美国文学课件1

《美国文学课件1》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《美国文学课件1（222页珍藏版）》请在装配图网上搜索。

1、Unit 5 American LiteratureIntroduction Brief Outline of American LiteraturePart I Colonial PeriodPart II Revolutionary PeriodBenjamin Franklin Philip FreneauPart III American RomanticismWashington IrvingJames Fenimore CooperEdgar Allan PoeNathaniel HawthornePart IV Realism(1861-1914)Mark TwainHenry

2、JamesNaturalismStephen CraneTheodore DreiserPart V The 1920s T.S.EliotWilliam FaulknerErnest Hemingway(Lost Generation)Imagism Ezra PoundPart VI The 1930sSteinbeckHarlem Renaissance(Black American literature)HughesWrightEllisonPart VII American DramaEugene ONeillPart VIII The Post-war SceneSaul Bell

3、owSalingerIntroduction1.What is literature?Writings that are valued as works of art,esp.fiction,drama and poetry.2.Forms(genres)of literature?Poetry,novel(fiction),drama,prose,essay,epic,elegy,short story,journalism,sermon,(auto)biography,travel accounts,novelette,etc.Puritanism in America1.They fol

4、low the ideas of the Swiss reformer John Calvin.2.Doctrines:-Predestination-Original sin and total depravity(human beings are basically evil.)-Limited atonement(or the Salvation of a selected few)3.Puritan values(creeds):Hard work,thrift,piety,sobriety,simple tastes.Puritans are more practical,tough

5、er,and to be ever ready for any misfortune and tragic failure.They are optimistic.Puritanism in America4.Why did Puritans come to America?-to reform the Church of England-to have an entirely new church-to escape religious persecution*Gods chosen people*To seek a new Garden of Eden*To build“City of G

6、od on earth”Puritanism in America5.Influence-American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature.-American literature is based on a myth,i.e.the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden.-Puritanism can be compared with Chinese Confucianism.1.Col

7、onial period(1607-1775)Anne BradstreetEdward Taylor2.Revolutionary period(1775-1783)Benjamin FranklinPhilip Freneau3.Democratic Period(1783-1802)4.Romanticism(1820-1861)Washington IrvingEdgar Allan PoeNathaniel Hawthorne William Whitman*Transcendentalism*(New England Renaissance)Ralph Waldo EmersonF

8、illip ThoreauBrief Outline of American literature5.Realism(1861-1914)Mark TwainHenry James Naturalism:Stephen CraneTheodore Dreiser6.The 1920sT.S.EliotWilliam FaulknerErnest Hemingway(Lost Generation)Imagism:Ezra PoundBrief Outline of American literature7.The 1930sJohn SteinbeckHarlem Renaissance(Bl

9、ack American literature)HughesWrightEllison8.American DramaEugene ONeill9.The Post-war SceneSaul BellowSalingerPoetry:Confessional PoetryBlack Mountain PoetsSan Francisco RenaissanceThe Beat GenerationThe New York PoetsColonial Period(1607-1775)Part One Three major poets in colonial period:1.Anne Br

10、adstreet2.Michael Wigglesworth3.Edward Taylor 1.Anne Bradstreet(1612-1672)the first noted poetess in colonial period1.(1)Anne Bradstreets Works“Some verses on the Burning of Our House”“The Spirit and the Flesh”The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America(2)Anne Bradstreets Life*She was born and educat

11、ed in England.*At the age of 18,she came to America in 1630 with her father and husband.*She had 8 children.*She became known as the“Tenth Muse”who appeared in America2.Michael Wigglesworth(1631-1705)Work:“The Day of Doom”(1662)3.Edward Taylor(1642?-1729)Work:Preparatory MeditationFeatures of Coloni

12、al Poets1.They were servants of God.2.They faithfully imitated and transplanted English literary traditions.In English stylePuritan poetsPart TwoRevolutionary Period (1775-1783)“The Age of Reason”“American Enlightenment”Leading writers and their worksnThomas Jefferson(1743-1826):The Declaration of I

