第一章 殖民地时期及独立革命时期的美国文学
美国文学
美国文学一、殖民地时期1607-17651607年，captain john smith 带领第一批移民在北美大陆建立第一个英国殖民地--詹姆斯敦。
1765年，殖民地人民奋起抗议英国政府颁布的印花税。
文学特点：宗教色彩，讲经布道向欧洲读者或亲友介绍新大陆的小册子和游记书信著名作家：Captain john smith,Anne Bradstreet, 以夫妻恩爱家庭美满为题材Edward Taylor，清教徒，牧师，讲道二、启蒙时期&独立战争时期1765-18世纪1730s，爱德华兹（Johnathan Edwards）为首的清教徒掀起“大觉醒”运动，企图恢复清教主义的统治，失败。
启蒙运动代表人物Benjamin Franklin(文学家科学家政治家):《格言历书》poor richard's almanac,通过格言警句宣传创业持家，待人处事的道德原则和勤奋致富的生活道路《自传》Autobiography，开创了美国名人写传记的风气独立战争时期文学以理性的散文为主，主要是各派政治力量对于革命的必要性、革命的前途与方向、政府的形式与性质等重大问题展开讨论时产生的杂文、政论文和演讲词，即便诗歌也以政治为内容。
代表作家：潘恩Thomas paine 的《常识》commom senseThomas Jefferson Declaration of Independence汉密尔顿、麦迪逊、杰伊合写的《论联邦》The Federalist Papers威廉-希尔-布朗william hill brawn,第一部美国小说《同情的力量》三、浪漫主义时期1800-1865作家们强调文学的想象力和感情色彩，反对古典主义的形式与观点，歌颂大自然，崇尚个人和普通人的思想感情，并且寻根问祖，发幽古之思情。
素材完全取自美国现实，如西部开发和拓荒经历。
他们赞美美国山水，讴歌美国生活，反映美国人民的乐观与热情。
美国文学绪论
美国文学选读绪论(一) 殖民时期(1492-1765)安妮·布雷特兹里特《献给我亲爱的丈夫》《灵与肉》爱德华·泰勒《家务》(二) 革命与建国时期(1765-18世纪末)潘恩《常识》杰斐逊《独立宣言》威廉·希尔·布朗《同情的力量》富兰克林《格言历书》《自传》(三) 浪漫主义时期（1800-1865）欧文《见闻札记》库柏《皮袜子故事集》布莱恩特《致水鸟》爱默生《论自然》《论独立》朗费罗《海华莎之歌》惠蒂埃《大雪封门》惠特曼《草叶集》狄金森《艾米莉·狄金森诗集》霍桑《福古传奇》《红字》梅尔维尔《白鲸》埃德加·爱伦·坡《乌鸦》《失窃的信件》斯托夫人《汤姆叔叔的小屋》弗莱德雷克·道格拉斯《弗莱德雷克·道格拉斯，一个美国奴隶的自述》(四) 现实主义时期（1865-1918）乡土文学朱厄特《迪普黑文》哈里斯《雷莫斯大叔：他的歌与话》肖邦《觉醒》哈特《咆哮营的幸运儿》19世纪70年代马克·吐温《汤姆索亚历险记》《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》詹姆斯《一位女士的画像》19世纪末克莱恩《街头女郎梅季》辛克莱《屠场》德莱塞《美国的悲剧》《嘉莉妹妹》(五) 现代主义时期（1918-1945）海明威《太阳照常升起》《永别了，武器》《老人与海》菲茨杰拉德《了不起的盖茨比》桑德堡《芝加哥诗集》庞德《诗章》弗罗斯特《少年的意志》罗宾逊《夜之子》赖斯《加算器》奥尼尔《天边外》斯泰因《三个女人的一生》华顿《快乐之家》《天真时代》刘易斯《大街》多斯·帕索斯《三个士兵》约翰·里德《震撼世界的十日》赖特《土生子》福克纳《圣殿》《八月之光》《喧哗与骚动》图默《甘蔗》休斯《黑白混血儿》(六) 第二次世界大战后的美国文学（1945-至今）欧文·肖《幼狮》琼斯《从这里到永恒》约瑟夫·海勒《第22条军规》塞林格《麦田里的守望者》金斯堡《嚎叫》凯鲁亚克《在路上》巴勒斯《赤裸的午餐》波特《斜塔》《愚人船》麦卡勒斯《心灵是孤独的猎手》《伤心咖啡馆之歌》贝娄《晃来晃去的女人》英奇《回来吧，小希巴》威廉斯《欲望的号街车》米勒《推销员之死》阿尔比《美国梦》梅勒《黑夜的军队》哈伯·里《杀死一只知更鸟》肯·凯西《飞跃疯人院》拉尔夫·埃里森《看不见的人》詹姆斯·鲍德温《向苍天呼吁》马丁·路德·金《我有一个梦想》《自传》普拉斯《钟瓮》玛格丽特·沃克·亚历山大《欢乐》洛兰·汉斯贝里《阳光下的葡萄干》(七) 20世纪70年代以来的美国文学阿历克斯·哈利《根》艾丽斯·沃克《紫颜色》托尼·莫里森《宝贝儿》赵健秀等人《哎—咿！》斯科特·莫马迪《黎明之屋》詹姆斯·威尔契《雪中冬季》罗斯《鬼作家》约翰·厄普代克《兔子》四部曲冯纳古特《囚鸟》《神枪手迪克》托马斯·品钦《拍卖第49批》《万有引力之虹》黄哲伦《蝴蝶君》玛莎·诺曼《晚安，母亲》埃·劳·道克托罗《雷格泰姆音乐》总结美国文学历史不长，但发展较快。
美国文学发展历程探究
美国文学发展历程探究美国文学的发展历程可以追溯到殖民地时期。
随着欧洲人的移民到北美，他们开始在新大陆建立自己的社会和文化，这促使了美国文学的产生和发展。
以下是美国文学的主要发展阶段。
第一阶段：殖民地时期（17世纪至18世纪）在殖民地时期，美国的文学主要受到英格兰文学的影响。
初期的文学作品多以宗教为主题，例如普林斯顿学院校长埃德温·桑德斯对美国文学的定义认为，它是“真正属于美洲的成就，而不是来自外国或短暂存在的痕迹”。
约翰·丹福斯（John Winthrop）《模範》（Model of Christian Charity）（1630年）是殖民地时期最重要的文学作品之一，强调基督教道德和殖民地社会的建立。
启蒙时期是美国文学发展的重要时期，表达了美国人民对自由、平等和理性的追求。
启蒙时期的代表作家包括本杰明·富兰克林、托马斯·潘恩和托马斯·杰斐逊等。
本杰明·富兰克林的《自传》（1750年至1790年）描述了他的成长和成功经历，被认为是美国第一部经典文学作品之一。
美国独立战争的爆发和美国宪法的制定也启发了许多启蒙时期的作品。
第三阶段：浪漫主义时期（19世纪初至中叶）浪漫主义时期是美国文学发展的高潮期，表达了个人情感和人类内心世界的追求。
浪漫主义时期的代表作家包括华盛顿·欧文、爱德加·爱伦·坡和纳撒尼尔·霍桑等。
华盛顿·欧文的《伊卡博德·克兰普》（1819年）是美国文学中最早的短篇小说之一，展示了对美国历史和传说的迷恋。
爱德加·爱伦·坡的小说和诗歌融合了恐怖、神秘和奇幻元素，对后来的美国文学产生了深远的影响。
现实主义时期强调以真实和客观的方式描写生活。
现实主义时期的代表作家包括马克·吐温、亨利·詹姆斯和斯蒂芬·克莱因等。
马克·吐温的《汤姆·索亚历险记》（1876年）和《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》（1884年）描写了美国南部社会的贫困和不公正。
美国文学史
美国文学史梗概一、殖民地时代和美国建国初期最早来自这片新大陆的欧洲移民主要是定居在新英格兰的清教徒和马萨诸塞的罗马天主教徒，二者虽然在教义上有很多不同之处，但他们都信奉加尔文主义：人生在世只是为了受苦受难，而他们唯一的希望是争做上帝的“选民”，死后进天国，相信“原罪”。
这时的文学作品也主要反映了这些思想，和欧洲文学一脉相承。
代表作家：考顿·马瑟，乔纳森·爱德华兹，安妮·布拉兹特里特，爱德华·泰勒。
二、18世纪独立战争胜利后，美国经济社会进入稳步发展时期这一时期是启蒙运动时期（the Enlightenment）,从字面上讲，启蒙运动就是启迪蒙昧，反对愚昧主义，提倡普及文化教育的运动。
但就其精神实质上看，它是宣扬资产阶级政治思想体系的运动，并非单纯是文学运动。
它是文艺复兴时期资产阶级反封建、反禁欲、反教会斗争的继续和发展，直接为一七八九年的法国大革命奠定了思想基础。
启蒙思想家们从人文主义者手里进一步从理论上证明封建制度的不合理，从而提出一整套哲学理论，政治纲领和社会改革方案，要求建立一个以“理性”为基础的社会。
他们用政治自由对抗专制暴政，用信仰自由对抗宗教压迫，用自然神论和无神论来摧毁天主教权威和宗教偶像，用“天赋人权”的口号来反对“君权神授”的观点，用“人人在法律面前平等”来反对贵族的等级特权，进而建立资产阶级的政权。
是欧洲第二次思想解放运动。
）主要文学指导思想是“自然神论”（Deism），这个思想认为虽然上帝创造了宇宙和它存在的规则，但是在此之后上帝并不再对这个世界的发展产生影响。
自然神论反对蒙昧主义和神秘主义，否定迷信和各种违反自然规律的“奇迹”；认为上帝不过是“世界理性”或“有智慧的意志”；上帝作为世界的“始因”或“造物主”，它在创世之后就不再干预世界事务，而让世界按照它本身的规律存在和发展下去；主张用“理性宗教”代替“天启宗教”。
人生在世，不再是受苦受难以换取来世的新生，而是要消灭种族、性别和信仰的不平等，建立自己的“人间乐园”。
童明《美国文学史》（增订版）笔记和课后习题（含考研真题）详解
我国各大院校一般都把国内外通用的权威教科书作为本科生和研究生学习专业课程的参考教材，这些教材甚至被很多考试（特别是硕士和博士入学考试）和培训项目作为指定参考书。
为了帮助读者更好地学习专业课，我们有针对性地编著了一套与国内外教材配套的复习资料，并提供配套的名师讲堂、电子书和题库。
《美国文学史》（增订版）（童明主编）一直被用作高等院校英语专业英美文学教材，被很多院校指定为英语专业考研必读书和学术研究参考书。
为了帮助读者更好地使用该教材，我们精心编著了它的配套辅导用书。
作为该教材的学习辅导书，全书遵循该教材的章目编排，共分27章，每章由三部分组成：第一部分为复习笔记（中英文对照），总结本章的重点难点；第二部分是课后习题详解，对该书的课后思考题进行了详细解答；第三部分是考研真题与典型题详解，精选名校经典考研真题及相关习题，并提供了详细的参考答案。
本书具有以下几个方面的特点：1．梳理章节脉络，归纳核心考点。
每章的复习笔记以该教材为主并结合其他教材对本章的重难点知识进行了整理，并参考了国内名校名师讲授该教材的课堂笔记，对核心考点进行了归纳总结。
2．中英双语对照，凸显难点要点。
本书章节笔记采用了中英文对照的形式，强化对重要难点知识的理解和运用。
3．解析课后习题，提供详尽答案。
本书对童明主编的《美国文学史》（增订版）每章的课后思考题均进行了详细的分析和解答，并对相关重要知识点进行了延伸和归纳。
4．精选考研真题，补充难点习题。
本书精选名校近年考研真题及相关习题，并提供答案和详解。
所选真题和习题基本体现了各个章节的考点和难点，但又不完全局限于教材内容，是对教材内容极好的补充。
