美国文学选读复习手册.doc

1、1美国文学选读复习资料浪漫主义American Romanticism The Romantic Period stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It is a period of the great flowering of American literature. The social and cultural background of RomanticismThe young Republic was flourishing into a politically, e

2、conomically and culturally independent country. The Romantic writings revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature. The American Puritan

3、ism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values. 爱默生Emerson = The chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism 超验主义He was a descendent of a long line of New England clergymen 牧师【pastor】. American TranscendentalismAs a philosophical and literary movement, American T

4、ranscendentalism (also known as “ American Renaissance”) flourshed in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War. It is the high tide of American romanticism and its doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Emerson and Thoreau. Transcendentalists spoke for the cultural rejuvenation and

5、against the materialism of American society.Transcendentalism 超验主义(+ H. D. Thoreau; Nathaniel Hawthorne; )The major features of Transcendentalism: The Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. 思想 超灵 宇宙 The Transcendentalists stressed

6、the importance of the individual. To them, the individual is the most important element of Society. 个体+社会 The Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was not purely matter. It was alive, filled with Gods overwhelming presence. 自然+ 上帝Emersons 代

7、表作： Nature；Self-Reliance ；The American Scholar；The Over-soul；H. D. Thoreau 梭罗 and his workWalden 瓦尔登湖 not only fully demonstrates Emersonian ideas of self-reliance but also develops and tests Thoreaus own transcendental philosophy. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 朗费罗Features of Longfellows poetic worksCh

8、ief romantic tendencies as humanitarian attitude, love of nature and love of beauty.The first American poet to write narrative poems.Conventional style and subjectsGenerally simple ideas expressed musically and powerfully.Simplicity and detachment from the deep problems of contemporary lifeDaybreak；

9、The Bells2William Faulkner(1897-1962 1949 Nobel price“Stream of Consciousness” 意识流 or “interior monologue”,内心独白 is one of the modern literary techniques. It is the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a characters thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images

10、as the character experiences them. It was first used in 1922 by the Irish novelist James Joyce. The Sound and the Fury (1929) 人物? As I Lay Dying (1930)Light in the August ( 1932)Absalom, Absalom (1936)Go Down Moses (1942)Ernest Hemingway Iceberg Principle (Theory):冰山法则The dignity of movement of the

11、iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. Code heroa noble but tragic hero; fighting with the overwhelming force; though he knows that he will be defeated at last, he decides to act like a hero. In one sense Hemingway wrote all his life about one theme, which is neatly summed up in

12、the famous phrase “grace under pressure”Major Works:The Sun Also Rises 1926 (Jake Barnes)A Farewell to Arms 1928 (a tragic story about war and love) (Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley)For Whom the Bell Tolls 1940 (Spanish civil war) (Robert Jordan)The Old Man and the Sea 1952 (Santiago)Herman Mel

13、ville代表作：白鲸 Moby Dick Other Works are: Billy Budd,Typee, Omoo, Mardi. Symbolism in Moby Dick：It is regarded as the first American prose epic. 散文史诗？It turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth 寻找真理 and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into mans deep reality

14、 and psychology. Different people on board the ship are representations of different ideas and different social and ethnic groups; facts become symbols and incidents acquire universal meanings; the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becomes a search for truth. The white whale, M

15、oby Dick, symbolizes nature for Melville, for it is complex, unfathomable 难以理解的, malignant 恶性的, and beautiful as well. Realism 浪漫主义之后，现代主义之前As a literary movement, the Age of Realism came into existence after Romanticism with the Civil War It was a reaction against “the lie” of Romanticism and senti

16、mentalism, and paved the way to Modernism. This literary interest in the so-called “reality” of life started a new period in the American literary writing known as The Age of Realism. Psychological Realism It is the realistic writing that probes deeply into the complexities of characters thoughts an