13、ndependence(1776)nThomas Paine(1737-1809):Common Sense(1776)n Benjamin FranklinAutobiography n Philip Freneau“The Wild Honey Suckle”1.Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790)(1)Works The Autobiography Poor Richards Almanack自传格言历书(2)LifeHe was born into a poor candle-makers family.He had very little education.He

14、 learned in school only for two years,but he was a voracious reader.At 12,he was apprenticed to his elder half-brother,a printer.At 16,he began to publish essays under the pseudonym“Silence Do good”.At 17,he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune.He set himself up as an independent printer

15、 and publisher.In 1727 he founded the Junto club.Franklins Contributions to ScienceHe was also remembered for effective street lighting,the Franklin stove,bifocal glasses and efficient heating devices.And for his lightning-rod,he was called“the new Prometheus who had stolen fire from heaven.”Frankli

16、ns Contributions to SocietyHe helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital.He founded an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania.And he helped found the American Philosophical Society.Franklins Contributions to the U.S.He was the only American to sign the four documents that created the United

17、 States:The Declaration of Independence,The Treaty of Alliance with France,The Treaty of Peace with England,The ConstitutionBenjamin Franklin was a spokesman for the new order of the 18th century enlightenmentThe Autobiography is a record of self-examination and self-improvement.The Autobiography is

18、 a how-to-do-it book,a book on the art of self-improvement.(for example,Franklins 13 virtues)Through telling a success story of self-reliance,the book celebrates,in fact,the fulfillment of the American dream.The Autobiography is in the pattern of Puritan simplicity,directness,and concision.(3)Evalua

19、tion2.Philip Freneau (1752-1832)“Poet of the American Revolution”“Father of American Poetry”“Pioneer of the New Romanticism”“A gifted and versatile lyric poet”Part ThreeAmerican Romanticism(1820-1860)General IntroductionRomanticism The term,Romanticism,is associated with imagination and boundlessnes

20、s,as contrasted with classicism,which is commonly associated with reason and restriction.The most profound and comprehensive idea of romanticism is the vision of a greater personal freedom for the individual.Romantic Attitudesn1.Appeals to imagination;use of the willing suspension of disbelief.n2.St

21、ress on emotion rather than reason;optimism,geniality.n3.Subjectivity:in form and meaning.Time RangenFrom the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil War.Ideals:nIdeals:Democracy and political equality became the ideals of the new nation.Social BackgroundnEconomic boom:Industrialis

22、mImmigration Westward expansionnoptimism and hope among people FeaturesnAmerican Romanticism was both imitative and independent.Imitative Independent Emerson and WhitmanEnglish and European Romanticists 1.Washington Irving(1783-1859)n“Father of American Imaginative literature”n“Father of the America

23、n short story”1)Worksa)A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty by Diedrich Knickerbocker 纽约外史 b)The Sketch Bookn“Rip Van Winkle”n“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”见闻札记 睡谷的传说 瑞普凡温克尔c)Bracebridge Hall 1822 d)Oliver Goldsmith 1840 e)Life of George Washington 185

24、5-1859 布雷斯布里奇庄园哥尔德斯密斯华盛顿传 2）LifenIrving was born into a wealthy New York merchant family.From a very early age,he began to read widely and write juvenile poems,essays and plays.Later,he studied law.nHis first book A History of New York,written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker,was a great suc

25、cess and won him wide popularity.nIn 1815,he went to England to take care of his family business there,and when it failed,had to write to support himself.nWith the publication of The Sketch Book,he won a measure of international recognition.Knickerbocker Rip Van Winkle nIn 1826,as an American diplom

26、atic attach,he was sent to Spain,where he gathered material for his writing.nFrom 1829 to 1832,he was secretary of the U.S Legation in London.nThen when he was fifty,he returned to America and bought“Sunnyside”,his famous home.There he spent the rest of his life,living a life of leisure and comfort,

27、except for a period of four years(1842-1846),when he was Minister to Spain.View of Sunnyside3）EvaluationnWashington Irving was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame.nThe short story as a genre in American literature began with Irvings The Sketch Book.nThe Ske

