1、南师美国文学笔记Brief Introduction1. War of Independent periodBenjamin Franklin (17061790)2. American Romanticism(1) TranscendentalismRalph Waldo Emerson (18031882)3. American Romanticism(2)Nathaniel Hawthorne (18041864)Walt Whitman (18191892)Emily Dickinson (18301886)Edgar Allan Poe (18091849)4. American R
2、ealismMark Twain (18351910)Stephen Crane (18711900)Theodore Dreiser (18711945)5. ModernismThe Roaring Twenties/ Lost GenerationFrancis Scott Fitzgerald (18961940)Robert Lee Frost (18741963)Ernest Hemingway (18991961)War of Independent periodBenjamin Franklin Representatives1. Benjamin Franklin (the
3、first person to pick out American dream and the 1st writer to write autobiography): Autobiography2. Thomas Paine: Common Sense 3. Thomas Jefferson: Declaration of IndependenceBenjamin Franklin (1706-1790) One of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. A noted polymath博学之人, Franklin was
4、 a leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, statesman and diplomat. Literary AchievementsMasterpiece Poor Richards Almanac 穷查 理历书Autobiography 自传 StyleClear and even plainFormal writing Literary PositionThe initiator of the Enlightenment in America.A
5、utobiographyBenjamin Franklin1. A puritan document A record of self-analysis, self-examination and self improvement. A convincing illustration of Puritan ethic.2. Voice of American Enlightenment To illustrate his belief in the perfectibility of human beings. The man is basically good and free, by na
6、ture endowed by God with certain inalienable rights of liberty then he settled down in Concord, and became the leading member of the transcendental club. Literary Achievements Nature (1836) 自然The manifesto of American Transcendentalism Essays, First & Second Series 随笔集 The American Scholar 美国学者（1837
7、） American Declaration of Intellectual Independence The Americans should write about here and now instead of imitating and importing from other lands. The Over-Soul 论超录Henry David Thoreau Literary Achievements1. Nature plays an important role in Thoreaus transcendentalist ideas.2. Walden 瓦尔登湖His mas
8、terpiece: a great transcendentalist work.Purposes: To make the reader evaluate the way he lived and thought. To reveal the hidden spiritual possibilities in everyones life. To condemn the weakness and errors of society, such as the pursuit of material things.American Romanticism(2)Nathaniel Hawthorn
9、e Walt WhitmanEmily Dickinson Edgar Allan Poe Historical Background1. The political independence The victory in American RevolutionThe extension of new American territory2. The boom of American economyBurgeoning industrialismGreat immigrationWestward expansion Literary BackgroundEuropean influence T
10、ime From the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War.(1861-1865) FeaturesA new emphasis upon the imaginative & emotional qualities.An increasing emphasis on the free expression of emotions.An increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters.Tend to moralize, to edify r
11、ather than to entertain. Representative of early American Romanticism Poetry William Cullen Bryant Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Fiction Washington Irving James Fennimore Cooper Representatives of high Romanticism Edgar Allan Poe Walt Whitman Emily DickinsonNathaniel Hawthorne (18041864) Life1. Family
12、backgrounda descendant of Puritan immigrant2. Education and the friendship with hid old classmates.3. His work experiences. Literary Achievements Novels The Scarlet Letter 红字（1850） The House of Seven Gables 七个尖角阁的房子（1851） The Blithedale Romance 福谷传奇（1852） The Marble Faun 玉石雕象（1860） Short stories Twi
13、ce-Told Tales 重述的故事The Ministers Black Veil 教长的黑面纱 Mosses From an Old Manse古屋青苔Goodman Brown 年轻小伙子布朗Rappaccinis Daughter 拉帕西尼医生的女儿 Writing Features1. Subject matter1 Great concern about the American Past, especially about Puritan.1 Great concern about man in society, rather than simply man in nature
14、. 2. Point of view1 The “black” vision of life and human beings. 2 Evil and sin not only exist in human soul, but also originate from his ancestors, and sin will get punished one way or another.3. Form and Style1 Romance Gothic in tone, mordantly analytical in narration.2 Good at exploring the compl
15、exity of human psychology.3 Allegoric in form and symbolic in style.4 Using ambiguity to keep the reader in a world of uncertainty.The Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne1. Setting of the novelThe 17th century Boston, Massachusetts.2. Focus of the storyAdulterous love between Hester and Arthur3. Theme
16、sConflict between “heart” and “mind”The nature of sin itself4. The scarlet letter “A”a symbolAdultery/AdultererAbleAngleArthur5. SignificanceHawthornes masterpieceThe first great American novelWalt Whitman (18191892) Literary Achievement Leaves of Grass(草叶集): Whitmans masterpiece1. Contents Developi
17、ng America Nature through describing and eulogizing American nature, Whitman extol the development of American capitalism and expresses his patriotism Labor and laboring people Democracy and freedom2. Style Free verse 自由体诗Poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme theme Parallelism Repetition Plai
18、n language Extremely long lines3. Symbolic meaning The poet himself The common people The flourishing developing America The vitality of American democratic ideas.4. ThemeThrough praising the leaves of grass, Whitman extols and glorifies: Democracy, freedom and equality The greatness of common labor
19、s The emergent America5. Literary Reputation An epoch-making work in American literature Its democratic content mark the shift from Romanticism to Realism. Its free-verse form breaks from old poetic conventions.“the Bible of Democracy”John Burrughs Literary Position1. “A mountain of American literar
20、y history”The first American poet to write free verseOne of the most original and inspiring American poetsThe precursor of 20th century American new poetry and the exploiter of modern poetry2. Huge impact on Chinese poetry in the May Fourth movement.Emily Dickinson (18301886) Life Family backgroundE
21、ducationHer inward and reclusive life Literary AchievementsNearly 1,800 poems Writing Features1. The recurring subject matter1 Nature2 Death and immortality3 The center of Dickinsons world4 Beauty, truth and goodness5 Individualism and spirituality2. Her poetic methods1 Severe economy of expression2