第1部分 早期美国文学：殖民时期至1815年第1章 “新世界”的文学1.1 复习笔记1.2 课后习题详解1.3 考研真题和典型题详解第2章 殖民地时期的美国文学：1620—1763 2.1 复习笔记2.2 课后习题详解2.3 考研真题和典型题详解第3章 文学与美国革命：1764—18153.1 复习笔记3.2 课后习题详解3.3 考研真题和典型题详解第2部分 美国浪漫主义时期：1815—1865第4章 美国浪漫主义时期4.1 复习笔记4.2 课后习题详解4.3 考研真题和典型题详解第5章 早期浪漫主义5.1 复习笔记5.2 课后习题详解5.3 考研真题和典型题详解第6章 超验主义和符号表征6.1 复习笔记6.2 课后习题详解6.3 考研真题和典型题详解第7章 霍桑、麦尔维尔和坡7.1 复习笔记7.2 课后习题详解7.3 考研真题和典型题详解第8章 惠特曼和狄金森8.1 复习笔记8.2 课后习题详解8.3 考研真题和典型题详解第9章 文学分支：反对奴隶制的写作9.1 复习笔记9.2 课后习题详解9.3 考研真题和典型题详解第3部分 美国现实主义时期：1865—1914第10章 现实主义时期10.1 复习笔记10.2 课后习题详解10.3 考研真题和典型题详解第11章 地区和地方色彩写作11.1 复习笔记11.2 课后习题详解11.3 考研真题和典型题详解第12章 亨利·詹姆斯和威廉·迪恩·豪威尔斯12.1 复习笔记12.2 课后习题详解12.3 考研真题和典型题详解第13章 自然主义文学13.1 复习笔记13.2 课后习题详解13.3 考研真题和典型题详解第14章 女性作家书写“女性问题”14.1 复习笔记14.2 课后习题详解14.3 考研真题和典型题详解第4部分 美国现代主义时期：1914—1945第15章 美国现代主义15.1 复习笔记15.1 复习笔记15.2 课后习题详解15.3 考研真题和典型题详解第16章 现代主义的演变16.1 复习笔记16.2 课后习题详解16.3 考研真题和典型题详解第17章 欧洲的美国现代主义17.1 复习笔记17.2 课后习题详解17.3 考研真题和典型题详解第18章 两次世界大战间的现代小说18.1 复习笔记18.2 课后习题详解18.3 考研真题和典型题详解第19章 现代美国诗歌19.1 复习笔记19.2 课后习题详解19.3 考研真题和典型题详解第20章 非裔美国小说和现代主义20.1 复习笔记20.2 课后习题详解20.3 考研真题和典型题详解第5部分 多元化的美国文学：1945年至新千年第21章 新形势下的多元化文学21.1 复习笔记21.2 课后习题详解21.3 考研真题和典型题解析第22章 美国戏剧：三大剧作家22.1 复习笔记22.2 课后习题详解22.3 考研真题和典型题详解第23章 主要小说家：1945年至60年代23.1 复习笔记23.2 课后习题详解23.3 考研真题和典型题详解第24章 1945年以来的诗学倾向24.1 复习笔记24.2 课后习题详解24.3 考研真题和典型题详解第25章 20世纪60年代以来的小说发展状况25.1 复习笔记25.2 课后习题详解25.3 考研真题和典型题详解第26章 当代多民族文学和小说26.1 复习笔记26.2 课后习题详解26.3 考研真题和典型题详解第27章 美国文学的全球化：流散作家27.1 复习笔记27.2 课后习题详解27.3 考研真题和典型题详解第1部分 早期美国文学：殖民时期至1815年第1章 “新世界”的文学1.1 复习笔记Ⅰ. Discoveries of America（发现美洲大陆）Who discovered America?谁发现了美洲？1 The credit is often attributed to Christopher Columbus. Yet this argument is controversial.一种说法是哥伦布发现了美洲大陆。
英语八级英美文学整理
美国文学第一阶段独立革命之前（十七世纪中期之前）（before the revolution of independence）第一节美国本土文学（美国印第安传统文学）印第安传统文学的主要内容和形式：在各种典仪上咏颂的祝词，在劳作中吟唱的歌曲，时代交口相传的部落神话故事和英雄故事，刻写在山河岩壁上的象形史诗。
第二节北美殖民时期文学（十六世纪末-----十七世纪中）（colonial settlement）这一时期的文学作品主要是一些英国的殖民地官员或者传道士、冒险家们以日记或游记等形式记录的新大陆的风土人情、自然景色和民间生活等。
John Smith 约翰·史密斯《关于弗吉尼亚的真实叙述》A True Relation of Virginia（被认为是美国文学史上的“第一部作品”）第三节请教思想的表述（Puritanism）他们的作品主要是以传布清教主义思想的布道文为主第二阶段独立革命时期（十七世纪中期-------十八世纪末）（around the revolution of independence）独立革命前后的美国文学，标志着北美文学产生后的第一次大转折该期文学特色：充满浓烈的政治性和思辨性。
主题多为爱国主义及对于独立民主自由的热切呼唤。
Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林《穷查理历书》Poor Richard’s Almanac《自传》The AutobiographyThomas Paine 托马斯·潘恩《常识》Common Sense 《美国危机》The America Crisis《人的权利》Rights of Human《理性时代》The Age of ReasonPhilip Freneau 菲利普·弗伦诺（18世纪最杰出的美国诗人，被誉为“the poet of the American revolution）《英国囚船》The British Prison Ship 《美国的荣耀蒸蒸日上》The Rising Glory of America《印第安人殡葬地》（lyric）The Indian Burying Ground 《野金银花》The Wild Honey Suckle第三阶段浪漫主义时期（18世纪末---19世纪中后期）（American Romanticism）该时期主题多为传统文化与现代文明之间的冲突、“对久远与遥远故事的兴趣”以及对死亡、潜意识的剖析等。
专业英语8级人文知识之美国文学
专业英语八级人文知识之美国文学第一阶段独立革命之前（十七世纪中期之前）概述1、美国本土文学（美国印第安传统文学）早在欧洲人闯入北美大陆之前，那里世世代代居住的原始人是印第安人，他们的文化早已在这片土地上流传、存在了几千年之久。
他们创造出了并仍然在创造这优秀的印第安口头文学。
在各种典礼上咏诵的祝词，在劳作中吟唱的歌曲，世世代代交口相传的部落神话故事和英雄故事，刻写在山间岩壁上的象形史诗，都是印第安传统文学的只要内容和形式，也是人类文明的宝贵遗产之一。
后来，随着殖民地的开拓，移民人数的剧增，印第安文化不断遭受重创，从而在17世纪出现断裂。
18世界末又开始以书面文学的形式开始了新的发展。
Three stages of development：1）traditional literature 2）transitional literature 3）modern literature2、北美殖民时期文学（十六世纪末—十七世纪中期）北美殖民文学的开端，以1607年英国在今佛吉尼亚的詹姆斯顿建立第一个永久性殖民点为标志。
从那时起直到1776年美利坚合众国成立，这半个世纪的北美英语文学的发展是外来文学移植、扎根并本土化的一个准备过程。
这一时期的文学作品主要是一些英国的殖民地官员或传道士、冒险家们以日记或游记随笔等形式记录的新大陆的风土人情、自然景色和民间生活等。
John Smith was considered to be the first author in the history of American literature。
3、清教思想的表述最初从欧洲来到美国的定居者被成为“清教徒”，因为他们迁徙的主要目的之一是为了“净化”教堂中的宗教行为。
他们的作品主要以传布清教主义思想的布道文为主。
第二阶段独立革命时期（17世纪中期—18世纪末）概述独立革命前后的美国文学，标志着北美文学产生后的第一次大转折，其主要内容和形式与殖民时期文学截然不同：如果说殖民时期文学主要反映的是清教精神，独立革命时期的文学则充满了浓烈的政治性和思辨性。
第一章 殖民地时期及独立革命时期的美国文学
第一章殖民地时期及独立革命时期的美国文学I.知识结构II.知识点精讲1.时代背景1)The Native American and their culture---Indians. Before ChristopherColumbus discovered the American continent, there was no real literature.2)Christopher Columbus discovered the American continent in 1492.3)Captain Christopher Newport reached Virginia in 1607.4)Puritans came to the New England area, by Mayflower（五月花号）in1620.In 1629, the puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.（马萨诸塞湾）Puritans came to America out of various reasons, but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious, religious people, advocating highly religious and moral principles. It is true that they wished to escape religious persecution—and the English government regarded its American colony as an ideal dumping ground for the undesirables, but they were also determined to find a place where they could worship in the way they thought true Christians should.They regarded themselves as God's chosen people, they were meant to reestablish a commonwealth based on the teachings of the Bible, restore the lost paradise, and build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. 5)The puritan migration began.The settlement of the North American continent by the English began in the early part of the seventeenth century. The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans. They carried with them to America a code of values, a philosophy of life, and a point of view, which, in time, took root in the New World and became what is popularly known as American Puritanism.6) The British Industrial revolution (1750-1830) spurred the economy in American colonies; in American, there was War of Independence (1776-1783); the spiritual life of the colonies----Enlightenment began toappear. Thus, this period was the literature of reason and revolution (1781-1815).2.