常耀信《美国文学简史》笔记和考研真题详解(美国浪漫主义 欧文 库柏)【圣才出品】

第3章美国浪漫主义欧文库柏3.1 复习笔记I. Overview of American Romanticism（美国浪漫主义简介）In the history of American literature, the Romantic period is one of the most important periods. It stretched from the end of the eighteenth century through the outbreak of the civil war.美国文学中的浪漫主义时期开始于18世纪末，到南北战争爆发为止，是美国文学史上的重要阶段。

1. Background（背景）(1) A nation bursting into new life cried for literary expression. The buoyant mood of the nation and the spirit of the times seemed in some measure responsible for the spectacular outburst of romantic feeling. The literary milieu proved fertile and conductive to the imagination. Magazine appeared in ever-increasing numbers. They played an important role in facilitating literary expansion.(2) Foreign influences added incentive to the growth of romanticism. The Romantic Movement, which had flourished earlier in the century both in Englandand Europe, proved to be a decisive influence on the upsurge of American romanticism.(3) There is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider.(1) 生机勃勃、开创新生活的美国渴望有新的文学表达形式。

国家的上升状态、时代的上进精神促进了浪漫主义情感的爆发。

文学环境为文学创作提供了广阔的空间。

各种杂志如雨后春笋出现，在很大程度上促进了文学的长足发展。

(2) 外国思想和文化影响激发了美国浪漫主义思潮的蔓延。

19世纪初波及英国和欧洲的浪漫主义运动对美国浪漫主义文学的成长发挥了相当重要的作用。

(3) 美国浪漫主义受到美国清教主义这一文化遗产的影响。

2. Characteristics（特点）(1) American Romanticism exhibited from the very outset distinct features of its own. It originated from an amalgam of factors that were altogether American rather than anything else. It was in essence the expression of “a real new experience”and contained “an alien quality”.(2) As a logical result of the foreign and native factors at work, American Romanticism was both imitative and independent.(1) 美国浪漫主义文学自一开始便具有其独特的属性。

它是美国因素熔为一体的产物。

它所表达的是“一种真正的新的经历”，包含着“一种陌生的特质”。

(2) 由于国内外因素的影响，美国浪漫主义既有模仿，也有独立创造的特性。

II. Washington Irving (1783-1859)（华盛顿·欧文）1. Life（生平）Irving 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. His first book A History of New York was a great success. With the publication of The Sketch Book, he won a measure of international recognition. In 1826 he was sent to Spain as an American diplomatic attaché. From 1829-1832 he was Secretary of The United States Legation in London. He spent almost the rest of his life at Sunnyside on the Hudson River. He was not married and died in 1859.欧文生于纽约一个富商的家庭，自幼酷爱读书，少年时代便开始写诗歌、散文和戏剧。

他的第一部小说《纽约外史》获得很大成功。

《见闻札记》使他获得国际声誉。

1826年欧文作为外交随员被派往西班牙。

1829年至1832年他任美国驻伦敦大使馆秘书。

他晚年大部分时间生活在哈德逊河畔的住所。

他终身未婚，死于1859年。

2. His literary contribution（文学贡献）Irving’s contribution to American literature is unique in more ways than one. He did a number of things that have been regarded as the first of their kind in America.(1) He was first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame.(2) He was the father of American literature. The short story as a genre in American literature probably began with Irving’s The Sketch Book. This book also marked the beginning of American Romanticism.欧文对美国文学有着独特的贡献，他开创了美国文学史上的许多先河。

(1) 他是第一个获得国际声誉的美国作家。

(2) 他被称为“美国文学之父”。

短篇小说作为美国文学的一种类型源于欧文的《见闻札记》。

该书也象征着美国浪漫主义文学的开始。

3. Literary career（文学生涯）Irving’s career can be roughly divided into two important phases, the first of which spanned from his first book up to 1832, the other stretching over the remaining years of his life.(1) In the first period, most of time, he wrote about subjects either English or European. He found value in the past and in the tradition of the Old World.(2) In the second period, Irving found a whole new spirit of nationalism in American feeling and art and letters.欧文的文学生涯大致可分为两个重要的时期。

第一个时期从其处女作的发表到1832年。

第二个时期跨越他的余生。

(1) 第一个时期欧文主要描写英国或欧洲主题。

他在过去和旧世界里的传统中寻求价值。

(2) 第二个时期欧文在美国人情感和文艺中发掘新的民主主义精神。

4. Writing style（写作风格）Irving was a highly skillful writer. The gentility, urbanity, and pleasantness of the man all seem to have adequate expression in his style.(1) First, Irving avoids moralizing as much as possible; he writes to amuse andentertain.(2) He is good at enveloping his stories in an atmosphere, the richness of which is often more than compensation for the slimness of plot.(3) His characters are vivid and true so that they tend to linger in the mind of the reader.(4) The humor has built itself into the very texture of his writings.(5) The finished and musical language and the patent workmanship have been among the points of critical attention.欧文是一位精湛的文体家。

他的雅人深致、文质彬彬及和颜悦色在他的文风里都能找到充分的反映。