22、 Concentrated and concise3 Aphoristic style4 Irregular rhyme scheme5 Image6 Dash(): transition, jumps of thoughts, ellipsis7 Capitalization Literary PositionAmerican greatest poets and one of the foremost poets in American literatureThe precursor of the imagist movement.Washington Irving 华盛顿 欧文 Lite
23、rary Achievements The Sketch Book见闻札记: A collection of essays, sketches & tales Rip Van Winkle 李伯凡 文克 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Marks the beginning of American Romanticism Literary Position“Father of American literature” The 1st American writer to win international recognition. The 1st American sh
24、ort stories and the 1st American juvenile appeared in his sketch book.Edgar Allan Poe (18091849) Literary Achievements Poems (about 50) To Helen 给海伦（1831） The Raven 乌鸦（1845） Annabel Lee 安娜贝 李（1849） The Bells 钟声（1849） Short stories (about 70)1. Stories of mystery and horror The Fall of the House of U
25、sher The Black Cat Ligeia2. Stories of ratiocination or detective stories The Purloined Letter The Murders in the Rue Morgue Literary Theories The Review of Hawthornes Twice-told Stories 评霍桑（1840） The Philosophy of Composition 创作哲学（1846） The Poetic Principle 诗歌原理 （1850） Poetic Theories and Features1
26、. Literary belief1 Believing in writing and totality of impression2 The short story and the poem should be short readable at one sitting.3 Art for Arts Sake4 The chief aim of poetrythe creation of beauty 5 Being opposed to “the heresy of the didactic” and calling for “pure poetry”2. Thematic concern
27、1 Love, abnormal love2 Death & Beauty3 Illness4 Dying ladies3. Tone1 Awesome, sad, and melancholy4. Language1 Word music the interest of Poets poetry in its sound, rather than its content. Literary Position A great lyric poet1. World-wide influence in modern literatureFrench symbolismAestheticism2.
28、Father of many thingsPsychoanalytic criticismThe detective storiesAmerican Realism: Local Colorism, American NaturalismMark TwainStephen Crane Theodore Dreiser Historical Background:The Civil War (18611864): “The industrial North had triumphed over the agrarian South, and from that victory came a so
29、ciety based on mass labor and mass consumption.”“The Gilded Age”: “an age of extremes”“of decline and progress, of poverty and dazzling wealth, of gloom and buoyant hope”. RealismOrigin: Relisme, a literary doctrine that called for “reality and truth” in the depiction of ordinary life.Definition: “n
30、othing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of materials”. American Realism A verisimilitude逼真 of detail derived from observation A reliance on the representative in plot, setting and character An objective rather than an idealized view of human nature and experience Local colorism 地方色彩
31、主义1 First appeared in the late 1860s and early 1870s2 Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but never forget to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life.3 Local colorists formed an impor
32、tant part of the realistic movement. Their truthful depiction of the common people in their common place lives added strength to their fight for realism.Mark Twain (18351910) Life & careerFamily backgroundWork experienceReal name and the meaning of his pseudonym 假名 Real name: Samuel Langhorne Clemen
33、s Mark Twain: a phrase used by sailors in making soundings on the Mississippi riverboats, means “Two fathoms(12 feet deep)” Literary Achievements (Major works)1. The First period: humor and realism1 The Notorious Jumping Frog of the Calaver CountryHis 1st collection of short stories 2 Innocents Abro
34、adHis first collection of essays, assured his position as a leading author3 Roughing It4 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: a tale of boyish adventures in a Mississippi town5 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: the sequel to Tom Sawyer, his masterpiece2. The Second period: social criticism and satire1 Th
35、e Prince and the Pauper2 Life on the Mississippi3. The Third period: pessimism and bitter attack on the human race1 The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg Writing Features1. Colloquial languagehis great contribution to American literatureHe made colloquial speech an accepted, respected literary medium in
36、 the literary history of America2. Humor and SatireAmerican humor3. Local colorismLocal colloquial languageLocal background Local theme Literary Position1 A great humorist and an outstanding critical realistic writer.The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain Mark Twains masterpiece The first Amer
37、ican novel to speak in a truly American voice. American literary critic Lionel Trilling called Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn “one of the worlds greatest books and one of the central documents of American culture. The colloquial style has swept American literature and made books before H
38、uck Finn and after it quite different. American Naturalism1. Background Charles Darwins Origin of Species (1859): The struggle for existence, survival of the natural selection. Herbert Spencers social Darwinism: The weak and stupid would fall victim in the natural selection.2. Definition A more deli
39、berate kind of realism in novels, stories and plays, usually involving a view of human beings as passive victim of natural forces and social environment.3. Major Features Humans are controlled by laws of heredity and environment. The universe is cold, godless, indifferent and hostile to human desire
40、s.4. Writing Style Objective and truthful Scientifically accurate Factually detailed5. RepresentativesStephen Crane Theodore DreiserStephen Crane (18711900) Major WorksMaggie: A Girl of the Streets街头女郎麦琪: the first uncompromising naturalistic novel in America The Black Riders 黑骑手: his first book of
41、poemsThe Red Badge of Courage 红色英勇勋章 Literary Position Crane was a pioneer writing in the naturalistic tradition. He is now recognized as one of the two precursors of Imagist poetry.Theodore Dreiser (18711945)American novelist and journalist Major WorksSister Carriehis first novelSister CarrieTheodore Dreiser An American Tragedy The book is naturalistic in style, dealing with subjects such as religion, capital punishment, and abortion.In 2005, the novel was chosen as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to “the present“.Modernism