名词解释1）Puritans（清教徒）: They are one division of English Protestant.They regarded the reformation of the church under Elizabeth as incomplete, and called for further purification.The 17th century American Puritans included two parts: Separatists and Massachusetts Bay Group. Their religious doctrines are original sin, total depravity, predestination and limited atonement (or the salvation of a selected few) through a special infusion of grace from God. They regarded themselves as chosen people of God. They were meant to reestablish a commonwealth based on the teachings of the Bible, restore the lost paradise, and build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. They opposed arts and pleasure. They suspect joy and laughter as symptoms of sin.They are opposed to mysticism and pantheism because these tended to destroy the transcendence of God.They embraced hardships, industry and frugality. They favoreda disciplined, hard, somber, ascetic and harsh life. Their attitudestoward work: work itself is good in addition to what it achieves, that time saved by efficiency or good fortune should be spent in doing further work. Pushing the frontiers with them as they movedfurther and further westward, they became more practical, as indeed they had to be."A doctrinaire opportunist" came perhaps closest to the American Puritan ideal for man.2）American Puritanism(美国清教主义): It is a religious and political movement. Through it, one sees emerging the right of the individual to political and religious independence.It has become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, rather than a set of tenets,a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the Americansbreathe, that we may state with a degree of safety that, without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no real understanding of American culture and literature.American Puritanism has been, by and large, a healthy legacy to the Americans.3）American Dream(美国梦): 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 financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. Nowadays the American Dream has led to an emphasis on material wealth as a measure of success and/or happiness.4）Great Awakening(宗教大觉醒): Great Awakening is a series ofreligious revivals that swept over the American colonies about the middle of the 18th century. It resulted in doctrinal changes and influenced social and political thought. In New England it was started (1734) by the rousing preaching of Jonathan Edwards.3.作家作品1）Captain John Smith(1580-1631)（约翰·史密斯）---first American writer Captain John Smith was one of the first early 17th-century British settlers in North America. He was one of the founders of the colony of Jamestown, Virginia. His writings about North America became the source of information about the New World for later settlers. One of the things he wrote about that has become an American legend was his capture by the Indians and his rescue by the famous Indian Princess, Pocahontas.Another thing he wrote about that became historically important is his description of the fertile and vast new continent in his A Description of New England. His narrative reveals the early settlers' vision of the new land as something capable of being built into a new Garden of Eden.His contributions: There was the famous John Smith's description of New England as a promising virgin land, which came to the attention of many people in England and Europe and drew many of them over to the New World.His description of American was filled with themes, myths, images,scenes, characters and events that were a foundation for the nation’s literature. He lured the Pilgrims into fleeing here and creating a new land.2)William Bradford (1590-1657)（威廉·布拉德福德）---- the first governor of the PlymouthWilliam Bradford led the Mayflower endeavor and became the first governor of the Plymouth Plantation that he established with his group of Pilgrim Fathers. His Of Plymouth Plantation （《普利茅斯殖民史》）records, along with other things of a historic nature, the deliberations that the first settlers of North America had regarding their colonizing undertaking.In chapter IV, "Showing the Reasons and Causes of their Removal," Bradford states the fourth reason for their departure for the new world when he says that his people had "a great hope and inward zeal" to do the spadework for disseminating "the gospel of the kingdom of Christ" in the new world and they were even willing to be stepping-stones for others in doing this great work.The religious and idealistic nature of their adventure into the unknown world is self-evident.The characteristics of the Of