28、tch Book also marked the beginning of American Romanticism.2.James Fenimore Cooper(1789-1851)nnovelist1)Worksn Leatherstocking TalesnThe Pioneers 1823 4nThe Last of the Mohicans 1826 .2nThe Prairie 1827 5nThe Pathfinder 1840 3nThe Deerslayer 1841 .1nPrecaution 1820nThe Spy 1821 nThe Pilot 1823 2)Lif

29、enBorn into a rich land-holding family of New Jersey,Cooper was one of the new American authors who did not have to worry about money.nHe was sent to Yale at 14,but was expelled in his junior year because of improper behavior.nHe went and spent five years at sea;then,while still in his early twentie

30、s,he inherited his fathers vast fortune and settled down to a life of comfort and even luxury.nHis second book,The Spy,a novel about the American Revolution,proved to be an immense success.nHe was a prolific writer,wrote more than thirty novels.FictionnPrecaution,1820;nThe Spy,1821;nThe Pioneers,182

31、3;nThe Pilot,1824;nLionel Lincoln,1824;nThe Last of the Mohicans,1826;nThe Red Rover,1827;nThe Prairie,1827;nThe Red Rover,1827;nThe Red Rover,1828;nThe Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish,1829;nThe Water Witch,1830nThe Bravo,1831;nThe Heidenmauer,1832;nThe Headsman,1833;nThe Monikins,1835;nHomeward Bound,1838;nH

32、ome as Found,1838;nMercedes of Castile,1840;nThe Pathfinder,1840;nThe Deerslayer,1841;nThe Two Admirals,1842;nThe Wing-and-Wing,1842;nLe Mouchoir;an Autobiographical Romance,1843;nNed Myers,1843;nWyandotte,1843;nAfloat and Ashore,1844;nMiles Wallingford:A Sequel to Afloat and Ashore,1844;nSatanstoe,

33、1845;nThe Chain Bearer,1845;nThe Redskins,1846;nThe Crater,1847;nJack Tier,1848;nOak Openings,1849;nThe Sea Lions,1849;nThe Ways of the Hour,1850.Non-Fiction:nNotions of the Americans:Picked Up by a Travelling Bachelor,1828;nSketches of Switzerland,1836;nGleanings in Europe,1837;nThe American Democr

34、at,1838;nThe History of the Navy of the United States of America,1839 Contributions of CoopernThe creation of the famous Leatherstocking saga has cemented his position as our first great national novelist and his influence pervades American literature.nIn his thirty-two years(1820-1851)of authorship

35、,Cooper produced twenty-nine other long works of fiction and fifteen books.3）EvaluationnLeatherstocking Tales is a series of five novels about the frontier of American settlers.nNatty Bumppo represents the ideal American,living a virtuous and free life in Gods world.To him and to Cooper,the wildness

36、 is good,pure,perfect,where there is freedom not tainted and fettered by any forms of human institutions.nNatty Bumppo is a veritable embodiment of human virtues like innocence,simplicity,honesty and generosity,a man born with an immaculate sense of good and evil and right and wrong.nAnyhow,Cooper d

37、id help to introduce the“western tradition”into American literature.3.Edgar Allan Poe(1809-1849)father of modern short storyfather of detective storyfather of psychoanalytic criticism1)Worksa)Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesqueb)“MS.Found in a Bottle”C)“The Murders in the Rue Morgue”奇异怪诞故事集瓶子里发

38、现的手稿毛格街杀人案d)“The Fall of the House of Usher”e)“The Masque of the Red Death”f)“The Cask of Amontillado”厄舍古屋的厄舍古屋的倒塌倒塌红色死亡的化妆舞会一桶酒的故事g)The Ravenh)Israfel i)Annabel Lee j)To Helen乌鸦乌鸦伊斯拉菲尔伊斯拉菲尔安娜贝尔安娜贝尔李李致海伦致海伦k)The Poetic Principle l)The Philosophy of Composition诗歌原理诗歌原理 创作创作哲学哲学 2)LifenFamous American

