美国文学

General Introduction to American Literature

The Colonial Period

? Colonial period (1607-1765): imitation of the European.

? Two group of immigration to America puritans &common people ? American Dream

? The Romantic period (from the end of the 18th C to the outbreak of the Civil

War).

? Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. ? ―The American Renaissance‖.

A rising America with its ideals of democracy and equality, its industrialization its westward expansion, and a variety of foreign influences such as Sir Walter Scott were among the important factors, which make literary expansion and expression, not only possible but also inevitable in the period immediately following the nation’s political independence.

American Romanticism culminated around the 1840s in what has come to be known as ―New England Transcendentalism‖ or ―American Renaissance‖. Major figures of this period involve Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, and Edgar Allan Poe. The Realism Period

? The Civil War (1861—1865) It came as a reaction against ―the lie of

romanticism and sentimentalism‖.

? It expresses the concern for the commonplace and the low, and offers an

objection rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.

? The leading figures are William Dean Howells, Mark Twain and Henry

James.

? In the last decade of the 19th C, with the development of industry of modern

science, intelligent minds began to see that in the chance world, man was both helpless and hopeless. European writers like Emile Zola had already

developed this acute social consciousness. They saw man’s life as governed by the two forces of heredity and environment, forces absolutely beyond man’s control.

? Literary naturalism came into being. Three American writers deserve special treatment: Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, O. Henry, and Jack London. The Modernism Period

? The 20th Century began with a strong sense of social breakdown.

? World War I, became the emblem of all wars in the 20th C, which means violence, devastation, blood and death. ? ―seize the day‖ , ―enjoy the present‖

? The Lost Generation:

? Ernest Hemingway; F. Scott Fitzgerald

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? Imagists:

? Ezra Pond; T. S. Eliot; W. C. Williams; E. E. Cummings ? New England Poet: ? Robert Frost ? Dramatists:

? Eugene O’Neill; Norman Miller; Tennessee Williams; Arthur Miller;

Edmond Albee

? Women Writers: Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Toni

Morrison,

? Southern Writers:

? William Faulkner, John Steinbeck ? Harlem Renaissance:

? Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison ? Jewish Writers:

? Saul Bellow, J. D. Salinger, John Updike, ? Chinese-American Writers:

? Maxine Hong (汤婷婷), Amy Tan（谭艾美） ? Post-Modernism:

? Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, John Bath, Thomas Pynchon ? Beat Generation:

? Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac

American Puritanism

In 1780, three out of every four Americans were of English or Irish background, and the English language, customs and laws were transplanted to the colonies. Settlers of other countries were required to adhere to English standards. And quite a few of the first settlers were Puritans.

The Puritans were members of the Church of England who wished to reform or ―purify‖ its doctrines. The Puritans followed many of the ideas of the Swiss reformer John Calvin. The Puritans came to America and established their own religious and moral principles known as American Puritanism which became one of the enduring influences in American thought and literature. American Puritans stressed

Predestination, original sin, total depravity, and limited atonement (or the salvation of a selected few) from God’s grace.

Beliefs of the Puritanism 1) Predestination （命运天定）

— God decides everything before things occur. All events are foreknow and foreordained by God. 2). Original sin 原罪

— Human beings are born to be evil, and this original sin can be passed down from generation to generation.

3) Total depravity人类是完全堕落的

— It refers to humanity’s utter corruption since the Fall. 4) Limited atonement from God’s grace 有限救赎

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— God decides who is to be saved and who was to be damned. Christ died for the elect only, and only the ―elect‖ can be saved. Influence of Puritanism

1) A group of good qualities influenced American life and literature, such as hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety (serious and thoughtful).

2) It led to the everlasting myth—Garden of Eden. The Puritans looked upon

themselves as a chosen people, and they came to America, which they looked as the ―promised land‖ that God rewards to his chosen people, to restore the Garden of Eden. And American literature based on this myth.

Benjamin Franklin

Life Story

Franklin was a printer, postmaster, almanac writer, essayist, scientist, orator, statesman, philosopher, political economist, ambassador, parlor man, and

businessman. He was born in Boston, the tenth son in the family. At the age of 12, he was apprenticed to his brother, a newspaper printer. Later, he went to Philadelphia and began to run his own printing house. After his retirement at the age of 42, he devoted himself to scientific activities. Besides, he made great contribution in the Independence War. He died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84 as one of the most beloved Americans. Literary works

Poor Richard’s Almanac

—It was published from 1732 to 1758 under the name of Richard Saunders. In the almanac Franklin gives advice in maxims, that is proverbs with practical wisdom. Autobiography

—This is Franklin’s most important work. It has lasting charm to those who are pursuing their American dream in America. Writing Style

? Franklin’s style of writing was clear and even plain in his time, but for

modern readers, it is a bit hard to read.

? His style is rather formal, but the organization of his material is informal. ? His writing is full of his humor and satire. Significance

a) The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was probably the first of its kind in

literature.

b) He was the first self-made man in America. He was considered as the symbol

of American dream by the young generation.

c) The symbol of America in the age of Enlightenment, he brought the colonial

era to a close.

d) He was called ―the new Prometheus who had stolen fire (electricity in this

case) from heaven.‖

e) He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the American Philosophical

Society.

f) Everything seems to meet in this one man— ―a Jack of all trades‖. List of Virtues

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? 1. TEMPERANCE.

Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. ? 2. SILENCE.

Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. ? 3. ORDER.

Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

? 4. RESOLUTION.

Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve. ? 5. FRUGALITY.

Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing. ? 6. INDUSTRY.

Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

? 7. SINCERITY.

Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly. ? 8. JUSTICE.

Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty. ? 9. MODERATION.

Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. ? 10. CLEANLINESS.

Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation. ? 11. TRANQUILLITY.

Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable. ? 12. HUMILITY.

Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Poor Richard’s Almanac

? God helps them that help themselves.

? He that by the plow would thrive himself must either hold or drive. ? There are no gains without pains.

? Diligence is the mother of good luck.

? Industry pays debts while despair increases them. ? Eat to live, but not live to eat.

? Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.

? Glass, China and Reputation are easily cracked and never well mended. ? Lost time is never found again.

? If you would be loved, love and be loveable. American Dream

The American Dream is the faith held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through finacial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. Nowadays the

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American Dream has led to an emphasis on material wealth as a measure of success and happines。

Transcendentalism and the Representatives

American Romanticism

The Romantic Period in America, one of the most important periods in the history of American literature, stretches from the end of the eighteenth century through the outbreak of the Civil War. This period is sometimes known as the Americn Renaisance. This period marks the full coming of age of distinctively American literature. Representatives 1) Early Romantics:

Washinton Irving (1783-1859)

He was one of the first American writers to earn an international reputation ―Rip Van Winkle‖

―The Legend of Sleepy Hollow‖

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851)

By his writing, Cooper that part of American mythology most popular today: the story of the cowboy and the American West.

―The Leatherstocking Tales‖ (his masterpiece, a series of five novels: The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, and The Prairie.) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) 2) The Summit of Romanticism: a) Transcendentalists/Essayists:

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) b) Novelists:

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) Herman Melville (1819-1891) c) Poets:

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) d) Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) New England Transcendentalism

The phase of New England Transcendentalism is the summit of American Romanticism. It was, in essence, Romanticism on Puritan soil. It was started by a group of people who were members of an informal club, the Transcendental Club, in New England in the 1830s. Transcendentalism has been defined philosophically as ―the recognition I man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively, or of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses‖. Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism include the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the

individual is divine and, therefore, self-reliant. Emerson’s Nature published in 1836, which marked the appearance of the Transcendentalism. The transcendentalists

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