Plymouth Plantation （《普利茅斯殖民史》）are simplicity, full of earnestness, direct reporting. It is readable and moving.3)John Winthrop 温斯罗普(1588-1649) ---- The first governor of theMassachusetts Bay ColonyJohn Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, states in this speech of his that there was the cause between God and his people who entered into a covenant with God for this work of building a new garden of Eden in the new worldJohn Winthrop’s works are A Model of Christian Charity（《基督教仁爱的典范》）, which is a speech, and The History of New England（《新英格兰的历史》）.4) Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)（安妮·布雷兹特里特）-----a Puritan poetThe American poets who emerged in the 17th century adapted the style of established European poets to the subject matter confronted in a strange, new environment. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) was one such poet.The argument of most of Anne Bradstreet’s poems is essentially about the justice of God’s ways with His Puritan flock. Her works search for a sense of man’s nature and destiny and his mission in the new world. One more thing to note about Anne Bradstreet is her description of the early settlers’ life in the new world.For example, “As Weary Pilgrim,”（《疲倦的朝圣者》）one devoted to God as much as any of her other poems, offers some hints of the hardships that they suffered in their first days there.Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet who wrote “ponderous Verses ofinterminable, inter-locking poems” on the four elements, the constitutions and ages of man, the seasons of the year, and the chief empires of the ancient world. Her poems made such a stir in England that she became known as the “Tenth Muse”who appeared in America. Most of other verses (have fallen into the obscurity of time, but her gentle “Contemplations”（《沉思》）are still read today.The ninth offers the reader an insight into the mentality of the early Puritans pioneering in a new world.When the poet heard the grasshopper and the cricket sing, she thought of this as their praising their Creator and searched her own soul accordingly. It is evident that she saw something metaphysical inhering in the physical, a mode of perception that was singularly Puritan.Her other poems such as“To My Dear and Loving Husband”（《致我亲爱的丈夫》）and “In Reference to Her Children,”however, denote the human side of her being clearly.Take “To My Dear and Loving Husband”for instance:Coming from a devout Puritan, these lines are surprising because they reveal the inner “soul-scape” of the “Puritans” so graphically. Read Anne Bradstreet’s poems on her children and grandchildren, and it will be clear that the love, the care, and the happiness that comes from family life are all the important to her indeed.“The Flesh and the Spirit”（《灵魂和肉体》）The struggle between the two impulses (spiritual and material) is perennial and constitutes the basic texture of the Puritan mind. Her poem, “The Flesh and the Spirit,” depicting as it does two sisters arguing about their values, is a good illustration. The Flesh, one of the twin sisters, is forthright with her assertion of her views about the importance of this world while the Spirit, the other, tries to convince her of the greatness of the Kingdom of God. The Spirit seems to be winning as she has a much longer and more final argument to offer. The twin sisters are evidently the integral parts of one Puritan mind.5）Edward Taylor (1642-1729)（爱德华·泰勒）Edward Taylor (1642-1729) was a meditative poet.In his splendid, exotic images, Taylor came nearest to the English baroque poets. For all his indulgence in his “un-Puritan” imagery, however, he was, first and last, a Puritan poet, concerned about how his images speak for God.A good example is his poem, “Huswifery,” (《家务》)which indicates that he saw religious significance in a simple daily incident like a housewife spinning：The spinning wheel, the distaff, the flyers, the spool, the reel and the yarn have all acquired a metaphysical significance in the symbolic, Puritan eyes of Edward Taylor.In his interesting poem“Upon a Spider Catching a Fly”（《蜘蛛捕捉苍蝇之遐想》）, Taylor sees the spider as a symbol of Hell with its traps.It is obvious that Taylor has faith in God who can save the erring, or possibly sinful, humankind from the evil designs of Hell.6)Roger Williams (1603-1683) （罗杰·威廉斯）Roger Williams was one of the greatest Puritan dissenters in the early days of Puritan theocracy in New England. He came to America in 1630 and began to preach for civil and religious liberty and against the Puritan oligarchy of Boston. His call for democratic government and his opposition to the eviction of the Indians from their ancestral properties incurred the wrath and hatred of such “orthodox”Puritans as John Cotton (1584-1652), who banished him from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. He lived for a