39、 Poet,short-story writer and critic.3)Evaluation nPoe remained the most controversial and most misunderstood literary figure in the history of American literature.nEmerson dismissed him in three words“the jingle man”，Mark Twain declared his prose to be unreadable.And Whitman was the only famous lite

40、rary figure present at the Poe Memorial Ceremony in 1875.nIronically,it was in Europe that Poe enjoyed respect and welcome.nToday,Poes particular power has ensured his position among the greatest writers of the world.nThe majority of critics today,in America as well as in the world,have recognized t

41、he real,unique importance of Poe as a great writer of fiction,a poet of the first rank,and a critic of acumen and insight.His works are read the world over.His influence in world-wide in modern literature.4.Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)1)Worksa)Twice-Told Tales1837 b)Mosses from an Old Manse1843c)

42、The Scarlet Letter 1850Collections of short stories故事故事重述重述古宅青苔古宅青苔红字红字 d)The House of the Seven Gables1851 e)The Blithedale Romance 1852 f)The Marble Faun 1860七个尖角阁的房子七个尖角阁的房子福谷传奇福谷传奇大理石雕像大理石雕像g)“Young Goodman Brown”h)“The Ministers Black Veil”i)“Dr.Rappacinis Daughter”好小伙好小伙儿布朗儿布朗教长的教长的黑面纱黑面纱拉普齐拉普

43、齐尼博士的尼博士的女儿女儿 2)LifenHawthorne was born in Salem Massachusetts.n Some of his ancestors were men of prominence in the Puritan theocracy of seventeenth-century New England.nFrom 1836 to 1844 the Boston-centered Transcendentalist movement,led by Ralph Waldo Emerson,was an important force in New England

44、 intellectual circles.nThe Transcendentalists believed that human existence transcended the sensory realm,and rejected formalism in favor of individual responsibility.nHis later works show some Transcendentalist influence,including a belief in individual choice and consequence,and an emphasis on sym

45、bolism.As Americas first true psychological novel,The Scarlet Letter would convey these ideals;contrasting puritan morality with passion and individualism.nThe Scarlet Letter represents the height of Hawthornes literary genius;dense with terse descriptions.It remains relevant for its philosophical a

46、nd psychological depth,and continues to be read as a classic tale on a universal theme.Major Themes in Hawthornes Fiction nAlienation-a character is in a state of isolation because of self-cause,or societal cause,or a combination of both.nInitiation-involves the attempts of an alienated character to

47、 get rid of his isolated condition.nProblem of Guilt-a characters sense of guilt forced by the puritanical heritage or by society;also guilt vs.innocence.nPride-Hawthorne treats pride as evil.He illustrates the following aspects of pride in various characters:physical pride(Robin),spiritual pride(Go

48、odman Brown,Ethan Brand),and intellectual pride(Rappaccini).nPuritan New England-used as a background and setting in many tales.n Allegory-Hawthornes writing is allegorical,didactic and moralistic.nOther themes include individual vs.society,self-fulfillment vs.accommodation or frustration,hypocrisy

49、vs.integrity,love vs.hate,exploitation vs.hurting,and fate vs.free will.Hawthorne as a Literary Artist nFirst professional writer-college educated,familiar with the great European writers,and influenced by puritan writers.nHawthorne displayed a love for allegory and symbol.He dealt with tensions inv

50、olving:light versus dark;warmth versus cold;faith versus doubt;heart versus mind;internal versus external worlds.nHis writing is representative of 19th century,and,thus,in the mainstream due to his use of nature,its primitiveness,and as a source of inspiration;also in his use of the exotic,the gothi

51、c,and the antiquarian.Features of his worksnsetting nthemes nIdea nFeaturentechniquePuritan New EnglandEvil&sin“black vision”toward human beingsAmbiguitysymbolismThe Scarlet LetternHester nChillingworthnDimmesdale nPearl SinEvilAdulteryAbilityAngelTable of ContentsNew England TranscendentalismRalph

52、Waldo EmersonHenry David ThoreauHerman MelvilleHenry Wadsworth LongfellowWalt WhitmanEmily DickinsonMark TwainStephen CraneHenry JamesNew England TranscendentalismNew England Transcendentalism 1.It is the summit of American Romanticism.2.Leaders:Emerson and Thoreau 3.Manifesto:Nature written by Ralp