17、d motivations. And Henry James is considered the founder of psychological realism. He believed that reality lies in the impressions made by life on the spectator, and not in any facts of which the spectator 3is unaware. Such realism is therefore merely the obligation that the artist assumes to repre

18、sent life as he sees it.The three dominant figures of the period are William Dean Howells 豪威尔斯, Mark Twain, and Henry James. Mark Twain and Howells seemed to have paid more attention to the “life” of the Americans, and Henry James had apparently laid greater emphasis on the “inner world” of man. Wil

19、liam Dean Howells：The Rise of Silas LaphamHenry James：The Portrait of a Lady (Isabel Archer; Madam Merle; Gilbert Osmond)Daisy Miller (Daisy; Mr. Winterbourne; Mr. Giovanelli)Mark Twain = Samuel Langhorne Clemens Missouri Writing: humor and local colorism 地方特色The characteristics of local colorismTwa

20、in preferred to have his own region and people at the forefront of his stories. This particular concern about the local character of a region came about as “local colorism,” a unique variation of American literary realism. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” brought him recognition fr

21、om a wider public. His best works were produced when he was in the prime of his life：Life on the Mississippi Twice-Told Tales; The Marble Faun; The House of the Seven GablesHe is a master of symbolism, which he took from the Puritan tradition 清教徒传统 and bequeathed to American literature in a revivifi

22、ed form.In his masterpiece, by using Pearl as a thematic symbol, Hawthorne emphasizes the consequence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and people living in that community. With the scarlet A as the biggest symbol of all, which is ambiguous, he proves himself to be one of the best sym

23、bolists. American Naturalism 自然主义The impact of Darwins evolutionary theory 达尔文进化论 on the American thought and the 19th century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to another school of realism: American naturalism. The naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral 与道德无关的, th

24、at men and women had no free will, that lives were controlled by heredity 遗传 and environment, that the destiny of 4humanity was misery in life and oblivion 湮没 in death. Americas literary naturalists dismissed the validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and

25、frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were determined by their environment and heredity. 代表作家Stephen Crane；Frank Norris；Theodore Dreiser；Edwin Arlington Robinson；Upton Sinclair；Jack London；O HenryStephen Crane：Maggie: A Girl of the Streets；The Red Badge of Courage；T

26、he Open Boat；The Black Riders and Other Lines；War Is KindEdwin Arlington Robinson：Richard CoryJack London：The Call of the Wild；The White Fang；The Sea Wolf；Martin EdenUpton Sinclair：The Jungle O.Henry (William Sydney Porter)：The Gift of the Magi；The Cop and the anthemTheodore Dreiser：Trilogy of Desir

27、e:1.The Financier2. The Titan3. The Stoic；Sister Carrie； Jennie Gerhardt；An American TragedyThe 20th Century American Poets：Two characteristic strains：introspection 自省 Hugh Selwyn Mauberley; In a Station of the Metro; CathayWilliam Carlos Williams: The Red WheelbarrowE.E.Cummings: L(a; r-p-o-p-h-e-s

28、-s-a-g-r Wallace Stevens: Anecdote of the JarThe 20th Century American Poets:Major Features1. The relationship of art and life; reality and imagination; fact and miracle; chaos and order.2. References to painting, music, and color.3. Abstract, philosophical, and difficult. He saw poetry as a persona

29、l transaction between self and reality.4. Meticulous language, though frequently exotic; coined words, and some are employed simply for sound effects.5Robert Frost: Fire and Ice; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening; The Road Not TakenMajor Features: 1. His verse was terrifying at first, showing the

30、 dark side of human life and society. Later, filled with sunshine. 2.New England as the setting; The subjects come from daily life of ordinary life;Rural poetry in pastoral tradition. ( Wordsworth; Emerson)3.His themes include landscape and people of New England, loneliness and poverty of isolated f