while with the Indians before immigrating to Rhode Island, where he established the “Rhode Island Way” to encourage religious toleration, and protect Indian rights.Williams published his “The Bloody Tenet of Persecution for the Cause of Conscience”（《血腥的迫害教义》）(1644), furiously attacking the “soul-killing”requirement of religious conformity and vigorously upholding the spiritual freedom of the individual.7)John Woolman (1720-1772)（约翰·伍尔曼）Born into a pious Quaker family in New Jersey, John Woolman was early convinced that true religion consisted in an inward life in which the heart loved and respected God and learned to exercise true justice and goodness toward men and brutes alike.His Journal(1774) veritably notes down his experience and feeling during witnessing the slave trade, revealing the cruel truth of black slave selling. Besides he has the courage to criticize himself and pursue self-perfection, which is consequently consideration as a “Quaker classic of the inner Light,” and countless non-Quaker readers have been touched by its “exquisite purity and grace.”His essays are "Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes" and "A Plea for the Poor," in which he tried to plead for the rights of all men and for the abolition of the slavery system.He also kept a Journal for the most part of his life, recording his spiritual experiences of inward communication with God.8) Thomas Paine (1737-1809)(托马斯·潘恩)The life of Thomas Paine was one of continual, unswerving fight for the rights of man. He was a propagandist and a major influence in the American Revolution. He wrote a number of works of such a revolutionary and inflammatory character that it is no exaggeration to state that he helped to spur and inspire two greatest revolutions that his age witnessed.His main works were a series of pamphlets.His Common Sense（《常识》）, declaring as it did that "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; In its worst state an intolerable one," attacked British monarchy and added fuel to the fire which was soon to bring the colossusof its colonial rule down in flames.The booklet was warmly received in the colonies both as a justification for their cause of independence and as an encouragement to the painfully fighting people. Paine became a major influence in the American Revolution.His American Crisis （《美国危机》）series of pamphlets came out at one of the darkest moments of the revolution when Washington's troops had just suffered one of the worst defeats in the war and were in the process of retreating."These are the times that try men's souls," it declared. "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." Here the word “try” was in a sense of “test to the limit” and “subject to great hardships”.Later he participated in the French Revolution, and wrote The Rights of Man（《人权》）and The Age of Reason(《理性的时代》), spreading the ideals of the French Revolution among the people.9) Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)（托马斯·杰弗逊）Thomas Jefferson was a resourceful and intelligent man. He played different roles in his life. He was an enlightener, an aristocrat, a lawyer, scientist, inventor, musician, linguist, architect, diplomat and a writer.He was one of the men who drafted The Declaration of Independence（《独立宣言》）. It was adopted on July 4, 1776, announcing the birth of a new nation and a philosophy of human freedom. It was a statement of American principles and a review of the Causes of thequarrel with Britain. In The Declaration of Independence, people instilled a sense of their own importance and inspired struggle for personal freedom, self government and a dignified place in society.10)Philip Freneau (1752-1832)（菲利普·弗瑞诺）---- “poet of the revolution” and “Father of American Poetry”Philip Freneau was important in American literary history in a number of ways.a. He used his poetic talents in the service of a nation struggling for independence, writing verses for the righteous cause of his people and exposing British colonial savageries.b.He was a most notable representative of dawning nationalism in American literature.c. Almost alone of his generation, Freneau managed to peer through the pervasive atmosphere of imitativeness, see life around directly, and appreciate the natural scenes on the new continent and the native Indian civilization.His main works were "The Rising Glory of America," (《美国荣誉的崛起》1772)"The Wild Honey Suckle,"（《野忍冬花》1786）"The Indian Burying Ground"（《印第安墓地》1788）and "The Dying Indian: Tomo Chequi". Take "The Wild Honey Suckle,"for instance.Stanza 1: the flowers hidden in the retreat;Stanza 2: Nature makes their beauty;Stanza 3&4: reinforce the message.The lyric beauty, the heartfelt pathos, and the multiple emotional responses and echoes that, the sight described can awaken in the bosoms of the readers —all these are simply amazing. Through the poetic image, the