53、h Waldo Emerson in 1836,which is regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism.4.Major features(ideas):1)Placing emphasis on spirit,or the Oversoul,as the most important thing in the universe.-a new way of looking at the world 2)Stressing the importance of the individualself-reliance.-a new

54、 way of looking at man3)Offering fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the spirit or God.(Nature was alive,filled with Gods overwhelming presence.It was the garment of the Oversoul.)“The Universe is composed of Nature and the Soul.”“Spirit is present everywhere.”The individual soul communed with

55、 the Oversoul and was therefore divine.5.InfluencenNew England Transcendentalism was important to American literature.nIt inspired a whole new generation of famous authors as Emerson,Thoreau,Hawthorne,Melville,Whitman and Dickinson.nAnd it inspired one of Americas most prolific literary periods in i

56、ts history.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)nAmerican philosopher,poet and essayistnThe most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.WorksWorks Essays:1.Nature 18362.American Scholar 18373.Divinity School Address 18384.Essay(two series)1841 18445.Representative Men 18506.English Traits 185

57、67.The Conduct of Life 18608.Society and Solitude 18709.Letters and Social Aims 1876 10.Self-Reliance 1841Poems:1.Poems 18472.May Day 18673.Concord Hymn 18374.The Rhodora 18465.The Humble Bee 18476.Days 1857Lifeu Waldo was born May 25,1803,the fourth of eight children.uHis father died when Waldo was

58、 eight,leaving the family without financial support.lHis mother Ruth sold her husbands library(which became the Boston Athenaeum),took in boarders and worked as a maid.lThey often had not enough to eat.Waldo and his brother Charles had only one overcoat between them.Taunting schoolfellows asked,Whos

59、e turn is it to wear the great-coat today?nWaldo entered Harvard at 14.After graduation from the College he opened a finishing school for girls,but he did not enjoy school teaching.nIn 1825,Emerson gave up his teaching to enter Harvard Divinity School to study theology.nIn 1832,Emerson toured Europe

60、,meeting such major English poets as Wordsworth,Carlyle,and Coleridge.nThrough his acquaintance with these men he became closely involved with German idealism and Transcendentalism.nIn 1833 Emerson began a new career as a lecturer.He made Concord his home and lived there for the rest of his life.The

61、 sum-up of Emersons ideasnEmerson advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature.nIn his opinion,man is made in the image of God and is just a little less than Him.nHis Nature,which is generally regarded as the Bible of Transcendentalism,records his“moment of ecstasy”(妙悟妙悟时刻时

62、刻),the moment of losing ones individuality.nEmerson believes that man should and could be self-reliant.nThe world exists for the individual and man should decide upon their own destinies.nEmersons idea was an expression of the spirit of his time,the hope that man can become the best person he could

63、hope to be.nNature as symbolic of God.In the eyes of Emerson,“nature is the vehicle of thought,”and“particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts”.nThus everything bears a secondary and an ulterior sense.A flowing river indicates the ceaseless motion of the universe.The seasons

64、correspond to the life span of man.The ant is the image of man himself,small in body but mighty in heart.This is why Emerson called his most important work Nature rather than anything else.Emersons influencenEmerson embodied a new nations desire and struggle to assert its own identity in its formati

65、ve period.nHe called for an independent culture,which represented the desire of the whole nation to develop a culture of its own.nNature,the Bible of Transcendentalism n“The American Scholar”,regarded as“Declaration of Intellectual Independence”n“Self-Reliance”,the importance of cultivating oneself

66、n“Each and All”,a poem in celebration of the wholeness.“Each is part of all,and all is in each.”EvaluationEvaluationnDuring his lifetime he was considered one of the two or three best writers in America,and certainly the most influential among his contemporaries.nHis influence extended beyond his own century.Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)nAmerican writer,philosopher,and naturalist nAmerican essayist and poetnLeader of American Transcendentalism Works1.Walden,or Life in the Woods 18542.Civil Dis