,orpassbeyondthelimits.Transcendentalismhasbeendefinedastherecognitioninmanofthecapabilityofacquiringknowledgeorofknowingtruthintuitively,orofreachingthedivinewithouttheneedofanintercessor.人人心中都有一个可以通过直觉的内省来认识的上帝，……要敢于不通过任何中介或掩饰去爱上帝，包括牧师，教会等……Whatdoes“transcendentalism”mean?ThewordTranscendentalism,meaningthatknowledgecanbeobtainedthroughmentalprocessapartfromexperiences,wasaKantianterm,denoting,asEmersonputit,“whateverbelongstotheclassofintuitivethought.”Emersonalsosaid,Transcendentalismmeansidealism.MenpossessthegiftofintuitionMenpossessthegiftofinsightMenpossessthegiftofinspirationWhatdidTranscendentalistsbelieve?Themostimportantthingintheuniverseisspirit,ortheOversoul.TheTranscendentalistsstresstheimportanceoftheindividual.TheTranscendentalistshaveafreshperceptionofnatureassymbolicofGod.theOversoulTheOversoul(God)isanall-pervadingpower,omnipotentandomnipresent,existinginnatureandmanalike.(similarconceptofNeo-Platonism)人人心中都存在一种能使其心灵认知自然之美得东西，这种抽象，无形，存在于心灵之中的东西即为超灵。onecanreconcilebodyandsoul(whichispartof“UniversalSoul”or“Oversoul,”sourceofalllifeThisoffersanewwayoflookingattheworldinsteadoftheNewtonianconceptoftheuniverse(18th-century,theworldmadeupofmatter).PantheismPantheism:AdoctrineidentifyingtheDeitywiththeuniverseanditsphenomena.GodisnotapersonalityasinChristianity.Theism:Beliefintheexistenceofagodorgods,especiallybeliefinapersonalGodascreatorandruleroftheworldAtheism:DisbeliefinordenialoftheexistenceofGodorgods.SongofMyselfICELEBRATEmyself,andsingmyself,AndwhatIassumeyoushallassume,Foreveryatombelongingtomeasgoodbelongstoyou.Iloafeandinvitemysoul,Ileanandloafeatmyeaseobservingaspearofsummergrass.theimportanceoftheindividual.Theidealtypeofmanistheself-reliantindividualthroughtheperfectionofwhomtheregenerationofsocietycanbeachieved.Thisoffersanewwayoflookingatman.ItisareactionagainstCalvinistconceptthatmanisdepraved,sinful,andcanonlybesavedthroughthegraceofGod.Itisalsoareactionagainstdehumanization,comingatthewakeofcapitalism.individualismBetruetoone’sowninnerperceptionorintuitionUnlimitedpotentialofeachindividualIfIKnowitistruth,thenitistruth.NatureistruthTheTranscendentalistshaveafreshperceptionofnatureassymbolicofGod.NatureisthegarmentoftheOversoul.自然是人之心灵的表象。Naturecanbeaguidetohigherunderstanding.Thingsinnaturetendtobecomesymbolic.Thephysicalworldisasymbolofthespiritual.importanceNewEnglandTranscendentalismwasimportanttoAmericanliterature.ItinspiredawholenewgenerationoffamousauthorssuchasEmerson,Thoreau,Hawthorne,Melville,WhitmanandDickinson.apejorativetermThemovementwasoriginallytermedTranscendentalistsasapejorativeterm,suggestingtheirpositionwasbeyondsanityandreason.(P56)CriticismEdgarAllanPoehadadeepdislikefortranscendentalism.Heridiculedtheirwritingsinparticularbycallingthemmetaphor-run,lapsingintoobscurityforobscurity'ssakeormysticismformysticism'ssake.”Questions:1.DefinetheliterarytermAmericanRomanticismandTranscendentalism.2.WhataretheforeigninfluencestoAmericanliterature?3.WhataretheuniquefeaturesofAmericanRomanticism?4.Themeaningofoversoul