poet describes the beauty of nature."The Indian Burying Ground"In this poem,Philip Freneau gave recognition to the Native American culture as a potential indigenous subject for American writers---- another potential subject for them; he revealed not only his tolerance of a different way of life, but also his admiration for it.11) Charles Brockden Brown（查尔斯·布洛克登·布朗）Charles Brockden Brown is one of the most prominent among these writers.a.His first novel, Wieland(《威兰》); or, The Transformation: AnAmerican Tale (1798) has been regarded as the first Americannovel.b.Basically, Brown was an imitator. The Gothic features of hisworks are a good illustration.c.He awared that his inspiration was rooted in his own land, itsnew life and energy which, he felt, offered the writers withareas of exploration different from European subjects. Brownbelieved that his novels were all about his country and hispeople and that he employed new narrative techniques hithertounheeded by his predecessors.d.Another thing of historic significance that Brown did was hisdescription of his characters' inner world.e.His four major novels—Edgar huntly (1799), Ormond (1799),Arthur Mervyn (1800), as well as Weland—are all solidevidence of his literary beliefs put into practice.f.Brown began to explore the emotional world of his charactersand found that man is not always controlled by reason and thatsensual experiences, passion and illusion could all impacthuman thinking and emotional responses. He became awarethat the subconscious is mystic and unfathomable and that artis a necessary medium to externalize the deeper impulses ofthe human psyche. In a manner of speaking, Brown's workscan be read as psychological novels. Hisprotagonists—Wieland or Huntly or Ormond—all exhibit theessential characteristics of a neurotic.12）Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)（乔纳森·爱德华兹）Edwards was born into a very religious New England family. Well prepared by his father, he entered Yale at the age of 13. After graduation in 1720, he stayed on at Yale for a couple of years before he went to a New York Scotch Presbyterian church. In 1723 he returned toYale, took his M. A., and became a tutor. Three years later (1726), he became, first, assistant to his famous grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, the well-known minister of the church of Northampton, Massachusetts and, then, its minister. He preached with horrific vividness in order to make religious ideas felt along the senses. His sermons taught the power of God and the depravity of man and man's need to communicate with the Holy Spirit to receive God's grace. What he was trying to do was to reinstate these Calvinist ideas in ways acceptable to an audience already becoming susceptible to the ideas of Enlightenment. Jonathan Edwards was probably the last great voice that was ever heard in America to reassert the Calvinist stance so as to bring the people back to its fold.His greatest works that have made people remember him even today. These include The Freedom of the Will (1754)（《论意志自由》）, The Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended (1758)（《论原罪》）, and The Nature of True Virtue (1765)（《论真实德行的本源》）；His sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,"（《愤怒的上帝手中之罪人》）.He was the first modern American and the country’s last medieval man.In his works,Edwards represents the element of piety, the religious passion, the aspect of emotion and ecstasy, of the New England tradition, a tradition that he did his best but failed torevitalize. He discovered, beneath the dogmas of the old theology, a dynamic world filled with the presence of God.Edwards believes in the regeneration of man. He urges his people to enjoy the sweetness of "conversion," the change of heart with the help of the grace of God.When Edwards saw the sun rise out of darkness and from under the earth, raising the whole world with it, raising mankind out of their beds and brightening up everything, he thought of Jesus Christ rising from His grave and from a state of death and bringing happiness, life and light to the world of man. His Images or Shadows of Divine Things （《圣灵的影像》）contains a great many instances of this kind which were part of the Puritan typological tradition and, in the way that Edwards extends typology beyond the strict limits of the Bible, the work anticipated the nature symbolism of nineteenth-century Transcendentalism. In his doctrines of inward communication of God and man, and of the immanence of God in nature, and in his literary expression of all these ideas, Edwards was, in the words of F. I.Carpenter, a good deal of a transcendentalist.13）Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)(本杰明·富兰克林)Franklin came from a very simple Calvinist background. Born in 1706 into a candle-maker's family—"poor and obscure" as he says of himself in his