31、armers, beauty, terror and tragedy in nature.Simple language, a graceful style and traditional forms of poetry.诗歌鉴赏：In both “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening“ and “The Road Not Taken,“ the speaker hesitates on route. Compare the hesitations. Do they derive from the same impulse and misgiving or

32、are they distinct?Langston Hughes: The first prominent black writer in American literary history.Poet Laureate of Harlem Eugene ONeill (1936); Pearl S. Buck (1938); T.S. Eliot (1948); William Faulkner (1949); Ernest Hemingway (1954); John Steinbeck (1962)Sinclair Lewis Main Street (masterpiece) (a b

33、itter satire on the life style of American small towns) Carol Milford / Will Kennicott Babbitt Some other famous writers and poets:Sherwood Anderson: Winesburg, Ohio; Hands; Paper PillsF. Scott. Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby; This Side of Paradise; Tender is the Night; The Beautiful and the DamnedThe

34、 Last Tycoon ( unfinished)John Dos PassosEzra PoundRobert FrostAmerican DreamThe is the idea held by many in the United States that through hard work, courage and determination one could achieve prosperity 繁荣. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequ

35、ent generations. The term was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America. He states: “The American Dream is “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. .It is not a drea

36、m of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.“ In t

37、he United States Declaration of Independence 独立宣言 , our founding fathers: “held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.“ .The Post-War P

38、eriod 战后Literature：This period is the rising period of post-modern literature. Many forms of post-modern fiction appeared. The same mood in this period is despair, but continuing to search absurdity 荒谬 of modern life; lonely, but searching for the meaning of existence; identity. The Beat Generation

39、行为怪癖的一代The Beat Generation is a group of American young writers and artists popular in the 1950s and early 1960s, known especially for their use of non-traditional forms and their rejection of conventional social values. The term “Beat“ was reportedly coined by Jack Kerouac in the late 1940s, quickl

40、y becoming a slang term in America after World War II, meaning “exhausted“ or “beat down“ and provided this generation with a definitive label for their personal and social positions and perspectives. The core group consisted of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and William S. Burroughs。Jac

41、k Kerouac：On the Road (1957),Allen Ginsberg：Howl (1956)7William S. Burrough：Naked Lunch (1959). Black HumorTo deal with tragic things in comic ways to make it more powerful and more tragic.It refers to the use of morbid 病态的 and absurd 荒谬的 for darkly comic purpose. It carries the tone of anger, bitte

42、rness in the grotesque situation of suffering, anxiety, and death. It makes the reader laugh at the blackness of modern life. The writers usually do not laugh at the characters.代表人物：Thomas Pynchon + Joseph HelleJoseph Heller：Catch-22 第 22 条军规It is not only a war novel, but also a novel about peoples

43、 life in peaceful time. This novel attacked the dehumanization of all contemporary institutions and corruptions of individuals who gain power in institutions. Armed-forces are the most outrageous example of the two evils.Walt WhitmanThe first edition of Leaves of Grass was published in 1855. In this

44、 giant work, openness, freedom, and above all, individualism are all that concerned him. What he prefers for his new subject and new poetic feelings is “free verse”自由诗体, that is , poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme. The poets essential purpose was to identify his ego with the world,

45、 and more specifically with the democratic “en-masse”同一地 of America, which is established in the opening lines of “Song of Myself”.Writing features of Whitman1. A singer for the ideals of equality , democracy and human dignity.2. Songs for himself, for the labour of common American people, natural c

46、reation, the independence of the country, love and friendship, and for the memorizing of President Lincoln.3. Free verse, rhythmical unit, phonetic recurrence.Emily Dickinson：I Died for Beauty；Because I could not stop for DeathEmily was an energetic and outgoing woman while attending the Academy and Seminary. Most of her poems are about life and nature. They are short; many of them are based on a single image or symbol.Ps.The Colonial Period and the Revolution PeriodAmerican PuritanismAnne BradstreetEdward TaylorPhilip FreneauBenjamin Franklin8