Autobiography（《自传》）, he had very little formal education. When still very young he was apprenticed to his olderhalf-brother, a printer, and began at 16, to publish essays under the pseudonym, Silence Dogood, essays commenting on social life in Boston. At 17 he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune. His entrance into the city marked the beginning of a long success story of an archetypal kind. He set himself up as an independent printer and publisher, founded the Junto Club (a society meeting regularly for informal discussions of good books, business ethics etc.) and a subscription library, issued the immensely popular Poor Richard's Almanac（《穷理查年鉴》）and retired around forty-two years of age, soon after he became financially independent.He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital, an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania, and the American Philosophical Society.Among the things which he started and for which he is still remembered today were volunteer fire departments, effective street lighting, the Franklin Stove, bifocal glasses, and efficient heating devices. His research on electricity, his famous experiment with his kite line, the experiment that won Immanuel Kant's admiration when the German philosopher called him "the new Prometheus who had stolen fire [electricity in this case] from heaven," his lightning-rod, the recognition he won from the Royal Society of London—all these made him one of the preeminent scientists of his day.His major works: Poor Richard's Almanac and Autobiography.In Poor Richard's Almanac,sayings like "Lost time is never found again," "A penny saved is a penny earned," "God help them that help themselves," "Fish and visitors stink in three days" and "Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"—these and many other similar statements filled the almanac, and taught as much as amused. The practical wisdom of Franklin shone forth rays of grandeur from its pages.AutobiographyThe book consists of four parts, written at different times. Franklin was 65 when he first wrote it.It is an inspiring account of a poor boy’s rise to a high position. It is a how-to-do-it book, one on the art of self-improvement. It covered Franklin’s life only until 1757 when he was 51 years old. It described his life as a shrewd and industrious businessman. He narrated how he owned the constant felicity of his life, his long-continued health and acquisition of fortune.The whole book is an impressive record of a man trying to be of value to mankind: Franklin spent his whole life doing all kinds of things for the welfare of the world, as indeed we have noted a moment earlier. Creating as it does the image of a boy's rise from rags to riches, the book demonstrates Franklin's confident belief that the new world of America was a land of opportunities which might be met through hard work andwise management, and that "one man of tolerable abilities will work great changes and accomplish great affairs among mankind." Thus through telling a success story of self-reliance, the book celebrates, in fact, the fulfillment of the American dream.（14）Hector St. John de Crevecoeur (克雷福科)Crevecoeur was a French settler.He wrote letters back to Europe, explaining the meaning of America to the outside world. The first eight of Crevecoeur's twelve letters reveal the pride of a man being an American, the "new man," planted in a new world, who left behind him the old world with its oppression and servility, working and getting "rewards of his industry" and acquiring the dignity and self-confidence of a true human being in what he called "the most perfect society now existing in the world." In his letters we hear the note of pride in democratic equality and abundance of opportunity, a note we are to hear over and again in the writings of later American authors.The note of pessimism began to vibrate in Letters from an American Farmer (1775)（《美国农民的来信》）.In his lifetime, Crevecoeur also saw and spoke of the illusory nature of that dream. In fact, starting from his ninth letter, he began to speak with a different voice, the voice of a definitely disillusioned man.There in the same New World, he became aware of the existence of slavery, avarice, violence, famine and disease, and all other forms of evil that hethought the American had left behind with his migration to this side of the Atlantic.4. 重点难点Puritanism’s influence on American literature 清教主义对美国的影响（1）American literature—or Anglo-American literature—is based ona myth, that is, the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden. This literatureis in good measure a literary expression of the pious idealism of the American Puritan bequest.(2)The American Puritan's metaphorical mode of perception waschiefly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolismwhich is distinctly American.To the pious Puritan the physical,phenomenal world was nothing but a symbol of God.Physical lifewas simultaneously spiritual; every passage of life, en-meshed inthe vast context of God's plan, possessed a delegated meaning. Theworld was, in a word, one of multiple significance.(3)Style: With regard to technique one naturally thinks of thesimplicity, which characterizes the Puritan style of writing. Withregard to their writing, the style is fresh, simple and direct; thestructure is tight and logic; it adopts a lot of homely imagery; therhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility oftentraceable to the direct influence of the Bible.(4)A dominant factor in American life, American Puritanism was oneof the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature.It has become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, rather than a set of tenets, so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the Americans breathe,that we may state with a degree of safety that, without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no real understanding of American culture and literature.All this has left an indelible imprint on American writing.Thus American Puritanism has been, by and large, a healthy legacy to the Americans.General features of Colonial American literature殖民时期美国文学特征(1)American literature grew out of humble origins. Diaries,histories, journals, letters,commonplace books, travel books,sermons, in short, personal literature in its various forms,occupy a major position in the literature of the early colonialperiod.(2)In content these early writings served either God or colonialexpansion or both. Most of them were practical matter-of-factaccounts of life in the new world; there were highly theoreticaldiscussions of religious questions.。
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第一章殖民地时期及独立革命时期的美国文学
I.知识结构
II.知识点精讲
1.时代背景
1)The Native American and their culture---Indians. Before Christopher
Columbus discovered the American continent, there was no real literature.
2)Christopher Columbus discovered the American continent in 1492.
3)Captain Christopher Newport reached Virginia in 1607.
4)Puritans came to the New England area, by Mayflower（五月花号）in
1620.
In 1629, the puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.（马萨
诸塞湾）
Puritans came to America out of various reasons, but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious, religious people, advocating highly religious and moral principles. It is true that they wished to escape religious persecution—and the English government regarded its American colony as an ideal dumping ground for the undesirables, but they were also determined to find a place where they could worship in the way they thought true Christians should.They regarded themselves as God's chosen people, they were meant to reestablish a commonwealth based on the teachings of the Bible, restore the lost paradise, and build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. 5)The puritan migration began.
The settlement of the North American continent by the English began in the early part of the seventeenth century. The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans. They carried with them to America a code of values, a philosophy of life, and a point of view, which, in time, took root in the New World and became what is popularly known as American Puritanism.
6) The British Industrial revolution (1750-1830) spurred the economy in American colonies; in American, there was War of Independence (1776-1783); the spiritual life of the colonies----Enlightenment began to
appear. Thus, this period was the literature of reason and revolution (1781-1815).
2.名词解释
1）Puritans（清教徒）: They are one division of English Protestant.
They regarded the reformation of the church under Elizabeth as incomplete, and called for further purification.
The 17th century American Puritans included two parts: Separatists and Massachusetts Bay Group. Their religious doctrines are original sin, total depravity, predestination and limited atonement (or the salvation of a selected few) through a special infusion of grace from God. They regarded themselves as chosen people of God. They were meant to reestablish a commonwealth based on the teachings of the Bible, restore the lost paradise, and build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. They opposed arts and pleasure. They suspect joy and laughter as symptoms of sin.
They are opposed to mysticism and pantheism because these tended to destroy the transcendence of God.
They embraced hardships, industry and frugality. They favored
a disciplined, hard, somber, ascetic and harsh life. Their attitudes
toward work: work itself is good in addition to what it achieves, that time saved by efficiency or good fortune should be spent in doing further work. Pushing the frontiers with them as they moved。